The official opening Celebration of the Safer Communities Youth Action Projects (SCYAP) Camelon Railway Station Biodiversity & Community Art Project will take place at 12 noon on Wednesday 16th July on the footbridge leading from Nailer Road onto Camelon Railway Station. This Community Arts Project is a collaboration led by SCYAP and supported by both Scotrail and Network Rail Scotland. The mural on the bridge and the totem pole installations were developed and designed by young people from P7 at Carmuirs Primary School and members of the SCYAP Youth Action Group.
Active Travel Event:
The day will then continue from 1pm to 4pm at the nearby Nailer Road Park with an Active travel Event which is open to all the community. (To take part in the activities youngsters under 10 years old must be accompanied by a responsible adult 16+ years old) The Active travel Event is linked to our young person led Community Climate Action Plan and was a recommendation of the SCYAP Climate Action Events which took place in February and March this year and involved over 80 local young people.
The Active Travel Event will include the following:
Cycling Without Age will provide guided rides on their Trishaws from 1pm-4pm in Nailer Road Park.
Forth Environment Link will provide rides on their adapted bikes from 1pm-4pm in Nailer Road Park
Forth Environment Link will provide a led walk departing from Camelon Railway Station at the conclusion of the mural opening: approx. 12.30pm
The Falkirk Wheelers will provide inline skating at Nailer Road Park 1pm-4pm
Falkirk Council Energy & Climate Change Team: Information stall all day in the park
SCYAP Design your own plant pot, fun football led by our community coach & Snacks and drinks.1pm-4pm in Nailer Road Park.
The programme offers a wide variety of opportunities for young people including hands on arts and creativity workshops, outdoor learning and an overnight survival experience and our Summer Fun in the Park sessions.
A key community event on the Programme will be our Active Travel Day scheduled for Wednesday 16th July from 12 noon to 4pm and which will also coincide with the opening of the Community art mural and nature project at Camelon Railway Station. The day will begin at the Railway Station where there will be an official opening of the public art mural and the nature installations and will involve both Scotrail and Network Rail along with the young community artists from SCYAP. This has been an excellent partnership and collaborative Project which will bring about environmental improvements and also much improve the experience of traveling to and from Camelon Railway Station. It made absolute sense to align this celebration with our Active Travel Day as the themes of both events are focused upon environmental improvement, helping nature and promoting climate action. The Active Travel Day, which will take place in the nearby Nailer Road Park, is an outcome of the involvement of over 80 young people who took part in the SCYAP Climate Action events which were held at Tamfourhill Community Hub back in February and March of this year. The day will include various forms of active travel, including: Inline skating, bicycles, rickshaws, adapted bike rides and also information stalls provided by Falkirk Councils Energy and Climate Change Team. SCYAP will also provide some snacks and drinks, and a fun football session, so please keep an eye out for these events details which will be posted on our social media and will also feature on the Falkirk Council website and other local forums.
On Wednesday 18th June we had the pleasure of attending a Picnic in Easter Carmuirs Park to celebrate with family , school and community the installation of the new Wild Bench. SCYAP had over the last 3 months worked with the P7 class at Easter Carmuirs Primary School to design a seating bench with a planter which was to be located into the play park within Easter Carmuirs Park. The young people designed this Wild Bench which in addition to providing some much-needed seating for the play park also encourages biodiversity through helping local nature and the wildlife that lives in the park. Our Youth Action approach is always concerned with facilitating multiple benefits for both local young people and the wider community, and in this Project the park and local families will now be able to enjoy this new facility when visiting the park, the participating young people have all gained Dynamic Youth Awards through their participation and there is also the additional benefit for the local environment and its biodiversity. The young people have designed the benches with wild nature in mind, and this is reflected with the artwork which decorates the bench and planter, and through planting pollinators this will truly be a Wild Bench for Easter Carmuirs Park.
I was pleased to be invited to Falkirk High School on 5th June to attend and participate in the Falkirk School Pupils Climate Summit or COP2. SCYAP has supported our own Community Climate Action Plan, so it was really useful and pleasing to see how well aligned that our climate actions are to the work of young people from schools throughout Falkirk. The workshops were interesting and reflected the commitment of young people to take positive action to tackle the climate crisis. I would want to give a big shout out to Green New Deal Rising for facilitating an excellent workshop, as an organisation they are focused upon campaigning for climate justice and making Scotland a greener, more equitable and environmentally sustainable nation. Green New Deal Rising is building a movement of young people to fight for a response to the climate crisis that totally transforms our economy to deliver a safe climate and fairer society. We believe in people power, and through a combination of disrupting the political system and reaching into our communities, we plan to make the Green New Deal an era-defining issue.
I would also like to acknowledge and thank the pupils from Falkirk high School, Maya and Olivia who regularly attended and contributed to the work of our Community Climate Action Plan Core Group, and I wish them well as they move onto further education.
Finally, I would like to convey our thanks to the Camelon Community Sports Hub who have awarded a grant to SCYAP to operate our Twilight Sports Programme over the winter of 2025/26. The longer-term funding which has supported this programme over the last three years concludes at the end of this calendar year, so there are longer term challenges ahead in terms of the Twilight Sports and other programmes we deliver with local young people.
