Category: community

community

The past has been a great success, and the future remains unwritten

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So once again we are drawing to the end of another year, 2025 has been a very busy year and at times overwhelming through the levels and range of Youth Action that has been undertaken. There is no need to review the youth work as it has been detailed on our monthly blogs which has kept all interested parties updated and fully informed.  I would however want to highlight some important data and figures as detailed below which illustrate the outputs and hard successes of SCYAP in 2025: 

SCYAP Key data and outputs 2025Download

In reporting back this month to Foundation Scotland on the completion of our three-year  grant award . I commented that:  The funding provided through Foundation Scotland has contributed to young people gaining confidence, abilities and the skills to make lasting positive change in their community. A Youth Action approach was successfully delivered which has the dual benefits of improving young people’s connections with the local community whilst also advancing their own personal and social development. The funding leaves a legacy and the potential to build on existing success and further support young people’s contributions to the development and improvement of Camelon and Tamfourhill and to better prepare them for advancing through life as active citizens.

The notion of legacy and the potential for further Youth Action are both embedded within these end of grant conclusions, and the challenge for me and the TTRO is to now secure further funding and resources to take the SCYAP beyond this year and into the future. We are optimistic and it will not be for a lack of effort and commitment in what is a very competitive funding world. Being a small voluntary organisation can often feel like you are in an unstable and short-term reality, but it also enables greater levels of flexibility , creativity and localism that are simply not afforded to local councils, health boards or other public bodies

The young people who took part in the  Youth Participation Project were involved with their own end of Project evaluation this month. An opportunity for them to reflect upon their own experiences, what they had enjoyed and leant in the process and contribute to the feedback required to the funders. This Project was funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and is managed by Falkirk Council, so it was a fixed  term short project, and it was therefore important that a legacy was left in terms of local Youth Action. In that respect we have ten Dynamic Youth Awards and two High 5 Awards pending and a couple of Saltire awards  and the Article 31: The Right to Play mural boards are now fully installed at the Games Court in Easter Carmuirs. Notable feedback indicated that the young people really enjoyed attending the Lock 16  open day in September where they led their own stall , Article 31 activities and consultation process and also engaged with the general public and the other partners. I personally would like to praise the group very highly for that day , they were exceptional and a great credit to their peers and the community. OUTSTANDING !!!   

In the short term in 2026 we will  continue to support the work of the two-schools based Climate Action Groups at Carmuirs and Easter Carmuirs Primary Schools. This will be augmented by the formation of a community focused Youth Climate Action Group with all three working towards young peoples  agreed priorities for climate action as detailed in the report published in  April 2025. Work began with the schools in November and along with the  YAG they  will gain pace through  January and February. This work has been made possible through the funding received from FEL and their next steps climate action fund.  

The second phase of the Twilight Sports programme  begins on Friday 16th January 6pm-8pm in Tamfourhill Community Hub , the full programme is detailed below. Although we haven’t been quite as busy as previous winter programmes we do have a high energy and loud group attending every week. Thank you to our sessional staff, coaches and our volunteers, its been especially rewarding to  see two young volunteers giving up their Friday nights to come along and make the Twilight sports a resounding success.

Finally, a thank you to the colleagues and partners  who have contributed  to our end of year evaluations , completing surveys and discussing projects, this is an important aspect to planning future work and indeed sustaining the Safer Communities Youth Action Project.

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Twilight Sports Winter  Programme , Youth Participation in October  and our Awards ceremony:

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The Clocks have gone back, and the nights are fare drawing in and that means it’s time for the SCYAP Twilight Sports Winter Programme to begin, which again this year will be hosted by Tamfourhill Community Hub. I would like to convey our thanks and gratitude to the Camelon Community Sports Hub who awarded us a grant a few months back to cover our winter programme 2025/26.

