Our group Safe Art is dedicated to providing a safe space for adults with mental health difficulties to come along for tea and coffee, to socialise with members in similar situations, and help them out of the isolation that poverty and the current cost of living crisis is causing. Though our Arts Facilitator, we provide many different art and craft projects, some of which are chosen by our group members. Currently we have around eleven regular members who come along to the group each week and a few members who prefer to come every other week. Our group members can join in with group projects, work on individual projects, for example colouring books, knitting, drawing and painting in various media. The group members don't have to be artistic and can also choose to come along purely for the social aspect of being in the group. 

Social Isolation is a highlighted issue and is a current challenge for our group members. We are based at the Crieff Community Hospital where it is easy and accessible for everyone who wants to attend. Our group members recognise this venue as a comfortable and safe environment where the group will share their own experiences and challenges, while also recognising the need for confidentiality. Our numbers are steadily increasing with use of posters and word of mouth.

For our group members, the cost of living crisis has created not just a burden on personal budgets, and finances, but also an emotional and mental stress which has had a negative impact on mental health and wellbeing. Our group provides some peer support using the medium of art and crafts as a common interest. Arts and Crafts provide something for us to focus on for a few hours a week. By having a positive outlet some members of the group have now found employment and some have moved onto further education. 

 This project is for the materials and a facilitator to complete a new group project over 2025. The project will be a mixed media wall hanging of the Eppie Callum Oak Tree which can be found along Lady Mary's Walk in Crieff. This magnificent Oak Tree got its name from the lady who ran the Oakbank Inn, a favourite amongst drovers and it's alleged that the massive tree started its life in a teapot! It is well known for sheltering the notorious outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor from his enemies and aided Bonnie Prince Charlie, who allegedly hid inside its trunk. 

We are looking for £2,000 for this project and this cost includes, fees for the art facilitator, a day trip to Stirling Castle where there are many tapestries and wall hangings to gain inspiration from as well as a tapestry studio which shows how the tapestries were made. We would need to pay for transport that would accommodate our disabled members, so that they don't miss out. We are also looking to cover the entry costs to the Castle itself. 

For our tapestry, funding is required for a good strong backing to accommodate the size and weight. Materials and threads we will aim to source as sustainably and as cheaply as we can from places such as Remake, Cancer Research, Child after Child and Charity shops, this way we also support local shops in Crieff. 

In recent years we took part in PKC's 22 Women project, Raise the Roof, as part of the Scottish Government Year of Stories in 2022. We chose Katie McNiven for our women and we researched all her stories and worked with MoKa to create a clay piece of art which told her story. We hope to make our wall hanging just as impressive and share this magnificent Oak tree and its story with All of Crieff.

Overview: Wonderland is a community-based initiative devised by Adventure Circus SCIO in 2024. Wonderland’s aim is to bringing free outdoor circus performances and workshops to local parks in the school summer holidays. The project focuses on engaging children and families, particularly those from low-income areas, offering them the opportunity to experience live circus entertainment and actively participate in circus skills training within their own community (Crieff), out of doors during the summer. 

Our goals: 

• Access to the Arts during cost of living crisis: we want to provide children and families in low-income / semi-rural areas with the chance to see a professional circus performance, something that may otherwise be financially out of reach. 
• Skill Development: we love to share what we do, and so our performances always include an element of participation to encourage children to engage in circus skills. For example our performers will help members of the public to try juggling, hula hooping, and aerial arts, promoting physical activity, creativity and self-confidence. 
• Community Building: Our visits are intended to offer a community activity that brings local people together for a fun, inclusive and interactive experience. As an outdoor spectacle, there is no limit to the number of people who can attend. In 2024 we performed Wonderland in Crieff to approximately 250 people of all ages. 
• Wellbeing Focus: It is our long term aim that our Wonderland events provoke audience members to consider taking part in circus skills, either through our education programme, or through self practise. Circus arts have a well known reputation for improving mental/emotional wellbeing due to a long history of inclusivity, and the skills offer an opportunity for self-expression, resilience and crucially for young people, play. 