The seasons seem to move so quickly and with the arrival of the lighter nights and with such an amazing spring we have speedily arrived at the start of this year’s Twilight Sports Programme. We look forward to welcoming lots of regular faces and hopefully plenty of new ones to the opening session on Friday 30th May 6pm-9pm in Easter Carmuirs park. Once again we will have the Falkirk Wheelers providing the Skating and the football being provided in conjunction with Stenhousemuir FC Community Foundation. The full programme is detailed below and over the 12 weeks we will have all the usual big games , food and drink , a monthly barbecue, nature based and creative activities and Forth Environment Links Dr Bike in attendance for 6 weeks of the programme providing their fabulous bike maintenance service. Dr Bike along with our regular visits from the Fire and Rescue Service and community police officers are reminders of this programmes community safety approach. The origins of the Twilights sports are to be found in the Our Place Community Safety Strategy for Camelon and Tamfourhill and we continue to align the Twilight Programme to that purpose. This is achieved through providing local young people a safe place to socialise, take part in games and sport , form positive relationships with the different services and link into other community learning opportunities all on Friday nights in local public parks.
The Community safety strategy remains a relevant framework for supporting wider local Youth Action, and that has been reflected over the last six months with the SCYAP and local young people’s ongoing role and involvement with developing and confirming the Camelon Community Action Plan. The Falkirk Community Planning Partnership describes a community action plan (CAP) as a participatory tool that helps community members identify and address the problems, needs, and potential within their community. It also aims to encourage community involvement and management of their environment. A community action plan can include various programs and activities that are designed to improve the quality of life and well-being of the community The Camelon CAP was officially launched last Tuesday evening 20TH May in the Forth Valley Sensory Centre and it was an amazing experience for some of the young people involved with SCYAP , along with members of our Youth Action Group , young people from the local primary schools, staff and volunteers to all attend the multi-agency community launch and provide three youth action stalls. I cannot praise the young people highly enough, they were brilliant ambassadors for their peers, schools, youth project and the community and they provided a real sense of community participation throughout the event. The Link to the Camelon CAP is below:
Our Community artist was also in attendance at the launch and aligned to the CAP ethos and its engagement process we showcased our two big community arts and environmental improvement projects. The nature, active travel mural and totem pole installations for Camelon Railway Station were well received by the leader of the Council and the representatives of the other organisations and the mural in particular also received lots of interest from local people. The benches and planter for Easter Carmuirs Park was also very popular and people got a chance to add their decorative prints to a scaled version of the bench. There is a diary of sessions and workshops for community involvement and participation with the Railway Station project , young people just turn up at the workshops at Tamfourhill Community Hub and the sessions at the railway station will operate on a drop-in basis. The plan is to hold an official opening of the Railway station art installations along with an active travel day in mid-July, and we will off course publicise that day’s events and how you can get involved. I would like to personally thank Scotrail for their funding towards this project and the support of Network Rail.
Our third stall was presented by our young volunteer Leo Cierpikowski and highlighted and celebrated our various Youth Awards programmes and activities. Leo himself has recently begun his Silver Youth Achievement Award after successfully gaining his Bronze. His Silver challenge is focussed upon further developing his leadership skills and community involvement. This young man is an outstanding role model and community activist and can have a significant leadership role with the relvevant aspects of the Camelon CAP.
The SCYAP Summer Programme 2025 is scheduled to begin on July 4th, and it will be a programme that includes creativity, community projects, outdoor learning and an overnight survival experience, canal-based activities and lots of summer fun in the park. In next month’s blog I will publish the full programme and details of how to get booked onto the sessions.
April has been a busy time at SCYAP, and we were so happy with the amazing weather we had for both our Easter Programme and the Canal benches celebrations. The parks were busy with activities, and I would like to personally thank all our partners who made such a significant contribution to the success of the Programme and ensuring that it was fully enjoyed by the staff and young people. Forth Environment Link who delivered their Dr Bike Service, and the amazing oven baked pizzas at each of the three parks, the artistic and the creative inputs of our community artist Sarah Diver and the amazing FEL Smoothie bike at Nailer Road Park. The Falkirk Wheelers kept everyone wheeching around the parks and the Stenhousemuir FC Community Foundation who despite the heat kept the football flowing. It was also great that our young volunteers were able to carry out some much needed weeding and re-planting at the mindfulness benches in the park on Carradale Avenue in Tamfourhill.
The Canal benches have now been available to users of the towpath for several months, but it was really important to host a community celebration to acknowledge the creativity and the inputs of the young people of Camelon and Tamfourhill. The new benches are an integral part of the Falkirk Five Trail https://www.scottishcanals.co.uk/about-us/maintaining-and-developing-the-canals/our-projects/5km-active-travel-route-development and it was a day of community celebration at the location of Canal bench two at Tamfourhill. This was a Jagtastic day with such an amazing atmosphere with the members of our Youth Action group arriving at the event on the Jaggy Thistle canal boat, thanks you so much to Go Forth and Clyde for providing this opportunity , and for many of our group it was their first experience of both cruising on a canal boat and the entire Falkirk Wheel experience. Gus from the Scottish Federation of Coarse Angling provided a taster experience of coarse angling and this was also a new opportunity for many of the young people and James was overjoyed to catch his first perch. The Falkirk Wheelers along with our young volunteers provided guided skating trips along the towpath with Make it Glasgow running creative activities under the gazebo. The day was made even more memorable by the live music and the tasty barbecue with fruit kebabs.
A wonderful day of community celebration of the canal
There are two local community arts projects which we have been supporting, initially with the local primary schools, and both are aligned to our Climate Action priorities and are focussed upon; active travel and helping nature and wildlife.