This funding injection from the Camelon Sports Hub  coincides with the ending of our 3 years funding from the Falkirk Community Schools Fund 2008 ,which has been the main source of support for all of our youth action programmes and activities and not least the Twilight Sports Programme. This funding support has been in place since the Twilights Sports was established after an initial pilot phase back in  2022 . Having met with the Falkirk Schools Fund Trustees relatively recently we are unclear when further funding from them will become available and indeed whether a continuing application would be successful or not. At this stage we can only thank the Falkirk Schools fund for their significant financial commitment over the previous 3-year period and also be equally grateful that the local community sport Hub similarly recognises the  worth and benefits of this unique form of community-based youth provision. The longer-term aim is to be able to sustain and further develop the programme over the next few years. I will of course keep the community and all our partners and stakeholders  updated with all potential options and  developments. For the time being lets  look forward to a 12-week winter indoor programme starting on Friday 31st October as detailed below and with the full involvement of our partners the Falkirk Wheelers , FEL, our young football coach, the regular volunteers and staff and the fantastic support from Tamfourhill Community Hub.

The October holidays afforded lots of opportunities to progress both the Youth Participation Project and the interlinked Right to Play Article 31 activities  over at the Games Court in Easter Carmuirs. An initial game of rounders involving 12 local young people and 3 members of staff got the ball rolling in many directions. We chalked up different methods for choosing teams and getting games started, and the game of rounders was nonstop laughter and some competitiveness as eventually  bad light stopped play. We reconvened for three days on the 15th, 16th and 17th October and began the process of taking the ideas from the Rounders evening and converting them into hand painted decorative signage which will now be mounted onto the Games Court perimeter fencing. Oot Skoot you are oot, Rock, paper scissors, knots and crosses and a new scoreboard for the cage will all feature along with some of the play images created by the Participation group through their consultation event at Lock 16 back in September.

Our Volunteering Matters Action Earth Project made significant progress in Easter Carmuirs park on Monday 13th October where  our volunteers Rachel and Alex led on a very busy bat and bug box building workshop. Six new boxes were constructed involving 12 volunteers, mainly young people and younger children  but also a couple of family teams. It was also really positive that most of the SCYAP volunteers  took part in the Green Action Trusts Neighbourhood trees project through a workshop conducted around the park. We would like to convey our thanks to our colleagues at Under the Trees who  made a huge contribution to a successful Wild Connections Falkirk’s Greener Future locally in the Easter Carmuirs Public Park.

The outdoor learning theme for this week was also explored and enjoyed by members of our Youth Participation Group who spent an afternoon at the Well Wild Project in the Rough Castle Woods. The Group learnt how to build and start a fire with flint and steel and then how to manage that fire safely to cook a chicken casserole. Using tools was another feature of the session and we also made time  for some nature therapy and off course time to play in the woods and reminding ourselves of Article 31 the Right to Play and to play safely and manage risks.  

On Thursday 16th we held a wonderful Youth  Awards ceremony for family and friends at Tamfourhill Community Hub. Well done and a massive congratulations to all the young people who received their Youth Awards Certificates at the Awards ceremony. High 5, Dynamic & Youth achievement and Saltire Awards. A very sincere well done from everybody at SCYAP, the TTRO and Tamfourhill Community Hub. Most of these awards were gained through young people’s  involvement over the Summer Programme 2025 but there was also some longer-term outstanding volunteering commitments being recognised and it was with a sense of personal pride and joy that we made all of these awards. What an amazing group of young people all committed to Youth Action and developing their own skills, knowledge and experiences. Youth Scotland

And finally, as always I like to conclude on a happy note, I am therefore very  excited to announce that the SCYAP funding application to FEL Climate Action Next Steps fund was successful. This was a strong application based on the implementation of our Community Climate Action Plan and the priorities and key themes identified by young people themselves at  our climate action events held back in February and March of this year. Its very uplifting to recognise that FEL have supported our climate action events and the work of the Climate Action Core Group over the last 3 years and have now further invested in the young people of Tamfourhill, Camelon  and Bantaskin to make significant positive contributions to local climate action.