Key Activities: 

• Outdoor Circus Show: Our professional circus performers will put on an engaging outdoor show that is family-friendly and accessible to all ages.  The show is based on Alice in Wonderland and so the story concept is recognisable to many people because of it’s well known characters and timeless themes such as curiosity, exploration, personal growth, absurdity and nonsense! 

• Taster Sessions: After the performance, children and adults will be invited to try their hand at various circus skills like juggling, hula hooping and aerial hoop workshops led by the circus performers. Participants will be encouraged to experiment and learn. 

• Community Involvement: Alongside our performers, local volunteers from Adventure Circus, including our young leaders, will assist with workshop delivery and gain valuable community experience. We will spend time getting to know local people and can encourage them to join us, continue to practise independently. 

Target Audience: 

• Children aged 3-14, particularly those from lower-income backgrounds who may not experience many special activities / experiences due to the cost of living crisis and limitations of the family budget 

• Families and community members who may not typically access large-scale entertainment or arts events because they cannot afford to attend or because they do not have the means to travel out with their area due to limitations of public transport / cost. 

Benefits: 

• For Children: Encourages physical activity and boosts confidence and resilience through fun, engaging experiences. 

• For Families: Provides a free, inclusive arts/circus experience that brings joy for all the family and introduces new ways to engage in physical activity. 

• For all: floor skills such as juggling and hula hooping are extremely low cost and are accessible beyond our Wonderland experiences through our community classes, or through self exploration at home using resources such as youtube/TikTok/Instagram 

• For the Community: Strengthens local connections Adventure Circus has within different areas throughout Perth & Kinross and helps to create lasting memories by bringing a positive, uplifting event to the community. 

Outcomes: 

With your help, we will be helping to increase access to the arts for children in underserved areas, we will encourage/enhance physical and mental wellbeing through creative circus play and we will help to strengthen community cohesion and pride in local parks as venues for cultural and recreational activities. 

By bringing the magic of the circus directly to the community, Wonderland creates a free, accessible opportunity for children to see, learn, and play, and best of all, it is all set up right in their own parkland!

Video: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17929916303875766/

Facilitating the engagement in meaningful and therapeutic activities (horticulture, woodwork, gastronomy, fitness, nutrition and arts), we aim for people to have better physical, emotional and mental wellbeing; to have better connections with the wider community; and to gain access to new skills and training which will help them move on to positive destinations. We can work with anyone aged 16+ who is reporting difficulties with their mental health and wellbeing.

Three of our engagement staff recently qualified as Decider Skills Facilitators. We are now looking to introduce Decider Skills within our activity engagement sessions at The Walled Garden – Creative Wellbeing, Healthy Lifestyles, Gardening and Hospitality. Decider skills supports and encourages self-management, which includes things like sound and rational decision making. Participant workbooks are not within most client’s affordability, creating a financial barrier to meaningful access. From a cost of living perspective, supporting these expenditures would alleviate any financial pressure and allow clients to engage in this form of therapeutic and self-development activity equitably.  

How Decider Skills can directly influence the cost of living -

The ‘think’, ‘focus’ and ‘pace and plan’ skills support resilience and anxiety management, offering clients the confidence to navigate problematic situations with finances and seeking help. ‘Turn the mind’ challenges habitual behaviour and patterns, and offers alternative ways that can lead to a more helpful outcome. ‘STOPP’ considers impulse, and how we can objectively respond to strong emotions.

