Successful Projects
Parent Space
Year Completed:
2018
Report for Blackhill Windfarm Community Fund
6.12.19
ParentSpace was awarded a total amount of £5250 on the 13th December 2018, allocated as in the table below
|
Development of Parenting in the Digital age resource |
|
|
Research and writing of resource material |
£900.00 |
|
Design and printing/publishing of resource |
£425.00 |
|
Advertising of resource - banners and flyers |
£475.00 |
|
3 Taster Sessions to test the new materials |
£225.00 |
|
Delivery of courses |
|
|
4 courses (4 to 7 sessions each) for 6 participants each between Jan and June 2019 |
£3,000.00 |
|
Total revised request |
£5250.00 |
We are pleased to provide the following report on each of the two areas highlighted above.
- Development of Parenting in the Digital Age Resource
The research and writing of the resource material was completed in April of this year and five taster sessions were delivered to test the new materials at Duns Primary School, Berwickshire High School and Preston Village Hall. The material was well received and the parents who attended gave the following feedback:
|
Statements |
Replies |
|
|
1= Not at all. 10=Alot |
|
I understand more about the Digital World |
Average =7 |
|
I feel better equipped to mange the challenges of parenting in a Digital World |
Average = 8 |
|
I feel what I have learned will strengthen my relationship with my children |
Average =7 |
|
I felt listened to and was able to contribute in the session |
Average =10 |
|
The materials and presentation were easy to understand |
Average=10 |
|
I think the resources will be helpful |
Average =10 |
The resource has now joined our library of courses and workshops and we have plans for further delivery in 2020.
We have not yet purchased banners, flyers nor printed the resource, as we are in the process of re-branding ParentSpace and wish to wait until we have the new logo and other advertising in place. This will be completed in early 2020.
- Delivery of Courses.
Although we set out to deliver 4 courses between January and June this year, it transpired this was an ambitious target, for a number of reasons. We are down to a small team of Facilitators: only four active at that time, which obviously limits capacity to deliver. We needed to devote time and energy to securing further funding, which was successful in the form of Lottery funding in August of this year and we also dedicated time to becoming a charity and so are now registered with OSCR as SCIO number SCO49137.
Our learning is also showing us that parents are choosing to engage with the project in other ways, rather than attending courses. So we are seeing more parents attending Drop Ins and accessing 1:1 support. The feedback is that parents value the facilitated peer support, space and time to connect with others over parenting issues in a friendly, welcoming informal setting and knowing that they will not be judged.
Having said that, we ran a very successful Handling Anger in the Family course in Duns for six parents in May and are currently running a Parenting in the Primary Years course for six parents in Coldingham. Below is some of their feedback:
“I went along to a Parentspace course recently & it was the best thing I ever did - why didn't I go sooner?! Not only did I receive the advice I was looking for but I gained a fantastic bunch of friends I can rely on to pull me up when I'm down. Parenting is hard, asking for help is hard, finding the right information is hard - let Parentspace help, it'll be the best decision you make.”
“I have done various ParentSpace courses and 1 day workshops since 2014, aswell as this one. ParentSpace has been a really helpful, supportive and positive experience and given me lots of confidence in parenting and life decisions i have made. You don't have to have a child with special needs or difficulties or even be struggling to want to learn and educate yourself for your children. If you can find the time for yourself, it could be one of the best decisions you ever make to go along to a ParentSpace session”
We advertised a Parenting Children with Special Needs course in October, but had to cancel due to poor uptake. However, we ran a very successful session with another local charity who work with families where there is a child with Special Needs and are looking together at ways in which we can continue to support these parents.
We are also working in partnership with the local nurseries, primaries and Berwickshire High School and recently joined the Berwickshire Early Years Improvement Network.
In summary, then, this has been a very busy and fruitful year for us and, thanks to funding from Blackhill, Berwickshire Housing Association and the Lottery, we look forward to continuing into 2020 and beyond. We have many exciting developments planned and are building new partnerships, all of which is helping us to create a sustainable future for ParentSpace and the parents we serve.
We are grateful to Blackhill Windfarm Community Fund for your support.
Please do not hesitate to contact me on karen@parentspace.org.uk or 07752568131, should you wish for any further information or to discuss anything in the report.
Karen Lerpiniere
Project Co-ordinator
Duns Pipe Band
Year Completed:
2018
Duns Pipe Band
Scottish Charity No. SC030190
Pipe Major: A D Ainslie BEM, Main Street, Gavinton, Duns
Tel: 01361 882022
Treasurer: Tina Robertson, 60 Hawthorn Bank Duns TD11 3HL
Tel: 01361 884242
Secretary: Julia Turner, 1 Pinkie Cottage, Duns TD11 3LS
Email - secretary@dunspipeband.org
Report
Grant of £750.00 received.
Purpose of Grant
To contribute to the replacement of 30 waistcoat and jacket sets to replace worn out uniform and establish uniformity of dress for new members joining the band.