Camelon Railway Station: Biodiversity and Community Arts Project
The first phase of this Project has involved the P7 class at Carmuirs Primary School designing a mural which will be painted onto the footbridge at Camelon railway station, a location that will greatly benefit from an environmental and creative upgrade. We picked up on the nature and animals theme that young people had highlighted at the recent Climate Action Events, and they worked over several weeks with designing and creating their own animals. The active travel element of the different designed animals was explored through interactive games in the playground. The mural as illustrated above depicts how long it would take for their different animals to travel to the young people’s important locations in the neighbourhood.
The next phase of this project will involve young people from the local area building creative totem poles, bug hotels and planting pollinators around the footpath leading onto the footbridge at the station. I will keep the community informed of opportunities for young people’s further involvement and updated with the progress of this Project, and we are very grateful to Scotrail who have part funded this project.
The Easter Carmuirs Park bench & planter project:
This creation has involved the P7 class at Easter Carmuirs primary school and forms an important part of their Dynamic Youth Award challenge. Again, we picked up on the young peoples main issues as raised at the Climate Action Event that was held in February. The progress of this Project is reliant upon a process of community consultation and is also linked to a planed upgrade of the play park area and that is all detailed on the flyer below:
Young Peoples Priorities for Climate Action
Suggested Activities
Led by/Partners
Resources
When
Encouraging Active Travel
Organise 2 active travel events: including led rides, Dr Bike & experiencing different wheel sports as a means of active travel.
FELFalkirk WheelersSCYAP
Partners existing budgets
Summer/Autumn 2025
Campaigning for local climate action
Deliver 3 public arts projects and or creative advertising/social media campaigns on issues agreed by young people.Develop a local climate charter for businesses, community groups & organisations.Support classroom and community building climate audits.
Plant wildflower meadows and establish biodiverse planters & wildlife gardening in public spaces/parks.Build bug houses & Bat/bird boxes and erect them around the community.Arrange tree planting sessions at suitable locations in the community.
The Community Climate Action Plan for Camelon and Tamfourhill was developed by a core group of local partners and that process was facilitated by Keep Scotland Beautiful throughout the spring and summer 2022. The Plan has facilitated a number of local climate action projects, including: The very recently completed Tamfourhill Energy Efficiency and Net Zero Hub Project, a wide array of environmental improvement projects, community growing initiatives and young person led community arts recycling projects. Although this Plan continues to be a valuable framework for tackling climate change at a community level, SCYAP believed it could be greatly enhanced and reinvigorated by organising young person led Climate Action Events. These would involve various hands-on workshops facilitating experiential learning, were empowering and giving young people a meaningful voice, encouraging further collaboration between the community, schools and relevant agencies and successfully identifying young people’s priorities for future community-based climate action in Camelon and Tamfourhill. The Climate Action Events were delivered through February and March 2025 and were part funded through the FEL Seed Grant Funding and the SCYAP core youth action funds. The intention is to now confirm a delivering plan for local young person climate action over the next 12 months which will be fully aligned to our existing CCAP.
83 Young people, 10-15 years old took part in 3 Climate Change Events held at Tamfourhill Community Hub , involving Carmuirs and Easter Carmuirs Primary Schools, Falkirk High School and members of the SCYAP Youth Awards Group. They all participated in a number of themed workshops, including:
Recycle, Reuse , Reduce: Our SCYAP Community artist delivered a workshop focused on sewing, using left over materials and fabrics and which attempted to share skills in sewing and reusing materials as a way or example of how to reduce waste. The young people were tasked with creating badges which contained a symbol of a climate opportunity they felt was most important to them and based upon the Falkirk Schools Climate Agreement. It was noted that young people felt most connected to protecting the natural environment and wildlife, with energy and transport also being important – waste and food growing seemed to be much less important.
Waste Management : Falkirk Council facilitated an interactive workshop around the councils approaches to waste management and highlighting the environmental impacts of waste, litter and fly tipping.
Sustainable food networks: This workshop was delivered by FEL and involved watching some video footage and discussing facts about the environmental impact of world-wide food production and some food tasting took place.
Active Travel and reducing our Carbon footprint: These sessions were delivered by FEL Project Officers and Falkirk Councils Energy and Climate Change Coordinator. In the first activity young people were asked to indicate which actions they thought would result in the highest Greenhouse Gas reductions using counters on a table and the groups then talked through discrepancies between beliefs held by the general public and the reality of potential Greenhouse Gas emissions reductions. Young people indicated which actions they would be willing to take using counters, they also discussed the practicalities of taking on these actions and weighing up other concerns with making those emission savings (e.g. financial cost, time, and convenience) the second activity was focussed upon making suitable net zero adaptations in the Communithy and encouraged creativity and problem-solving, with participants sharing their thoughts on how to improve the environment. Over 150 ideas and observations were submitted, covering a range of topics such as reducing pollution, active travel, increasing green spaces, and using renewable energy sources. The workshop helped the young participants understand the importance of sustainable living, showing them how small changes in their communities can have a big impact on the planet. The event emphasised practical actions like better waste management, more eco-friendly transport options, and the need for greener buildings. Finally, was an opportunity for every young person to have a go at the very popular smoothie bike: At this activity the young people spoke about how the energy we create from our own bodies can be used to help the environment, from walking or cycling to school, to powering a blender that would usually be powered by electricity, by bike and therefore our bodied energy. The fruits that were used in the smoothie bike were all healthy and fairtrade and this emphasised the positive impact that healthy food can have on our bodies and on the planet. This approach was further emphasised by the opportunity for every young person to make their own fruit kebab as a low carbon snack
Helping Nature & the Environment: This input was delivered by volunteers from SCYAP and the Scottish Wildlife Trust and had 2 distinct elements, firstly; young people were tasked with building bat boxes, bird nesting boxes and bug hotels, it was very hands on and very much enjoyed by the young people with 14 boxes being built over the 3 events, and secondly: groups of young people were accompanied to the woodland area beside the Hub to carry out a survey and analysis of the different habitats and places for wildlife, and taking consideration of some of the challenges and risks to these habitats, especially in relation of littering. This session concluded with a litter pick of the woods and later the installation of the bird, bug and bat boxes along with a hedgehog house.