The Decider Skills | The Decider

Letham4All SCIO has been working with a variety of partners across Perth and Kinross at a very local community level, a dignified and holistic route to reduce the impact of poverty.  As a result of this work, Letham4All has successfully piloted the use of the Pay Point Platform and extended to scope of Perth Cards, to provide small amounts of financial support, to help people in immediate financial crisis. Working with existing referral routes this project will provide an additional route for support for those who are not successful with a crisis grant or where a crisis grant is not an appropriate option. The Paypoint Platform enables the sending of utility voucher codes by text message to a mobile phone that can be redeemed in the usual place people top up their utility cards/keys and the Perth Cards across Perth and Kinross can be used in a variety of shops to purchase food and utilities.

This referral-based support has been accessed by a range of public agencies and 3rd sector organisations who have had no other means of supporting people with financial support to offer a breathing space while longer-term solutions are set up. This has been particularly effective out with traditional working hours and at weekends and support can be organised and delivered within an hour.  We know from feedback from agencies that being able to offer this quick solution to those most in need is very beneficial to the household, encourages further discussion to longer-term solutions to prevent further crises, and reduces stress and worry. Partners have also told us that being able to use the Pay Point Platform as a means of offering support saves valuable staff time in handling and delivering cash payments for utility tops-ups and is a much faster way of getting support to their clients.  To deliver this project Letham4All and its partners use the Citizen Advice Bureau’s information-sharing protocol, The Fast Online Referral Tracking System, FORT. This system enables all partners to see what referrals and support services have been received by a service user eliminating the risk of duplication, and giving support services a clear picture of services received and of any gaps emerging in meeting the needs of the person. Letham4All will reach out through its existing partners and networks in Rattray to ensure that information on how this support can be accessed through the referral process and The Fast Online Referral Tracking System is widely shared and understood.

Coupar Angus PS Parent Council would love the opportunity to provide each pupil with a piece of toast when they come into school in the morning.  Research has shown that eating breakfast is important for everyone, but especially for children.  In general, kids who skip breakfast will feel tired, restless and irritable. Eating a healthy breakfast has been shown to help attention span, concentration and memory - all very important for learning.

Senior pupils carried out a breakfast survey, the majority of pupils surveyed said they do have breakfast most days, however 6% said they don’t have breakfast before school.  Pupils said when they don’t have breakfast in the morning they come into school feeling hungry, tired, unhappy, sad & angry.  86% of pupils surveyed said they would like to be offered toast when they first come into school.   

P7 teacher Mrs Gourlay believes offering each child something to eat in the morning will improve learning & behaviour within the classroom.

Around 20% of pupils at Coupar Angus PS are classed as living within relative poverty – we want to do anything we can to help these pupils by offering warm toast as they come into school.  Giving every child the best start in life is the first of five strategic priorities adopted by Perth & Kinross Council and we believe providing breakfast will give them a good start to their day.

Coupar Angus PS currently runs a breakfast club from 8am however this is chargeable at £2 per day which could potentially exclude some families.  Toast For All will be free for every pupil.

We plan to run Toast For All initially on a Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday and if it’s as big as a success as we think it will be we hope to roll it out to 5 days per week.  We plan to start on the first day of term after the Easter holidays on Wednesday 23rd April and run until the Easter holidays in 2026.  The teachers will monitor improvements in learning/behaviour and we will do more surveys with the children to gauge their opinions on the project.

A rota will be drawn up for each week and a teacher/volunteer will arrive at 8.45am and prepare the toast.  It will be put on lidded trays to keep it warm and senior pupils will take it around all classes at 9.05am and offer it to every pupil.

We believe every child should have something warm to fill their tummy in the mornings and we hope this will improve behaviour, attention spans and willingness to learn.

Letham4All SCIO operates the Community Fridge Project in the Letham, Muirton, and Moncreiffe areas of Perth to prevent good food from going to waste and help people stretch their budgets. The Community Fridges operate as a universal service, meaning they are open to anyone in the community, with no referral being required and they can used as many times as people want to use them.