Progress
The band were measured in March 2019 and the waistcoats and jackets delivered in May 2019 in time to celebrate the town’s summer festival (Reiver’s Week). The picture below shows the band in 2018 with new members not fully dressed and mismatched with the remainder of the band.
Summary
With the grant funding from SBC, we have been able to kit out all members of the band with new waistcoats and jackets.
On behalf of all members of the band, I would like to thank the Committee for considering our application and awarding the grant. As I hope you can see from the pictures below, we now have a very smart and uniformed band.
Yours faithfully
Julia Turner
Secretary
Duns Pipe Band
Photo Gallery:
Eat Sleep Ride
Year Completed:
2018
I'm writing from Eat Sleep Ride - a horse riding stables and social
enterprise based near Eyemouth run by Danielle McKinnon. The Blackhill
Windfarm Community Fund generously helped fund us at the beginning when
we were starting out in 2017. We continue to be extremely grateful for
your help and belief in us and we thought we'd email you and let you
know how we've been getting on.
As you may know Eat, Sleep, Ride is a social enterprise targeting people
experiencing mental health problems, those that have suffered abuse,
lived in areas of high deprivation and other challenges such as
drug/alcohol addiction. We are also a TRSS approved horse riding centre
and give lessons and hacks to the public.
We aim to improve the lives of all people. We use our beautiful animals
as inspiration for change which in turn can provide an alternative
learning environment to mainstream education. The skills developed
through the programme can meet the requirements of ongoing education and
training for employers and participants.
The way that Danielle delivers lessons and training helps people
experiencing the challenges outlined above. Danielle draws on personal
experience to provide a teachable point of view on how to overcome
personal circumstances and lead a happy and fulfilled life.
We've grown from strength to strength over the last year or so and we
now have 13 horses and ponies at the stables. We have regular riders,
volunteers and employees at Eat Sleep Ride. The majority of our riders
are children and young adults who benefit hugely from spending time with
and riding the horses. We have two young employees who have faced
difficulties in their youth and are now flourishing with the
opportunities at Eat Sleep Ride.
Now is an extremely exciting time for us - we've recently secured a new
site near Lamberton which we will move to in the late summer. The
business has lots of room for expansion and more opportunities for
social enterprises to join the community!
We will be crowdfunding for support ahead of the move and we wondered
if, when we launch our campaign, you would share the details with your
professional network. Any help you can offer as our journey develops
would be most appreciated!
Kind regards,
Danielle, Annie & Laura
Eat Sleep Ride CIC
Girlguiding Berwickshire
Year Completed:
2018
I applied to Blackhill Windfarm Community Fund for a grant towards a residential training week-end (w/e) for Guiders from Berwickshire.The application was handled by your committee who kindly donated the sum of £1000. This is an outline of how we used the generous donation for which all attendees expressed their gratitude.
As with all such arrangements, the numbers wishing/intending to attend fluctuated until very near the date itself. This in spite of the arrangement whereby deposits were forfeited for non-attendance but refunded to those who did attend. But finally twenty Guiders from the county took part in an interesting and stimulating w/e in which the new programme for Guiding across all sections was introduced and explained.
A copy of the “fees sheet” is included which shows the attendees’ charges for the w/e. These were slightly higher than I had anticipated but this was offset by us not having to pay a separate fee for the outdoor activities as these were supervised by the trainers to demonstrate the “out of doors” elements of the programme. However my estimate for travel costs was not far off the mark!
I also include a copy of the “Guidance Notes” on the new programme which may help you to understand how we run our organisation and also the teaching timetable that shows we were kept pretty busy.
I hope you feel the grant you awarded the county was well used and in accordance with your ideals for community wellbeing. The leaders all seemed to enjoy themselves and left feeling less apprehensive about the changes and consequent work involved to implement the new programme.
Once again I thank you for your interest in our organisation and generous award.
Jean MacNab
County Administrator
Duns Senior Citizens Club
Year Completed:
2017
DUNS SENIOR CITIZENS CLUB
On Friday 2 June 2017, the Club held a Summer Lunch to celebrate Queen Elizabeth being our longest reigning monarch.
The room was appropriately decorated and a delicious lunch was enjoyed by members and guests, who included Diana Findley, Regional Ambassador from Age Scotland. Entertainment was firstly provided by Ronald Drummond. Being local, Ronald has become a 'regular' at our social afternoons, and his beautiful singing voice is always a delight to listen to. Then 'The Jockuleles' from Earlston, performed various popular songs and members were encouraged to join in. Dolly Parton even made a special appearance! The humour of this band was second to none, and members went home feeling uplifted and very happy. It was a truly memorable afternoon.
Thank you to Blackhill Windfarm Community Fund, who awarded the Club a grant to assist with the cost of this special Summer Lunch, it was much appreciated.