These are exciting times for everyone connected with SCYAP and the TTRO, and I am absolutely delighted to announce that we have been successful in being awarded a three-year grant from BBC Children in Need. This is a significant  endorsement of our Youth Action work, and it will facilitate so many additional opportunities and new developments for local young people and the community. We look forward to working with BBC Children in Need over the next three years and also in partnership with the National Lottery Young Start Programme, along with our other project funders. I would like to personally thank the TTRO who supported me with the BBC Children in Need application process and who undertook the administrative tasks that are required with major funding bids and applications,    

BBC Children in Need are very focussed  upon the positive  differences and impacts that their funded  projects have upon the young people and children that are involved with, and in this respect we will be aligning their funding over the next three years  with three of our key outcomes:    

*Young People will have better connections with the wider community.

*Young people will have increased opportunities to take part in activities that address community safety and reduce their risk taking.

*Young people will increase their social skills, confidence to learn and levels of attainment.

This is a significant phase for  SCYAP in terms of local community developments and the involvement of local young people. There are  number of priorities that  we will be focussed upon over the next few weeks, so this would be an excellent time and opportunity to get involved with our Youth Action Programmes. In response to our recent Development Day and with this new tranche of strategic funding in place  we intend  to coordinate a forward planning day specifically focused upon the new BBC Children in Need resources and I will highlight this and how you can get involved in due course. Linked with this is a commitment to  enhance the role of volunteering with SCYAP , including the creation of a meaningful progression pathway for young volunteers which hopefully also can move them along the employment pipeline.   

Always the Sun:

The Sun has shone on an incredibly busy but dynamic Summer Programme 2026, and we have been witnessing some excellent community involvement and lots of personal developments and achievements. The Totem Pole Active travel Procession took place in blazing sunshine on Wednesday 8^th July,  and it was a fantastic day which connected community with canal. Our colleagues at Go Forth and Clyde conveyed the young people on two canal boats, one being the famous Jaggy Thistle, from lock 16 up over the Falkirk Wheel right to the location of Totem Pole one.  We were then joined by families and friends and supporters from  FEL and the Environment manager at Scottish Canals. The procession worked its way along the active travel route and down the towpath, we stopped at some poles and took part in different nature themed creative activities and games, and the day concluded with a tasty barbecue at the YAG Bench.

Our Communities Treasures:

Creativity is a central facet to the work of SCYAP and this year’s Summer Programme community arts  project was named by the young people: Our Communities Treasures; This was an idea that had been developed by our 10-12’s group during the Development Day at the Well Wild Project on 21st June, this was all about making a treasure trail that highlighted  our most valued local community assets. The Group identified  14 key locations or assets, many  of which had been  developed by young people and SCYAP, including : The Twilight Sports, the Well Wild Woods, Falkirk Wheel, The Wild Bench in Easter Carmuirs Park, The Biodiversity and Active Travel Mural at Camelon Railway Station, the Tamfourhill Community Hub  and a host of others. Our young volunteer Victoria who is  undertaking her Silver Youth Achievement Award was tasked with creating a web page for the treasure trail. Each of the fourteen Community treasurers has a stone designed with a duck and a QR code which are secretly positioned at each of the fourteen locations. The QR code on the stone ducks links you to the webpage and the full treasure trail map. Have a look at our web page here or even better go to the actual  locations and try and find the ducks:

https://www.sarahdiverlang.com/localtreasures

Summer Fun In the Park:

Our community fun days in the park have a theme of Standing up for Nature and this year they are part  funded through the Greenspace Scotland Parks4Life Community Fund. We started in a very blowy Easter Carmuirs Park on the 2^{nd of} July and were very busy with families and young people. The smoothie bike proving very  popular and illustrating the power of sustainable and reusable energy and off course the production of a tasty and personalised smoothie. Our colleagues from FEL also attended with Dr Bike, lots of scooters to encourage active travel around the park and with  some environmental  engagement tools. The sports as always are very  popular with fun football and rollerblading provided by our long-term partners  the Falkirk Wheelers’.  There were nature focussed activities with the design a  plant pot and plant a pea seed and the production of bird nesting boxes. Our Communities treasurers was represented by a map making stall where people could screen print a map of all the main community assets that appear on the online treasure trail. The second fun  in the park took place  on Thursday 23^rd July in Nailer Road  Park, the sun again shone down upon everyone who came along and engaged with the green assets within our community. The final Summer Fun in the Park session is scheduled for Thursday August 6^th 1pm-4pm in the wee park on Carradale Ave next to the Games Court in Tamfourhill.    

And Finally:

A big part of our Summer Programme has taken place at the Well Wild Forest school , Bushcraft and Nature Therapy Project, and at this time of writing we are preparing for the final stage of our overnight survival activity. The group of ten young people have been preparing and practicing their skills all this week and very soon they will put them into meaningful practice. This activity is part of their Dynamic Youth Award programme, and their personal developments and learning have to date been very noteable. I will provide further details  of the overnight survival experience and the wider Youth Awards programmes in next month’s blog.