The Community Fridge Project collects surplus food every evening from local supermarkets, which is then sorted and distributed between the different sites. Some surplus food is blast-frozen and is available from freezers in each of the areas. All of this surplus food is freely given away, as well as frozen meals prepared by another local charity made from surplus food. In each of the Community Fridge, there is a range of tinned and dried goods which people can purchase at 20p an item, up to a maximum spend of £2.00 (10 items). The Letham Community Fridge is open 7 days a week, with Muirton and Moncrieffe Fridges being open 4 days throughout the week.

The Community Fridge Project is supported by around 60 volunteers who take on a variety of roles across the whole operation of the project. We know that around 400 people from over 1000 registered users, access the project every week and that throughout the ongoing cost-of-living crisis it has been an invaluable support to people, stretching their budget when they need it. The Project has saved 1000s of tonnes of good food going into landfill and is helping locally to tackle climate change. This funding will help pay for some of the operating costs of the 3 projects and help fill the shelves with the 20p items. The Community Fridges also provides a wide range of information about other support services available in the community including financial well-being guidance, health and wellbeing services, and other community groups and organisations.

After public consultation we know that there is demand for community allotments in the North Muirton area.

These will provide a huge range of benefits to those who are involved, including fresh, sustainable food, a real sense of community, exercise and fresh air, access to others’ knowledge and skills, and access to a tool library.

The increased cost of living is affecting everybody, and having somewhere local, cheap, and healthy to meet others will be of huge benefit. Allotments often become social hubs for those who engage, meaning people will not need to pay to travel into the city centre to meet friends. Tools are often a large expense in gardening and DIY, the library will alleviate this allowing people to make meaningful improvements to their home, garden, and life.

This is not a profit making exercise. We expect to charge at most £30 per year to cover the cost of general upkeep and stocking the tool library.

We are also in conversation with Riverside Primary School and if successful will provide them an allotment for free to help educate the next generation on food, nutrition, budgeting, and sustainability.

North Muirton Community Group is well established as a constituted group that works to support local people, running free lunches, multiple Community Fun Days which attract hundreds of people, maintaining the local Community Hall and providing that space at low rates for other groups to use.

There is a disused and graffiti covered pitch owned by the council that in principal they have agreed we can use for allotments when we have the funding in place. It is currently an eyesore between the community and the river, a common dog walking spot, so transforming it visually would also be an important benefit to the community.

This funding would get us started on the project but not finished. Securing the allotments from vandalism is vitally important and this funding would go towards that in the main. The next step would be building in the actual allotments and acquiring tools, before launching them for the community. 

Overview: Wonderland is a community-based initiative devised by Adventure Circus SCIO in 2024. Wonderland’s aim is to bringing free outdoor circus performances and workshops to local parks in Perthshire. The project focuses on engaging children and families, particularly those from low-income areas, offering them the opportunity to experience live circus entertainment and actively participate in circus skills training within their own community (Perth), out of doors during the summer holidays. 

Our goals: 

• Access to the Arts during cost of living crisis: we want to provide children and families in low-income / semi-rural areas with the chance to see a professional circus performance, something that may otherwise be financially out of reach. 
• Skill Development: we love to share what we do, and so our performances always include an element of participation to encourage children to engage in circus skills. For example our performers will help members of the public to try juggling, hula hooping, and aerial arts, promoting physical activity, creativity and self-confidence. 
• Community Building: Our visits are intended to offer a community activity that brings local people together for a fun, inclusive and interactive experience. As an outdoor spectacle, there is no limit to the number of people who can attend. In 2024 we performed Wonderland in Perth to approximately 150 people of all ages. 
• Wellbeing Focus: It is our long term aim that our Wonderland events provoke audience members to consider taking part in circus skills, either through our education programme, or through self practise. Circus arts have a well known reputation for improving mental/emotional wellbeing due to a long history of inclusivity, and the skills offer an opportunity for self-expression, resilience and crucially for young people, play. 