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The Right to Play, Youth Participation and Climate Week

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SCYAP was successful in securing a Community Empowerment Grant  from Falkirk Council which is funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. As a Youth Action Project we were keen to encourage further youth participation and to link that with wider community developments. The key aspects of a  Youth Participation approach , include; Taking part, young people having a say and being listened to , being involved with decision making, being  involved through your own choice, contributing to the community, enjoying activities and working with others and gaining national youth awards. Our new Youth Participation Project was targeted initially at young people who were not regularly involved with any of our previous or ongoing youth action activities and the programme began with an introduction and programme planning session at the end of August

A Dynamic Youth Award programme has begun and includes a wide variety of challenging activities which focus on teamwork, decision making, skills development and community involvement . Creativity and outdoor learning feature significantly throughout the programme and the Group had a brilliant day when they attended the recent Scottish Canals Open Day which was held at the  old Barrs factory in Tamfourhill.  This open day was an opportunity for Scottish canals and their partners at Historic Environment Scotland  to showcase the traditional  skills and the Centre  for Excellence that will operate from this building. The Open Day  also provided a unique opportunity for our  Youth Participation Group to contribute through their interactive games stall which promoted Article 31 of UNRC: The Right to Play  

UNCRC Article 31

I have a right to rest, relax and play

Adults should make sure children have the chance to play and relax in a safe, supportive and stimulating environment.

Governments should make sure children can be part of cultural and artistic activities.

When decisions are made about activities in the community, adults should include children in planning these.

Want to come out to play?

Our commitment to the  promotion of  Article 31 is being further explored through the second strand of our Youth Participation  project: A series of arts  drop-in sessions will take place at the games court on Mariner Avenue in Easter Carmuirs on the 15th, 16th and 17th October. If you are between 10-18 years old please pop along in the afternoon between 1pm-4pm, perhaps play some games, tell us about the rules and then design and build signposts and boards which illustrate these games. Part of this process will be involved with the design of new box seating for the Cage , and the process kicks  off next Wednesday 8th October at 5.30pm when you can come down for a game of rounders, get some free hot dogs and also tell us about the games and sports that are played at the Cage. This community arts aspect  of the Participation Project is aligned to proposals highlighted within the Camelon Community Action Plan in relation to improving communal spaces and increasing opportunities  for local young people.  

Scotland’s national climate week runs from 29th September until 5th October, and this is an opportunity to consider what climate action we can support and take which will contribute to tackling climate change and making our communities greener and sustainable.

Climate Week is an important awareness raising tool and to coincide with this I am very pleased to announce that we will be beginning the process of reinstating the community orchard that was recently decimated on the canal towpath next to Camelon Juniors football ground. We are extremely grateful to Scottish Canals who have found resources to replace the heritage fruit trees and the support of their Environment manager with the process of preparing the ground and the planting of the replacement orchard. We will be working on the towpath on Thursday 2nd October with the Carmuirs Youth Action Group who worked so hard and took so much pride with the planting of the original orchard back in February

Following on from the reinstatement of the Camelon Community Orchard we are excited  to partner with Under the Trees Outdoor Learning for an event called Wild Connections: Falkirk’s Greener Future that will bring a whole host of climate related activities to Easter Carmuirs Park on Monday 13th October from 1pm-4pm. SCYAP through funding accessed from Volunteering Matters Action Earth will provide volunteering opportunities to build and decorate bat and bug boxes. Forth Climate Forest will deliver a Neighbourhood trees workshop and Under the Trees have a climate scavenger quiz with prizes, crayon recycling on the campfire and acorn planting and a climate lab with climate experiments to explore. Although this is a young person led event the whole community are invited to participate, and the only restriction is that under 10’s must be accompanied by an adult of 16+ years old

And finally , SCYAP is overjoyed to acknowledge that we have 24 National Youth Award Certificates to present to young people , these in the main were gained through taking part on various activities during our Summer Programme 2025.  The overnight survival programme, community arts  project and its Stand up for Nature theme, the angling project and the wonderful active travel mural and arts installation at Camelon Railway Station. This included two Silver Youth Achievement Awards for our young youth action volunteers Leo and Victoria, my congratulations to you all, an outstanding achievement.