Plenary and casting your votes session: Each event concluded with an opportunity for every young person to cast 2 votes, a first and second preference vote for their priorities for local climate action. The intention was for young people to cast their votes in line with their experiential learning over the day, and there were six themed ballot boxes for casting their votes:
Campaigning for Climate Change
Community Growing Projects
Environmental Improvement Projects
Encourage Active Travel
Helping Nature & Encouraging Biodiversity
Recycle, Reuse & Reduce
The Next Steps:
Having collated the voting returns as detailed above an action plan will now be proposed for young person led climate action in Camelon and Tamfourhill. Although priorities vary between age groups the feedback from partners workshops allied to young people’s voting response indicates that the key areas for future activity should be focused upon:
Encouraging active travel
Campaigning for local Climate Action
Helping nature and encouraging biodiversity
Community growing projects.
A draft report with recommendations for a young person led climate action plan will be presented to the next meeting of our CCAP Core Group on 22nd April 2025, I will off course present that outcome in Mays SCYAP blog, with the view to full implementation from the summer of 2025. Watch this space !
Any finally:
Our Easter Programme 2025: All activities are free, food & drink are provided, you just turn up and if required registration forms will be issued. The Twilight Sports sessions are open to all 10–16-year-olds and I am pleased to advise that Dr Bike will be in attendance along with the smoothie bike at each twilight sports sessions over the 3 locations , the snacks will be pizzas and make your own fruit kebabs.
The Canal benches celebration on Friday 11th April 12noon to 4pm is being hosted by our Youth Action Group and is open to all the community, we would advise however that anyone under 10 years of age must be accompanied by an adult. The programme on the 11th will include: arts & creativity, nature activities, active travel, an angling taster opportunity , a barbecue with fruit kebabs and live musical entertainment.
Thanks to our partners: FEL Scotland Falkirk Wheelers Go Forth and Clyde Make it Glasgow
Further details available at: john@ttrohub.co.uk & 07391524528
The Twilight Sports Winter Programme was operational through November 2024 until the last session on Friday 21st February 2025 in Tamfourhill Community Hub . Once again, I would like to highlight that we were unable to operate the second half of the Winter indoor Programme from Easter Carmuirs Primary School and I am aware that many young people have missed out as a consequence of that situation. The Falkirk Wheelers, as many local people will be aware, have been prevented from using the halls and gymnasiums on the Councils school estate, and despite their best efforts and the pressures of others to get this erroneous decision overturned they continue to be unable to make use of these facilities. The SCYAP continues to support the Falkirk Wheelers, and we will get involved with any future public demonstrations that campaign to get this access reinstated. We are however very grateful to the Tamfourhill Community Hub committee for their ongoing support through making their centre available for our use on a Friday night despite all the building improvements and new net zero energy technologies that are being installed. The Twilight Sports programme continued to be well attended with young people developing great skills and confidence on the wheels along with their footballing skills and this has been noted by the respective sports coaches. The social and developmental aspects of engaging with healthy activities in a safe and supportive environment is clearly valued by local young people and their families. My thanks therefore to the Wheelers and our new football coach Ewan at the Stenhousemuir Community Foundation. There has also been significant contributions from our young Twilight Sports volunteers and it’s great to see them all undertaking Youth Awards as part of their volunteering involvement.
SCYAP Angling Group
The angling Group eventually got their opportunity to take part in a coach led session at Magiscroft Coarse Fishery, this was after a third classroom-based session where they had learnt about different species and their anatomies, baits and ground baits and how to set up their rods and reels. This preparation and learning was evident at the fishery, however the freezing cold and snowy conditions made for very difficult angling conditions. The group were using whips prior to practicing their casting with a rod and reel set up. The very cold-water conditions discourage the fish from feeding but despite these adverse circumstances every young person managed to catch at least one fish , including some nice sized roach and a roach bream hybrid. Our thanks to Gus and John from the Scottish Federation of Coarse Angling , these guys are exceptional anglers and a fountain of knowledge on all matters angling. The Group will continue to meet for learning sessions, go on further angling trips and complete their Youth Awards. This Project very much illustrates that learning can be enjoyable , social and take place in so many diverse contexts.