Key Activities: 

• Outdoor Circus Show: Our professional circus performers will put on an engaging outdoor show that is family-friendly and accessible to all ages.  The show is based on Alice in Wonderland and so the story concept is recognisable to many people because of it’s well known characters and timeless themes such as curiosity, exploration, personal growth, absurdity and nonsense! 

• Taster Sessions: After the performance, children and adults will be invited to try their hand at various circus skills like juggling, hula hooping and aerial hoop workshops led by the circus performers. Participants will be encouraged to experiment and learn. 

• Community Involvement: Alongside our performers, local volunteers from Adventure Circus, including our young leaders, will assist with workshop delivery and gain valuable community experience. We will spend time getting to know local people and can encourage them to join us, continue to practise independently. 

Target Audience: 

• Children aged 3-14, particularly those from lower-income backgrounds who may not experience many special activities / experiences due to the cost of living crisis and limitations of the family budget 

• Families and community members who may not typically access large-scale entertainment or arts events because they cannot afford to attend or because they do not have the means to travel out with their area due to limitations of public transport / cost. 

Benefits: 

• For Children: Encourages physical activity and boosts confidence and resilience through fun, engaging experiences. 

• For Families: Provides a free, inclusive arts/circus experience that brings joy for all the family and introduces new ways to engage in physical activity. 

• For all: floor skills such as juggling and hula hooping are extremely low cost and are accessible beyond our Wonderland experiences through our community classes, or through self exploration at home using resources such as youtube/TikTok/Instagram 

• For the Community: Strengthens local connections Adventure Circus has within different areas throughout Perth & Kinross and helps to create lasting memories by bringing a positive, uplifting event to the community. 

Outcomes: 

With your help, we will be helping to increase access to the arts for children in underserved areas, we will encourage/enhance physical and mental wellbeing through creative circus play and we will help to strengthen community cohesion and pride in local parks as venues for cultural and recreational activities. 

By bringing the magic of the circus directly to the community, Wonderland creates a free, accessible opportunity for children to see, learn, and play, and best of all, it is all set up right in their own parkland!

Video: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17929916303875766/

The Access to Adventure Project will provide financial support for the pupils of Rattray Primary School and Nursery to take part in learning outside of the classroom. The funding would cover the costs of transport and entry fees to venues for children from low-income families to ensure that financial hardship does not prevent any child from participating in school trips.

A significant proportion of children attending Rattray Primary School live within SIMD quintiles 1 (36%) & 2 (5%) and 35% of pupils are entitled to free school meals. Under the Acorn measure of poverty in rural areas, 48% of Rattray pupils fall into the categories Acorn 5 and 6 which are the most deprived rural communities.  A large proportion (36%) of families have multiple children attending the school and 41% of Rattray pupils have additional support needs, putting further financial pressure on parents/carers.

In this rural community, with limited transport options and with the rising cost of living, a school trip may be the only outing a child experiences out with Blairgowrie.

In previous years, the school and the Parent Council have provided subsidies to reduce cost to families. However, due to increasing levels of need and increased costs, this is unsustainable and there is a very real risk that school excursions may be limited.

The head teacher, staff and children recognise the importance of these wider experiences. The Scottish Government notes the value of learning out with the classroom and wants all children and young people to have positive learning experiences in a variety of settings (See attached document).

These experiences can enhance academic learning, whether it be visiting a historic castle, local museums, farms, or places of cultural significance, and give context to classroom learning. Often, the children gain first-hand experiences that cannot be replicated in school. This helps develop engagement and interest in subjects that may help shape their future choices.

Trips away from school also develop personal growth allowing children to develop a sense of independence, perhaps experiencing life out with their comfort zone. They develop skills, responsibility and confidence that helps them try new things, explore new environments and look after themselves. Children can develop a sense of adventure, and these fabulous types of experiences can encourage communication with teachers, families and peers.

As a Parent Council we feel it is important to be inclusive and equitable for all the children and families in the school to avoid the stigma and/or embarrassment of having to ask for help. Therefore, the funding would not only be beneficial to those on low incomes but for every child, every family, so that all pupils are included.

