Community groups to share £38,000 funding

Twenty groups across the Helensburgh and Lomond area look set to share grants worth £38,540.

But eight organisations are expected to miss out on the funding from Argyll and Bute Council – including community first responders and a youth café.

Supporting Communities Fund applications were assessed against criteria by officials and scored out of ten..

A report recommending the awards will be discussed by the council’s Helensburgh and Lomond area committee on Tuesday.

Recommended for funding are:

• Rosneath Community Hub – £2,489 for an i-pad, a table-top electric oven and 118 youth/ family worker staffing hours for a school cafe and homework club.
• Police Scotland Youth Volunteers – £2,500 for uniform items such as good quality boots, trousers and belts for 25 police youth volunteers.
• Plastic Free Helensburgh – £2,350 for four litter pick stations, including waste bags and disposable gloves.
• Friends of Hermitage Park Association – £2,500 for 16 workshops with materials in botanical art and horticulture and floristry, a percentage offered to mental health groups.
• Cove Park – £2,500 for workshop leader and assistant fees, materials and free travel for four free creative workshops for up to 140 children.
• Rosneath Peninsula Amenity Society – £600 to buy two electric heaters for library space and towards electricity cost so that a warm spot can be offered in winter for activities such as reading and jigsaws.
• Jean’s Bothy – £2,500 for craft and photography sessions, creation and publication of a recipe book and calendar.
• Garelochhead Station Trust – £1,108 to support a fortnightly craft group, with 40 free sessions to include materials.
• Millig SWI – £1,426 for venue hire for 40 sessions to include taster sessions for juniors and  cookery lessons, cookery tutor with leaflets for non-English speakers and PVG disclosure certifications.
• Helensburgh Art Hub – £2,500 to fund venue hire and tutor fees for 40 hours of ‘community and creativity’ art workshops plus art materials.
• Princess Louise Hall – £2,446 to fund consultation fees towards a professional building survey, travel for liaison and hospitality for consultation events. An A3 printer, stationery and digital survey are required for communication with stakeholders.
• Cove and Kilcreggan Lunch Club – £1,013 for hall hire, taxi and a Christmas meal, trips and outings enabling continuation of a valued older people’s lunch club in Cove Burgh Hall.
• Helensburgh Bowling Club – £2,500 to buy smaller-sized lawn bowls to encourage uptake of the sport by younger people, increasing membership and replacement of damaged windows.
• Geilston Hall – £2,500 to fund a project manager for hall repairs. The hall is B-listed, an options appraisal was produced to address ongoing conservation needs and the roof repair is now a priority.
• Rosneath Peninsula West Community Development Trust – £2,500 towards the cost of traffic management, medals, water bottles, first aid for a 10K community walking and running event.
• Helensburgh Community Council – £2,160 to provide ten skips to remove non-recyclable plastic waste from Helensburgh beach cleans for disposal by a contractor.
• Loch Long Jetty Association – £558 for a petrol-powered pressure washer and accessories to clean the jetty.
• Arrochar, Tarbet and Ardlui Community Council – £650 for venue hire and printing costs for the launch of a community local place plan.
• Helensburgh Amateur Athletic Club – £1,291 to fund costs of road closure and traffic management for the Babcock Helensburgh 10k.

The following applications were unsuccessful, scoring five out of ten or lower:

• Friends of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs – project co-ordination staffing cost and litter bin emptying by a contractor along the A82 for the ‘Adopt a Bonnie Banks Bin’ scheme.
• Alzheimer Scotland – Action on Dementia – facilitator fees, marketing and props, for one-to-one and group music and movement ‘spin and turn’ sessions.
• Cove and Kilcreggan Youth Café – two months of a youth worker’s salary.
• Helensburgh Writing Circle – publishing a ‘sense of place’ book. –
• Carr Gomm – 12 ‘Keep Warm Boxes’ to help those who are vulnerable or impacted by rising energy costs and power cuts to stay warm.
• Helensburgh Lunch Club – funding towards running costs and a summer 2024 outing.
• Helensburgh Community Council – air fares to France and subsistence for a group of local professional people representing education, business, sports, culture and environmental sectors of Helensburgh.
• Garelochhead and Rosneath Peninsula Community First Responders – replacement defibrillator pads and batteries for the local equipment as well as a contribution towards running costs and a new defibrillator.