Stirling Observer

Picnic nightto hostTed andpals

- Kaiya Marjoriban­ks

Ted Christophe­r and friends will be playing at a Hogmanay party for charity fundraiser­s the Scribbler’s Picnic.

The actual Scribbler’s Picnic festival — which for many years brought together a host of local musicians — wasn’t held this summer, although the charity did unite with Stirling Albion for a community festival at Forthbank.

The Hogmanay party, taking place at Stirling Rugby Club from 7.30pm, will however be another chance for Scribbler’s music fans to enjoy some fantastic tunes as they await ‘the Bells’.

The charity was named after the late Graham Whitelaw, the Stirling Observer’s ‘Scribbler’ columnist and was founded to raise money for cancer charities.

Ticket prices for the party are: adults £25, teen (age 1217) £15, and children (under 12) £5. The overall number of children and teen tickets will be restricted to 20 and 30 respective­ly.

Included in the price is entertainm­ent and traditiona­l Hogmanay food (stovies, haggis etc) will be served. Tickets are on sale now by going to http:// scribblers­picnic.co.uk/ hogmanay-tickets. A new pilot scheme is helping to keep troubled and vulnerable young people out of care.

Around £680,000 of additional funding allocated by Stirling Council to social services in the last year is being spent on the project with Includem, a specialist Scottish charity supporting vulnerable, troubled and challengin­g young people and their families.

The charity offers tailored, one to one profession­al relationsh­ips to help young people“build skills, self-confidence and resilience”and to stop harmful behaviour, enabling them to make lasting changes so they have the best chance of a successful adulthood.

The local pilot project is currently working with 20 young people, supporting them to prevent the need for them to go into care and for those in external placements to return to the Stirling area or even their own communitie­s.

Officials told a meeting of the council’s social care committee last week:“Feedback from front line staff indicates the support of Includem has been helpful in working across a number of different age groups, from 10 to 19 years old, and have provided interventi­ons ranging from supporting young mothers addressing parenting routines and responsibi­lities, to supporting teenagers and young adults who are within the community.

“Includem are also seen to be responsive in a time of crisis and can provide intensive support either in sustaining placements in the community, as well as assisting our young people in their transition back to the Stirling area.

“The use of Includem is a relatively new initiative, but indication­s are that they are working well with the wider Team Around the Child (TAC) and are seen as an integral part of the support area provided for our most vulnerable young people.”

A further £426,000 was also said to have been allocated to other initiative­s aimed at prevention and early interventi­on approaches and keeping children and young people in their local areas.

In February, the council increased the Social Services core budgets by £1.8million to support increasing financial pressures across both children’s and adults’services.

Another £1.8 m was approved from an existing Risk Fund in January to support the“transforma­tion”of the services between now and 2018/19 and support the longer term vision of both children and adults staying in their own communitie­s with appropriat­e supports.

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