Outdoor learning and nature therapy
We have formed a fruitful partnership with the Well Wild-A therapeutic approach to Forest School & Bushcraft based in the Rough Castle Woods, and this has facilitated a wide array of learning opportunities and the development of core skills for the young people we work with. The activities are really focused on core interpersonal and social attributes , including, communication, trust, resilience and teamwork and our partnership has opened up these opportunities to a wider array of local young people. Our close involvement with the local primary schools has enabled the Youth Action Project to better achieve its key outcomes of better connecting young people with their local community and to deliver accredited learning opportunities. In addition, this February we also had our own Youth Award Group participating in bushcraft and survival activities which have facilitated positive relationship building and improved confidence in wider learning for these young people. An outstanding feature of working with the Well Wild Project is the therapeutic and reflective qualities that are facilitated through young peoples engagement with the natural environment. Often it is those quiet almost spiritual moments that instil an understanding and appreciation of nature and a sense of individual wellbeing that young people will take with them throughout their lives. And into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my sole: John Muir I would really like to thank John Wells for his empathetic and flexible approach at his Well Wild Project it has enabled the SCYAP to support young people achieve their various personal targets on their development journey to achieving various youth awards.
Community Orchard Planted in Camelon:
SCYAP are supporting a small group of boys from P6 at Carmuirs Primary School to gain a Dynamic Youth Award with a challenge that involves them getting more involved with and improving their local community. Recently with the support of the Environmental Manager at Scottish Canals we were able to create a new community orchard on the towpath of the Forth and Clyde canal near to lock 16. The Group worked tirelessly as they prepared the ground, digging the holes, planting the fruit trees and putting in the compost. This is a magnificent legacy for these young people and the community will be able to pick their own fruit as they make use of the canal and the towpath. This is a community development project facilitated though local Youth Action and is fully aligned to our Community Climate Action Plan. This then is an appropriate point to conclude this blog and a useful means to highlight next month’s main blog topic of reviewing our three Climate Action Events. I will then next month be able to confirm young people’s priorities for tackling climate change in Tamfourhill ,Bantaskin and Camelon.
I want to start our first blog of the new year by emphasising the importance of youth work and the positive contributions it makes to both young people and the wider community. I have spent the last year writing Blogs that highlight the successes of our Youth Action Projects and activities and the benefits to both the young people and the community. At every opportunity I have flagged up and reiterated that our Youth Action approach is underpinned by the dual benefits it affords to young people and the wider community. In this respect I want to encourage as many people as possible to contribute to the consultation that is currently taking place in relation to the proposed Youth Work (Scotland) Bill. This is a Private Members Bill, and it will therefore require after the consultation process is completed, the support of at least 18 cross Party MSPS’s, after which the proposals will move through the 3-stage scrutiny process before eventually coming before our parliament, to hopefully be confirmed as a new Act. The deadline to respond to the consultation is 31st March 2025: Here is the link to the draft Bill and the consultation: https://www.parliament.scot/bills-and-laws/proposals-for-bills/proposed-youth-work-scotland-bill
The Safer Communities Youth Action Project is concerned and completely focussed upon achieving these key outcomes:
Young People will have better connections with the wider community
Young people will improve their mental and physical health and wellbeing
Young people will have increased opportunities to take part in activities that address community safety and reduces their risk taking.
Young people will increase their social skills, confidence to learn and levels of attainment.
Young people will grow as active citizens, expressing their voice and enabling change.
I am advocating that the adoption of this Bill into Scots law will provide a legal basis and a mandatory commitment for our services, agencies, community organisations and governments to ensure these key outcomes and similar aspirations are delivered universally throughout Scotland. I am being overtly political and requesting your support for this Bill through responding to the consultation, and here are some of the reasons I believe this is a good idea for both our young people and our communities:
The Key Objectives of the proposed Bill would include:
Universal Access: Mandating youth work services to be available to all young people aged 11–25, with particular focus on targeted support for disadvantaged groups.
Equity and Fairness: Breaking down systemic barriers to ensure youth work is inclusive and accessible, regardless of geography or background.
Sustainability: Establishing a dedicated Youth Work Fund to ensure consistent, high-quality service delivery across Scotland.
The Bill mandates that local authorities develop comprehensive Youth Work strategies that align with a National Youth Work Strategy and address the specific needs of their communities.
These strategies will be required to:
• Reflect the voices of young people, involving them directly in shaping
services.
• Respect young people’s rights under the UN Convention on the Rights
of the Child (UNCRC) by ensuring their right to participate, develop,
and access support.
• Integrate youth work with broader community services, including
education, health, and social care, for a holistic approach.
• Establish sustainable funding models to maintain resilient and
adaptable youth work services
The alignment between our own key outcomes and the above proposed strategies are both consistent and complimentary.
The consultation asks questions around a number of themes relating to the Bill, firstly it asks the reasons why we believe legislation is required, SCYAP responded:
There is a need for Youth work to be a statutory service and to have professional parity with other educational and social work provisions, and this is required consistently throughout Scotland. It will ensure that the voices and contributions of young people have a statutory footing, especially in terms of how future services are resourced, planned, provided and delivered. Youth Empowerment will in effect be embedded in law and statute.
Secondly the cost and financial impacts upon other public services and businesses of making Youth work a legal right for every young Scot with its own ring-fenced mandatory budget is questioned, SCYAP highlighted the following:
Making strategic and sustained investments in youth work and ensuring that young people’s services are delivered collaboratively and in partnership will make significant savings to other public sector budgets, including Health, Criminal justice and education. The contributions of young people will have significant financial benefits to the wider community and most importantly much of this will be social capital through improved community cohesion and active citizenship.
How would this proposed Bill relate to and impact upon equalities, SCYAP Stated:
This Bill would require to be inclusive and remove barriers to involvement whether they are by age, gender, poverty, race, geography, sexual orientation and so on. The Law would by necessity have to mitigate exclusion and ensure that all sectors of the youth population were able to access appropriate services and opportunities equitably and on their own terms.
