Round Two awards in the Scottish Borders
This second year of the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund was launched in 2022. (Awards listed alphabetically)
Allanbank Arts – Art for carers of young people with ASN – £2930
Art workshops for parents and carers of young people with additional support needs designed in co-production with the beneficiaries at times and in spaces accessible to them. They would provide an opportunity for some respite, chance to create and network with others and to learn new skills. Part of the project will be looking with the participants at ways in which they can incorporate creative activity into their lives on an ongoing basis.
Berwickshire Housing Association – BeWell – Tenancy Support and Wellbeing Service – £46,600
Providing a direct early intervention mental health support service to prevent tenancy breakdown and improve the quality of life in a tenancy. The service is for tenants, aged 16 and over, who have mental health and wellbeing support needs that impact on their ability to positively manage their tenancy.
Bonchester 60+ Club – Christmas – £240
Providing more opportunities for the elderly and lonely in the area to meet up possibly for lunch, afternoon tea or a celebration dinner.
Borders Carers Centre – Me Time – £10,000
Enabling carers to access a respite opportunity within their own localities through vouchers that can be used for a treatment, ranging from aromatherapy, massage, alternative therapies, a facial, etc offering carers the opportunity to take some time out but also to receive hands on care and relaxation.
Cheviot Togs – Cheviot togs underwear stock – £2000
Clothing support to young people up to the age of 18 with requests from social work, education and health professionals. This wil provide new fresh underwear including pants, bras and socks within clothing parcels.
Cheviot Youth – Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Support Service – £33,696
Working with people from age of 16 to adults to provide group work and one-to-one sessions for those suffering with mental ill health or who may benefit from emotional support. The service works with a range of conditions from general anxiety and disruptive behaviour to self-harm, depression, eating disorders to suicidality.
Cornerstone Community Care – Friday Lunch Club – £8989.10
A monthly social club for people over 16 years old who have learning disabilities, autism and complex care needs who live across the Scottish Borders in localities like Eildon, Tweeddale, and Berwickshire. Offering a friendly and welcoming atmosphere for attendees to relax, enjoy a hot meal, and take part in a selection of activities with others.
Duns Senior Citizens Club – Christmas lunch celebration – £785
A Christmas lunch for members with supplied transport. The lunch is looked forward to by members who suffer with increased isolation during the dark winter months and provides opporutnities to come together and enjoy time spent together.
Dynamic Community Fusion – Borders Brain Injury Service – £3000
The funding will deliver a Christmas meal/Christmas party lunch for service users, who have been affected heavily by the rise in cost of living, many of them are socially isolated. Also plan to deliver Christmas meals to those who cannot attend due to their brain injury.
Eastgate Theatre – Better Balanced Lives – £12,102.24 (Part-funded)
This project will develop work across two strands of creative classes for vulnerable adults living with chronic conditions; a new set of movement-based workshops designed for adults seeking to improve their physical and mental health; along with training for practitioners, volunteers and Eastgate staff.
Innerleithen, Traquair and Walkerburn Parish Church of Scotland (ITW) – Chatty crafting – £3000
Free regular arts and crafts club to support older people with mental illness due to loneliness, poverty, rural isolation, illness and shielding. The club would run weekly, rotating round Walkerburn, Cardrona, and Traquair village halls, with 60 classes over 16 months from January 2023 to April 2024 by an experienced community arts teacher, with volunteer helpers.
Inspiring Life: Evie Douglas Memorial Fund – Inspiring Life Day – £2500
An Inspiring Life Day, held at the Eastgate Theatre with lead up events for the community to come together to enjoy free workshops in dance, literature, drama, music, and art. The hope is that Inspiring Life Day 2023 will be even bigger than previous ones and embrace more people.
Leitholm Village Hall – Gentle Exercise Class – £1890
Gentle exercise class running once per week in the village Hall, predominantly for older women, some of whom have restricted mobility due to arthritis. It provides them with an opportunity to exercise within their capabilities and to socialise with others.