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Railway Station Arts Project Officially Opens, Experiential Learning in the Wild Outdoors and a Photographic Review of #Summerprogramme2025

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Climate Action through Saving Nature, Learning life skills through Bushcraft and Survival activities and having fun through connecting with  the local Canals and parks, these were the main  themes of the SCYAP Summer Programme 2025. The highlights included the opening of the Environmental improvements and community arts project at Camelon Railway station on Wednesday 16th July when Tracy Stevenson Scotrails Community Rail Executive joined local organisations including: The Fire and Rescue Service, FEL, Falkirk Council , FVSC and local community activists, when the new artwork was officially opened with the ribbon being ceremonially cut by Lucy Auld. Lucy gave total commitment to this project , giving up lots of her own time to work on the project and she was supported by other members of our Youth Action Group, the original designs had been worked up by her P7 Class at Carmuirs Primary School. Lucy will gain a Dynamic Youth Award for her outstanding contributions to this Project along with her friend from school Oliver Mcarthur who will gain a High 5  Award.

https://www.scotrail.co.uk/about-scotrail/news/youth-led-art-biodiversity-project-transforms-camelon-station

https://www.falkirkherald.co.uk/news/people/young-people-help-transform-station-access-path-in-camelon-5229985

The days celebrations then moved onto Nailer Road Park where SCYAP hosted a community  active travel day which presented a number of different and fun approaches to active travel. This included our regular partners the Falkirk Wheelers who provided inline skating around the park. FEL again supported our activities with their adapted and led bike rides also around the park , which encouraged a wide range  of participants including families and older people. Falkirk Council Energy and Climate Change Team  also provided a stall in the  park on the theme of sustainable communities. This active travel event was linked to the illustrations detailed on the mural at Camelon railway Station and these ideas are also aligned to our community climate action plan, similarly young people’s priorities for local climate action were also picked up by  our Summer Programme arts project when we supported 12 young people to Campaign For Nature.

Standing up for Nature, Appreciating Nature , Helping Nature, Understanding Nature, and Calmness in Nature were all statements from the group of young community artists when we began to plan our summer arts project. The Climate Action Events that SCYAP facilitated back in February and March had clearly demonstrated that young people were most concerned about how climate change was negatively impacting upon the plants, forests and animals around them, this in fact was a clear priority for young people in terms of taking positive climate action. We identified 4 aspects to the natural world around us: Sun, Water, Earth and Air, and we began to explore the areas around Tamfourhill and at the YAG bench on the canal. The Group developed their sketches into 4 large banners which depicted these aspects of nature, and this enabled them to learn new skills in screen printing, calligraphy, drawing and sewing. One of the group Anya was particularly interested in digital creativity, so she got further involved with the project and designed the poster which is detailed below. These images will be displayed around the community in the coming weeks along with a wider #Youthaction visual campaign called: Standing up for Nature, so please look out for the group’s creations appearing in public spaces around Camelon and Tamfourhill,  we plan to  run a competition where you can report your sightings of any of these images and win  climate action prizes.      

When I heard the storm and looked  out, I made haste to join it: John Muir    

SCYAP has formed a really good working relationship with the Well Wild project, and we have successfully developed programmes and activities that have an excellent synergy with our  key outcomes, and which take an innovative approach to experiential learning. Our  Bushcraft and Survival programme ran over a week and cumulated with the overnight survival experience at the  Well Wild Project  in the Rough Castle Woods. I would like to congratulate and acknowledge the resilience and adaptability of our group on the overnight experience when they had to contend with a period of prolonged overnight rain, a gathering storm and a degree of discomfort. Their skills were put  into action, teamwork and supporting each other were critical, fire lighting and their shelter building were all put to the test. The night was filled with screaming owls protecting their territory, startled foxes passing through the woods and difficult weather conditions. John Muir the Scottish conservationist and explorer  famously exclaimed in response to a rising tempest in the Sierra Mountains in North America that: “When I heard the storm and looked out, I made haste to join it” The SCYAP Group in their own fashion did similar and their  learning was consequently substantial and will have impact well beyond the 18 hours they spent over night in the woods, with  a plethora  of life skills  being developed. Each young person remained focused on achieving their personal Dynamic Youth Award learning targets and it will be an absolute pleasure to later present their certificates.  

