Following our presentation to the Stirling Employability Forum last year, Positive Changes Scotland CIC has strengthened relationships with several local organisations and businesses. These connections have led to new referrals of women now receiving our trauma-informed wellbeing support, increased awareness of our mission, a valuable project collaboration, and additional sales through our award-winning commercial arm, Chocolate & Grace. Many thanks to Gordon and the team at Stirling Council for facilitating such an impactful forum.
"Since taking over from a colleague in May, I have been regularly attending the EEF meetings and continue to be impressed by the high level of participation and the consistently informative presentations. One highlight was in August, when Brodie Paterson from Enable Scotland delivered a captivating session that showcased the valuable work his organisation does. Inspired by his presentation, I approached Brodie to explore opportunities for future partnership working. He was incredibly supportive and later joined us to present at a recent Business Breakfast hosted by CITB and DYW in Stirling. As Brodie is based in Aberdeenshire, I also connected him with a CITB colleague in his area to encourage local collaboration. This experience demonstrates how, although the EEF is rooted locally, it's influence and connections extend across Scotland."
As we approach the end of the calendar year, I wanted to take the opportunity to share an update on the social value delivered to date for Stirling Council, attached is a brief case study highlighting some of the key activities and outcomes achieved. This summary focuses on the initiatives completed and doesn't include those still in the planning stages.
We're proud of the positive impact created so far and look forward to building on this success and delivering even more meaningful social value together in 2026.
Today, in Stirling, we marked International Men's Day 2025 with a powerful on-site brunch event which focused on men's mental health and wellbeing.
We were delighted to welcome Nev from https://uk.linkedin.com/company/men-matter-scotland2025?trk=public_post-text, who delivered an honest and inspiring session on supporting men in our communities.
A huge thank you as well to Lyn and Fiona from https://uk.linkedin.com/company/nhsforthvalley?trk=public_post-text for sharing vital information about mental health services and raising awareness of the support available.
The event was catered for by the fantastic social enterprise Milk Glasgow, whose food was a big hit from everyone!
A big thank you to all our subcontractors who attended and contributed to such a positive atmosphere. Your engagement and openness made this a truly meaningful event.
A great day of connection, learning, and support - and an important reminder that men's mental health matters every day 💙
Cireco were honoured to fund 1 to 1 annual mentorship for of a young child at @GreenRoutesStirling as part of our Community Benefits programme recently. Green Routes offers hands-on training in horticulture and an alternative to classroom-based education. Students have the opportunity to learn and grow, to develop skills for life and the opportunity to get involved in animal husbandry or woodworking and crafts. At Cireco we do more.
We were so grateful for the £250 community benefit award from Stirling Council's Procurement Team, at a time when we were approaching our financial reserves and at risk of closing. We had very recently appointed three new Trustees to our Board, and were at the beginning of a new era for the organisation.
Since then, we've been able to offer one of our playworkers a permanent contract, so that they are de facto deputy to our Manager. This brings significant resilience to the club in a way that was lacking before.
All activity typically pauses out of term time, however during the summer 2024 our Manager and Deputy were able to commit time to planning for the new school year. We now have a target list of external organisations we want to bring into the after-school club during 2024/25, bringing more enriching activities to the children in Cornton.
We also recruited two new playworkers over the summer to start in the autumn term.
On Tuesday 13 August, the day before school started back, we held a COSC Open Day, hosting children and their families for some crafts and fun games. See attached picture, and view our promo video on facebook - https://www.facebook.com/share/v/HyTSiydgtySus7wY/.
We are certainly in a strong position entering the 2024/25 school year compared to previous years, and we're excited for the future of the club.
Callander Youth Project received £500 of Community Benefits Funding from Stirling Council's Procurement Team for their Catering for the Future Programme that offers young people from McLaren High School the opportunity to develop cooking and life skills through practical work experience in a real kitchen environment at Callander Youth Project. The programme is tailored to the needs and interests of each individual young person who are given the freedom to decide which dishes they would like to prepare each week. Working alongside our youth workers, initially, young people learn how to operate in a kitchen safely and hygienically. As young people’s confidence grows, different cooking methods are introduced using a variety of techniques and equipment. This increased knowledge of working around a kitchen is a crucial life skill young people can take with them as they grow older and gain greater independence.
Academic areas such as numeracy skills are also being developed as working with recipes requires the need for measuring ingredients and managing timings as well as increasing their ability to think methodically and follow processes correctly. This combined with young people having a greater sense of responsibility and work ethic has seen improvements in young people’s behaviour and achievement at school according to teacher feedback. Since launching in early 2022, catering for the future has worked with over 30 local young people and continues to provide experiential learning in an enjoyable and engaging manner.
To find out more about the programme please contact Patricia Kent – Callander Youth Project Patricia@cyp.org.uk
Coach My Sport has been awarded £1,000 of Community Benefits Funding from Stirling Council's Procurement Team for their Bronze Personal Development Programme (ASDAN) proposal.
Coach My Sport is delivering the Bronze – Personal Development Programme (ASDAN) with 6 to 8 young people (aged 14 – 16) at a Secondary School in the Stirling area as part of an adapted curriculum offer within Stirling Secondary Schools. the School.
To find out more about the programme please contact Tony Phillips at hello@coachmysport.co.uk