CERT were delighted to receive support from the People’s Postcode Trust to fund our Let Us Decide project.
Now complete, Let Us Decide was designed to reach out to a range of residents in Clackmannanshire to hear what they really want to support them address issues that they face and key barriers that they want to overcome.
This work has been brilliant at helping us to learn what our clients want rather than what we think they would benefit from.
An overall report is now available HERE which summarises the work which we have done with 7 groups. Each group was provided with £1,000 to spend on a project that they thought would be beneficial:
Connect Alloa where we worked with their clients – 11 to 16 year olds – who developed a project to improve their wellbeing – a “lock in” event where their group was able to feel connected, get to know each other better and to bond. They now have other projects they are considering.
Wee County Men’s Shed who considered how the mental health of men could be improved. They raised a number of issues providing great insight to the issues facing this group. As a result they developed a project which improved physical access to their building and promoted their activities to encourage more members.
Sauchie Active8, represented a community to consider how mental health and wellbeing could be improved in Sauchie. Through the workshops a number of issues were identified including the lack of activities for teenagers and reduced social engagement post covid. They developed a project to purchase camping equipment to allow small groups to go camping to improve engagement and family activities.
Forth Valley Lavendar Room, a newly formed organisation based in Alloa provides a community and safe space for its LGBTQ+ members. This group are developing a web site for employees and employers providing information, advice and support.
Over 50s. A workshop was held with a group of over 50s who were unemployed or economically inactive and were seeking work. As well as raising a number of issues, this group are now looking to establish an ongoing support group which will provide both social support and to help progress them securing employment
Childminders. Workshops were held with existing childminders in Clacks who are facing a number of commercial challenges. The project has been used to fund training for them in First Aid, Safeguarding and Food Hygiene
Young People at School. Early work was undertaken with pupils at Lornshill Academy to identify issues. Timetabling challenges means that this work is on hold, but we expect this to be picked up by another school to complete it.
CERT will be using the findings of this work to help inform our future projects and programmes and it is hoped that others in Clacks will do the same.
The main lesson from this project is that those who live in Clacks often have a different view of the support that they need, than we often think they need!
Going forward CERT will look to embed this sort of feedback and co-design in all our work.