Nature Unlimited CIC – Women for Wellbeing – £22,388
A wellbeing course for women, based in a therapeutic woodland environment, which will give them tools to build and sustain positive mental health. Beneficiaries will be women who are experiencing mental health issues, such as low mood, depression and anxiety, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting social isolation.
Newcastleton and District Community Trust – Mums support hub – £2774
Supporting young and older mums to create a generational group with new and lived experiences to share and to work together to overcome challenges. A regular forum will be interspersed with professional advice from qualified practitioners to help raise confidence levels. Support will be tailored to local needs and allow all to benefit from this project.
Nurture the Borders C.I.C. – Better Together – £26,545
The project will develop a volunteer programme by expanding and enhancing the provision of opportunities within the organisation. Volunteer befrienders will be recruited, trained, supervised and supported to provide one-to-one emotional, practical, and peer support to women who are experiencing challenges with their mental health during the perinatal (pregnancy until baby is aged two) period.
Oor Space Youthy – Oor space parents – £2950
Creating a zone within a community building for parents with teenagers to have a coffee and chat with each other and allow a dedicated community development professional to offer guidance, information and advice. They will also offer each other peer support and a safe space where they can discuss the difficulties in raising teenagers.
Perfect Harmony – Bringing life through music – £2900
Engaging musicians to provide concerts in nursing homes, residential homes/flats, sheltered housing, hospitals, and day care centres in the whole of the Scottish Borders.
Quarriers – Quarriers Resilience for Wellbeing Service – Community Supports – £38,895
Expanding a pilot community provision working with youth rugby teams to support the emotional wellbeing of players aged 16 years old and above. This will focus on youth rugby teams in partnership with other projects such as Live Borders Headstrong Project, which is working with other community groups, in order to make the greatest impact without duplicating work.
Recovery Coaching Scotland CIC Borders Recover Community – Community Recovery Café Initiative – £35,250
Continue to develop a weekly Recovery Café in Galashiels for individuals in recovery who need ongoing support to prevent relapse and to build/rebuild relationships with friends and family and the wider community, improve their mental and/or physical health, secure and/or sustain employment and/or housing, and address historic issues such as debt or offending. The café will also be replicated at community centres in Peebles and Kelso and Jedburgh to create a Recovery Community across the Borders and support 60 individuals per week.
Scottish Borders LGBT Equality Charity – TransGen – £2956
The creation and delivery of a transgender supportive group evening, on a once monthly basis in Galashiels. The group will provide a safe social place to meet on a supportive basis and optional activities aimed at improving mental health outcomes.
STAT SALUS C.I.C. – The Silent Sufferers – £3247
Helping people with bowel conditions blighted with fear of leaving their home. Antibacterial wet wipes to combat contracting commonly transmitted infections from toilets will be provided and relationships with Selkirk-based businesses and educational material will be developed to increase toilet access locally. This will reduce the mental stress associated with leaving the house and the stress of both access to toilets and cleanliness of toilets.
The Tweed Valley Cheyne Gang – Tweed Valley Cheyne Gang singing for joy – £3000
Twice monthly singing for breathing sessions and the recruitment of new membership of people with respiratory disease, who have seen a deterioration in their condition post lockdowns. These will reduce social isolation and loneliness and allow the group to build more connections in the community with other charities supporting mental and physical health. Live streaming of sessions will be provided for those unable to attend as they live further afield or have lost their confidence.
Tweed Togs – Supporting Outdoor Activities and Wellbeing – £9120
By providing essential outdoor clothing to children, Tweed Togs helps parents and carers reduce the financial cost of essential outdoor clothing and access outdoor play despite the challenges of the Scottish weather. This provision improves the self worth and esteem of parents/carers and preserves their dignity. This will help to reduce the barriers to inclusion, improve the feeling of wellbeing of parents and carers and increase their contribution to positive community participation.
Whitsome Village Hall – Whitsome winter warmer – £2362
An informal club for residents to enjoy a free hot lunch and to socialise with their neighbours. Volunteers will source the ingredients and cook the meals and, if necessary, visit the more frail and elderly residents, ideally to transport them to the hall for the event or, at the very least, deliver a lunch to them.