Awards for All grants for Strath
Aye Can Change and playpark successes
Two St rath groups have been successful in applying to National Lottery Awards for All Scotland for funding.
St Fillans Community Trust Limited recently received a £10,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund. The group will use the grant for a playpark within the village.
And Aye Can Change CIC also received a boost from the latest round of funding with an award of £8892.
This new social enterprise, based in Comrie, is run by local lady Fran Loots.
It supports people in achieving a more active lifestyle and the health benefits this provides.
This project will allow the group to create an online/offline programme to encourage people to become more active.
Fran told the Herald: “I’m delighted to receive a grant. This will let me pilot materials that have been developed for my social enterprise.”
Fran says statistics show that around two thirds of adults in Scotland are overweight or obese and the social entrepreneur wants to promote long- term, sustainable weight management by introducing simple techniques with some “aye can” attitude, in addition to support, for people to make small, no cost, and realistic changes to their lifestyles.
Fran is currently creating an interactive online programme that encourages a healthy relationship between mind and body.
The ultimate goal is to promote sustainable weight management with a feelgood factor, as she puts it: “No banned foods or fad diets, just tools and techniques for lasting change.”
Her short-term goals are to pilot the programme that has been developed and look at ways to involve users in the future design and its refinement.
Longer term, her ambition is to develop a strategy to roll out her programme, reinvesting the profit in community health and training up local coaches and mentors in low-income areas.
She is working with Napier University on the technology side and Paths for All to link with community groups.
Fran would be delighted to hear from anyone who is interested in supporting the pilot and can be contact at info@ayecanchange. com or call 07518958032.
Perthshire South and Kinrossshire MSP Roseanna Cunningham said: “I am really pleased to see lottery funding continuing to support community projects in my constituency.
“Congratulations to all those who have been involved in securing this fund which I am sure will be put to very good use indeed.
“The creation of an art group, the development of a new playpark and a programme to support people become more active shows the range of projects which the Awards for All grants can cover.
“I would recommend to all local groups and organisations with a project in mind that they remember that this funding stream is there as a potential source of support.”
National Lottery Awards For All Scotland gives groups a chance to apply for a National Lottery grant of between £300 and £10,000 for projects that aim to help improve local communities and the lives of people most in need.
National Lottery Awards for All Scotland awards grants to community, arts and sports groups on behalf of Big Lottery Fund Scotland, Creative Scotland and sportscotland.