A new law can impact on work to protect and enhance the environment, achieve a sustainable economy, and create a strong, healthy, and just society for future generations, How should this Bill relate to sustainability and protecting the environment, SCYAP highlighted
Undoubtedly there will be an impact upon the environment and the aim of improved sustainability, this Bill will need to give cognizance to Scotland’s journey to Net Zero whilst also aiming to create a tolerant, inclusive and equitable society. Youth work needs to champion these values and aspirations, and this Bill must be an enabler of these conditions and standards. The Bill should be concerned with promoting young people’s involvement with the outdoors, of its therapeutic values and our responsibility to conserve and facilitate environmental improvements. Climate action should be a central facet of all community-based youth activities, and this should be aligned to a strategic climate action commitment
Any finally , SCYAP offered a summary statement of support:
This is a unique opportunity to enshrine youth empowerment and youth action in Scottish statute and it should be progressed. Scotland can be greatly improved nation through active engagement with young people and by communities taking greater ownership of their own development. This Bill must embrace those values through a national strategic commitment to youth work and youth action. Funding should be ring fenced and protected for this to happen; however, it should be devolved to local decision making as much as possible and avoid a recentralization of control by Local authorities. The third sector can play a crucial role, and funding needs to be sensitive to local dynamics and opportunities which can include young people making significant budgetary decisions.
Finally, a reminder that our Twilight Sport programme continues throughout January and into February and won’t be interrupted by the installation of the Tamfourhill Community Hubs new low carbon energy and heating system and upgraded with new toilets. The full programme is below:
In next month’s blog I hope to be able to introduce 2 new community development projects for Camelon and a review of recent groupwork with local young people.
This is my last Blog of 2024 , and I would like to finish the year on a positive and upbeat tone. I will be highlighting the recent Youth Action work with young people where we have provided opportunities for giving them a meaningful voice within the Camelon Community Action Plan and in their achievements through gaining various national Youth Awards.
The Camelon Community Action Plan is concerned with confirming a 10-year strategy and vision for Camelon that includes local improvements and priorities that are agreed by the local community. This process is well aligned to the SCYAP Key Outcome: Young people becoming active citizens, expressing their views and enabling changeand Young People having better connections with the community.
SCYAP therefore worked with the Councils Community Planning Officer and facilitated a number of youth engagement workshops with P7 classes at Carmuirs and Easter Carmuirs primary schools and young people who attended the Twilight Sports in Easter Carmuirs Park. A wide array of aspirations were documented through a mapping and photo auditing process, some of these issues will form a part of the finalised CAP but there were also a number of specific local youth action projects which SCYAP is now very enthusiastic to move forward.
The installation of new benches and planters into Easter Carmuirs Park based on the mindfulness benches that the Youth Action Group designed and installed for the Basketball Court and Park in Tamfourhill back in 2023. This Project will hopefully be taken forward in early 2025 by Easter Carmuirs Primary 7 class as part of their Youth Action in the Community Programme. There will be further community consultation about these benches and this process and how to get involved will be highlighted on our social media in the new year.
In addition, the P7 Class will also be clearing up the park and planting an orchard in Easter Carmuirs Park as part of the Community Volunteering Action Earth Project which is funded by Nature Scot.
Carmuirs Primary School P7 and the Youth Action Group will both potentially be contributing to a community arts project at Camelon Railway Station along with other environmental improvements and biodiversity activities at the railway station and other local green spaces in Camelon.
It was with great pleasure that on Friday 6th December that I awarded 14 Dynamic Youth Awards to young people who had gained these awards through their involvement on our Summer Programme 2024, this included the Community arts project; The fantastic animals woodland trail, The Junior Sports Leadership Award and the Bushcraft and overnight survival programme. This is a great credit to all the young people, and I would want to also give special mention to Jorga Muir who earned 2 Three Star Dynamic Youth Awards and Leo Cierpikowski who received a certificate of distinction for his outstanding contributions to local youth action. The awards ceremony took place at Tamfourhill Community Hub and was attended by parents, families and friends and included a power point presentation from Jorga and a display of photographs from the various award activities that took place over the summer.
I have previously highlighted in our blog and Facebook page the new partnership we have agreed with the Scottish Federation of Coarse Angling which has arisen from an interest amongst young people in fishing the local canals. This programme is a further accredited opportunity for the 8 young people in the Group and we started with a session in the Hub where we learnt how to set up a float rig and make a loop knot. Unfortunately, due to the freezing conditions we have had to cancel our planned trips to Magiscroft Coarse Fishery, however we will reschedule this trip for the new year along with other indoor sessions looking at fishing tackle and techniques.
I have previously written about our plans to relaunch the Community Climate Action Plan for Camelon and Tamfourhill and I am now able to confirm the dates for three young person led Climate Action events which will form the basis for the Plans relaunch:
Friday 7th February 2025 10am-2pm in Tamfourhill Community Hub: P7 local primary schools.
Sunday 23rd February 2025 11am – 3pm in Tamfourhill Community Hub: Young people From the local area.