Summer Programme 2025 in a compendium of photos:

 

Unfortunately, some Bad news:

Everyone connected with SCYAP were absolutely deflated and disappointed to be informed that the only Community Orchard in Camelon has been wiped out by extensive ground clearance on the canal towpath. The planting of this orchard was a joint project that was planned and implemented with Scottish Canals and involved considerable SCYAP funding and resources. The members of the Carmuirs Youth Action Group along with our community volunteers who planted and then maintained this orchard are upset and angry with this inexplicable action. I want to reassure the community that as an organisation we are looking into the circumstances that have led to this, our understanding is that  Scottish Canals now have a team investigating this incident which they view as an act of vandalism which has been  carried out on their Land. We will off course follow this matter up until some sort of resolution is found, we will report back through our social media and other channels when we have an unequivocal explanation of who was responsible and what actions are being taken.

Let’s conclude with some good news:

We are very  pleased to announce that we were successful in our application to the UKSPF Community Empowerment Small Grant Fund and we will therefore be implementing two new opportunities for local  young people 10-18 years old. These projects will run from September through to December and will involve creativity and  community improvements through an arts drop-in initiative and also the delivery of an accredited groupwork programme. The funds are administrated through Falkirk Council and are well aligned to the SCYAP five key outcomes and aim to also address aspects of the recent Camelon Community Action Plan. A central aim is  to include young people and volunteers who are not regularly involved with any of our current project’s and especially those that are linked to National Youth Awards. I will in next month’s blog  explain how young people and volunteers can take part and highlight the benefits to young people and the wider community.   

And finally, we were also successful with our second round of funding from the Volunteer Matters Action Earth Fund, which is resourced by Nature Scot and the National Lottery Community Fund. This is all about tackling climate change and promoting volunteering in the community and we will be linking the activities to our Climate Action Plan and the priorities identified by local young people  earlier this year. This Project will be taking place in the autumn and again we will highlight in a future Blog  how you can get involved. 

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Opening of the SCYAP Biodiversity & Community Arts Porject

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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.
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Active travel day planned, COP2 and SCYAP  Summer Programme 2025:

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The SCYPA Summer Programme 2025 is detailed below and  there are still places available for some of the activities, the booking link is here:

https://tamfourhill-gymnastics-club.classforkids.io/

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.

Summer prgramme 2025 SCYAP actual for bookingsDownload

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.

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Light Nights and Twilight Sports and the launch of the Camelon CAP

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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:

Click to access CamCAP-Apr2025.pdf

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.  

programme details community arts at Camelon Railway stationDownload

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.

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The Sun shone on our Easter Programme and our canal bench celebrations and also introducing two new community arts and environmental improvement projects:

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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 ActionSuggested ActivitiesLed by/PartnersResourcesWhen
Encouraging Active TravelOrganise 2 active travel events: including led rides, Dr Bike & experiencing different wheel sports as a means of active travel.FELFalkirk WheelersSCYAPPartners existing budgets  Summer/Autumn 2025
Campaigning for local climate actionDeliver 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.SCYAPCommunity artistFC Climate Change OfficerFELSchoolsLocal businessesTCHExternal fundingPartners existing budgets  March 2025-Spring 2026
Helping Nature and biodiversityPlant 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.FCFELSCYAPForth Climate ForestTCVSCYAP  (Twilight Sports)Woodland trustExternal fundingFalkirk Council  May 2025 – Spring 2026