School trips can be great fun for children and staff alike and provide lasting memories. I’m sure everyone who has kindly taken the time to read this proposal can remember their own school trips and what it meant to them growing up. We sincerely hope we can continue to support the school in being able to provide these valuable opportunities. (See attached documents for staff and pupil comments on school trips). 

Overview: Wonderland is a community-based initiative devised by Adventure Circus SCIO in 2024. Wonderland’s aim is to bringing free outdoor circus performances and workshops to local parks in Perthshire. The project focuses on engaging children and families, particularly those from low-income areas, offering them the opportunity to experience live circus entertainment and actively participate in circus skills training within their own community (Coupar Angus), out of doors during the summer holidays. 

Our goals: 

• Access to the Arts during cost of living crisis: we want to provide children and families in low-income / semi-rural areas with the chance to see a professional circus performance, something that may otherwise be financially out of reach. 
• Skill Development: we love to share what we do, and so our performances always include an element of participation to encourage children to engage in circus skills. For example our performers will help members of the public to try juggling, hula hooping, and aerial arts, promoting physical activity, creativity and self-confidence. 
• Community Building: Our visits are intended to offer a community activity that brings local people together for a fun, inclusive and interactive experience. As an outdoor spectacle, there is no limit to the number of people who can attend. In 2024 we performed Wonderland in Coupar Angus to approximately 250 people of all ages. 
• Wellbeing Focus: It is our long term aim that our Wonderland events provoke audience members to consider taking part in circus skills, either through our education programme, or through self practise. Circus arts have a well known reputation for improving mental/emotional wellbeing due to a long history of inclusivity, and the skills offer an opportunity for self-expression, resilience and crucially for young people, play. 

Key Activities: 

• Outdoor Circus Show: Our professional circus performers will put on an engaging outdoor show that is family-friendly and accessible to all ages.  The show is based on Alice in Wonderland and so the story concept is recognisable to many people because of it’s well known characters and timeless themes such as curiosity, exploration, personal growth, absurdity and nonsense! 

• Taster Sessions: After the performance, children and adults will be invited to try their hand at various circus skills like juggling, hula hooping and aerial hoop workshops led by the circus performers. Participants will be encouraged to experiment and learn. 

• Community Involvement: Alongside our performers, local volunteers from Adventure Circus, including our young leaders, will assist with workshop delivery and gain valuable community experience. We will spend time getting to know local people and can encourage them to join us, continue to practise independently. 

Target Audience: 

• Children aged 3-14, particularly those from lower-income backgrounds who may not experience many special activities / experiences due to the cost of living crisis and limitations of the family budget 

• Families and community members who may not typically access large-scale entertainment or arts events because they cannot afford to attend or because they do not have the means to travel out with their area due to limitations of public transport / cost. 

Benefits: 

• For Children: Encourages physical activity and boosts confidence and resilience through fun, engaging experiences. 

• For Families: Provides a free, inclusive arts/circus experience that brings joy for all the family and introduces new ways to engage in physical activity. 

• For all: floor skills such as juggling and hula hooping are extremely low cost and are accessible beyond our Wonderland experiences through our community classes, or through self exploration at home using resources such as youtube/TikTok/Instagram 

• For the Community: Strengthens local connections Adventure Circus has within different areas throughout Perth & Kinross and helps to create lasting memories by bringing a positive, uplifting event to the community. 

Outcomes: 

With your help, we will be helping to increase access to the arts for children in underserved areas, we will encourage/enhance physical and mental wellbeing through creative circus play and we will help to strengthen community cohesion and pride in local parks as venues for cultural and recreational activities. 

By bringing the magic of the circus directly to the community, Wonderland creates a free, accessible opportunity for children to see, learn, and play, and best of all, it is all set up right in their own parkland!

Video: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17929916303875766/