Friday 7th March 2025 10am-2pm in Tamfourhill Community Hub SI & S2 from FHS
Staying on the Climate Action theme there is great news that Tamfourhill Community Hub has begun installing a sustainable and renewable energy efficient system which includes cavity wall and roof insulation , positioning solar panels on the roof of the building and with a ASHP heat pump system along with a number of new energy efficiency measures and a battery storage system. The Tamfourhill Energy Efficiency and Net Zero project received 80% funding from the Scottish Governments Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) with 20% match funding also being secured from the Scottish Power Energy Networks Transmission Net Zero Fund. This really is a success story with the Hub leading the way in Falkirk district on Scotland’s journey to net zero, this project will have significant positive environmental impacts, reducing our carbon footprint whilst massively reducing the Hubs energy costs. This project was originally stated as a longer-term aim of the Local Community Climate Action Plan which was also linked to the local community safety strategy so on many levels both personal and professional I am overjoyed to have played a supporting role with the Hubs committee in bringing this environmentally progressive project to its actual realisation.
Finally on behalf of the staff and volunteers at the Safer Communities Youth Action Project and the Tamfourhill Tenants and Residents Organisation we wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a guid new year.
The nights are darker, and winter is here, so I am glad to illuminate the gloom by announcing that the Twilight Sports Winter Programme returns on Friday 8th November from 6pm-8pm in Tamfourhill Community Hub. The main activities will be football and rollerblading and on the 8th we will also have Dr Bike in attendance who will service your bikes for winter and issue every cyclist with a light. The Programme is open to all 10 – 16-year-olds and food and drink will be provided, and this is all free of charge thanks to our funders at the Falkirk Community Schools Fund and the National Lottery Young Start Programme. There will be some special sporting activities on the programme, and these will be confirmed and announced nearer to the particular date, the regular programme is detailed on the attached flyer.
I am very disappointed that the Twilight Sports Programme will not be visiting Easter Carmuirs Primary School this winter and this is due to Facilities Management banning rollerblading from all Falkirk Council school halls and gymnasiums. We did not want to deliver part of the Programme without our valued colleagues and partners the Falkirk Wheelers, so the decision had to be made to not make use of the school hall at Easter Carmuirs. I know this is to the disadvantage off young people from that neighbourhood, but we would consider some type of safe transport provision for these young people ,if there was demonstrable intertest. I would like to explicitly put on record my opposition to this ban and I am particularly frustrated at how an engaging healthy sporting activity like this can be spuriously removed from the community and indeed the school curriculum. There is inconvenience to us locally and community safety concerns however there is also a much bigger picture here where young people are being prevented from participating in a very healthy sporting activity that addresses health inequalities , reduces the attainment gap and facilitates positive social development. There has been objections raised, and an informal campaign being promoted by the Falkirk Wheelers and we fully support all of their actions and would encourage parents , careers and concerned individuals and groups to approach elected members or highlight the matter in any local or national forums. A summary to the background to this situation can be found here: https://falkirkwheelers.co.uk/mitie_ban.php I would also like to use this opportunity of thanking the Committee at Tamfourhill Community Hub who have been willing to accommodate the entire winter Twilight Sports programme from November through to February, it is very much appreciated.
On a much more positive note, I am delighted to report on the formation of a new partnership between the SCYAP and the Scottish Federation for Coarse Angling, which will deliver a bespoke angling programme for local young people. I am aware that many young people enjoy fishing on the local canals, and we have also ran fishing trips as part of our summer programmes, so this new partnership will provide an excellent accredited learning opportunity. The course will begin on Thursday 14th November at Tamfourhill Community Hub at 6pm and will involve some indoor sessions and then coached angling sessions at Magiscroft Coarse Fishery, the local canals and a trout fishery. All the participating young people will be able to gain a national award and the programme will includes: water safety, fish biology, fish welfare and safe handling of fish, fishing tackle and tackling up and of course the best methods and approaches to catching fish. There will also be volunteering opportunities provided and the potential to then go on to gain an angling coach qualification , this is a fully funded package and there will be no cost for the young people or volunteers. If you are interested then please contact me directly at john@ttrohub.co.uk and more details about the SFCA can be found here: https://www.sfca.co.uk/
The Community Climate Action Plan has to date facilitated many opportunities and a wide array of activities like community growing initiatives, encouraging biodiversity, active travel and the Tamfourhill energy efficiency and net zero hub project, and this has involved various groups and schools throughout Camelon and Tamfourhill. The time felt right for a relaunch of the CCAP and in line with the ethos of Youth Action it seemed very appropriate to revisit the Plan and involve young people with confirming the current priorities for tacking climate change at a community level. The SCYAP were recently successful in securing another FEL Seed Grant with the purpose of relaunching our CCAP and fully involving young people with that process. In partnership with FEL we will be holding a number of roadshow events in the community where young people and the existing CCAP Core Group members can revisit the original plan and enhance those actions or indeed set new local climate change actions. These events will provide a hands-on experience with different activities being available that involve active travel, community growing, examples of sustainability and creativity with the arts, and all involving some element of fun based consultation. I will keep the community updated with this project and how young people and others can get directly involved. The key will be to take part in meaningful activities but to also further develop our plan to include a very strong youth led programme of actions.
Another environmental improvement opportunity has been made possible through the Volunteering Matters Action Earth Project. This will be about establishing several community orchards around the local area, and I hope that a variety of groups will come on board with this activity. I again will highlight this Project on our social media platforms and in the meantime if anybody has a particular interest with establishing community orchards then please do get in touch with me directly: john@ttrohub.co.uk
Next months blog will be focused upon the Camelon Community Action Plan and in particular the youth consultation process and the developing work of the Nailer Road Safer Streets Group.
I want to use the main section of this month’s Youth Action Blog to celebrate our recent #Summerprogramme2024 and to align aspects of the successes of that Programme with the findings of the recent Youthlink publication: The Role of Youth Work in Supporting Young people’s readiness to learn. This report is also particularly relevant to the recent work that SCYAP carried out in partnership with local schools ,as the Youthlink report notes: The factors impacting upon school attendance and engagement are complex whilst it also acknowledges that school cannot effectively tackle these issues alone. Evidence is presented that highlights the invaluable contribution of a Youth Work approach and how that methodology can positively contribute to successfully addressing the Scottish Governments Attainment Challenge.
A SCYAP key outcome is that Young People should increase their social skills, confidence to learn and their levels of attainment. This was achieved on two levels through our Summer Programme, firstly by the variety and quantity of national accreditations that young people undertook over the summer. Our Evaluation report notes that 18 accredited programmes were completed, including 14 Dynamic Youth Awards, 2 High 5 Awards and with 2 older young people significantly progressing their Bronze Youth Achievement Awards. The second level is not as quantifiable but would include the development of a wide array of soft skills or what are sometimes referred to as core skills, including; resilience, confidence, decision making, forming positive peer relationships, improving their capacity and confidence to learn and a willingness to take on new challenges. The participating young people did this in spades over the summer, the comments and reflections of our partners at the Well Wild Project absolutely highlight these very attributes and the feedback from all the staff and partners involved with the programme delivery scored this facet a very high average of 9.4 on their feedback survey responses. This is similarly reflected in young people’s own evaluation and feedback forms with 72% indicating they had learnt new skills and scoring on average 7.4 on a scale of 10 in relation to how their confidence to learn had improved through their involvement with the programme. This process is very apparent within the Youthlink report : Youth work offers young people a wider range of pathways for learning and achievement that can be offered in the classroom, providing more personalisation, choice and agency in learning This fits very nicely with the experiences of our Group who undertook the Bushcraft and Survival programme, further the Youthlink report notes that the success of a youth work approach is because young people enjoy experiential learning and different contexts for learning, including practical learning and learning outdoors in the community. Young people value the opportunity that youth work gives them to shape their own learning and develop a greater sense of personal agency. This was very much echoed in the work that was undertaken in the Community Arts Project and the Bushcraft and survival programme , John Wells of the Well Wild Project noted in his evaluation feedback that:
The entire experience was Young person
friendly and ensured that their learning outcomes/ targets
were met in full. Their learning targets had all been
chosen by the young people themselves, and they had identified what
they would like to gain out of this Bushcraft programme and overnight wild camping
experience.
And further John explains:
They learned howto build trust, good relationships, and the importance of working as a team & also have gained the ability to work on their own independently how to take instructions and how to learn from their mistakes
And in relation to learning in different contexts and outside in the community, Sarah Diver Laing our Community artist noted that:
It was nice to see the young
people directly engage with the
outdoors and I felt there was the
right balance during this
programme of imagination,
creativity, play and engagement
in places and the community.
These young people then have not only gained a recognised certificate of achievement they have evolved in confidence and in their ability and willingness to learn , and this is also a positive outcome for the young people’s capacity to learn within the school curriculum and beyond and will impact positively upon the wider community.
Another significant highlight of the #Summerprogramme2024 was the Junior Sports Leadership Award, and it was really great to see some young people who have been regular participants at the Twilight Sports over the last few months take that involvement onto another level. I have every confidence in this Groups ability to now lead on delivering sports and games sessions with their peers and with younger children, An array of skills in planning , leadership and communication were developed and underpinning all of these attributes was a notable growth in confidence and self-belief. The Group members are now being linked in with the Active Schools coordinators and hopefully they will get further involved with sports leadership activities within their respective schools. An important aspect to this is community capacity building and it would be the SCYAP longer term aim to support these young people to become sports leaders and coaches at our Twilight sports programme and other community-based sports and youth provisions.
My concluding remarks about our Summer of activities relates to our significant key outcome: that Young People will have better connections with the wider community. This featured heavily in our evaluations and feedback responses and undoubtedly this has been a significant success. We focus our activities on local assets like the Tamfourhill Community Hub , the local parks in Easter Carmuirs and Nailer Road and our outdoor learning is generally focussed on the canals and local woodland. We support young people to be visible in their own community and to link in with local community assets and other projects and organisations. Underpinning all of this is our commitment to make community Learning and development a fun experience and one that is built around the views, circumstances, needs and aspirations of the young people themselves.
SCYAP #Summerprogramme Evaluation report is available in full here:
We are fortunate to have the support of volunteers without whom we could not deliver this range and quality of programmes and activities for young people and indeed link that Youth Action in a meaningful way with the wider community. In that respect I would like to take this opportunity to both thank and highlight the contributions over the last year and beyond of Rachel Timblin. Rachels contributions are dynamic and varied and go way beyond the activities delivered by SCYAP, in particular her work with community growing , the Scottish Wildlife Trust and with support services for people impacted by Hepatitis B. Rachel is also a stalwart of the Twilight Sports Programme and quite simply the programme could not run without her involvement and support. It therefore was fabulous and fitting that Rachel was recently awarded with a bicycle from FEL as part of their Free Bikes For Forth Valley Volunteers Scheme, more information about this initiative can be found here: https://felscotland.org/news-and-events/free-bikes-for-forth-valley-volunteers/
Here is Rachel being presented with her new bike by FEL staff at a recent Twilight Sports session in Easter Carmuirs Park:
Safer Communities Youth Action Project 