Fab Feb Youth Action Activities

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In this month’s short blog, I am highlighting some great opportunities for local young people, 10-16 years old to get involved with creativity, community development, tackle climate change and learn some Bushcraft and Mindfulness skills in the Rough Castle Woods. The Programme is entirely free and food and drink will be provided at each session.

On Wednesday 7^th February from 6.30pm-8.30pm in Tamfourhill Community Hub there will be an arts codesign workshop using ceramics and tiles. This is the first of two workshops, and the aim of the process is to design new benches for the Forth and Clyde Canal between Lock 16 and the Falkirk Wheel. It has been an ongoing concern the lack of seating at this section of the canal and the benches will be a really useful and valued addition to the local community. There installation will encourage further active travel along the towpath and be a very useful resting area if you are cycling or walking or just wanting to have a mindful moment in the surroundings of the canal. The benches will become a great legacy of the creativity of local young people as this new seating will be a permanent feature for many years to come and will represent a heritage and cultural celebration of the local community.

On Friday 9^th February we will be running a one-day climate change project which will involve clearing and preparing an area of ground in the local woods for a wildflower meadow. The young people will be sowing pollinators which come the spring will produce a riot of colour in the woods thus attracting butterflies, bees and other pollinators which will all contribute to helping nature and addressing climate change. In the afternoon the group will be screen printing their own t-shirts with the theme of climate change and tackling the nature emergency.

A 2-day programme is available on Monday 12^th and Tuesday 13^th February for learning Bushcraft and Survival Skills with an element of nature-based mindfulness. A few young people started this programme back in November last year through the twilight sports programme when we ran a session in the woods at Tamfourhill, however anybody can still join in and book onto the programme. A certificate of achievement will be awarded to every young person who completes the programme. This will be happening at Rough Castle Woods and will be delivered through our ongoing partnership with the Well Wild – A Therapeutic approach to Forest schools and Bushcraft. This is a great opportunity to learn an array of life skills through the outdoors and build up your knowledge and experience of survival skills.

I recommend booking onto these activities as there is a limit to the numbers that can Take part, you can do this at these links:

https://tamfourhill-gymnastics-club.classforkids.io/camp/12

https://tamfourhill-gymnastics-club.classforkids.io/camp/13

https://tamfourhill-gymnastics-club.classforkids.io/camp/14

I would also like to use this opportunity for highlighting the excellent and ongoing work of the Youth Action in the Community Group from Carmuirs Primary School. The 6 young people have put in an outstanding effort on the towpath as part of the Keep Scotland Beautiful #Upstreambattle litter pick and survey. This day also involved clearing ground and planting pollinators and was carried out in collaboration with Scottish Canals. The Group are all working towards their Dynamic Youth Awards and have also been involved with Survival and Bushcraft skills, Pizza and fruit kebab making and are scheduled to be out clearing the canal again with a paddle pick up later this month. My congratulations to Carmuirs Primary school and gratitude to Scottish Canals and the Well Wild Project for all working together to support and deliver this local #YouthAction

And finally one of the members of our YAG has begun work on his Bronze Youth Achievement Award and here is some work he has done as part of one of his targets for that Award which involves Leo with taking photos and producing promotional films for the Twilight Sports, Leo explains: I edited the pictures and short clips that I took during twilight sports…./ this can be used to create promotional media for the local area and for the Falkirk Wheelers, I am using my skills for the benefit of other young people” Leo Cierpikowski (Youth Action Group)

https://1drv.ms/v/s!AhirdOD0wCFcvCyaeFzpl5bCKEol?e=7zPjQn

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Connecting with the outdoors in all seasons:

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This may not sound like a very seasonal topic to be highlighting in this the last Safer Communities Youth Action Blog for 2023, however our recent partnership with the Well Wild – A Therapeutic approach to Forest Schools and Bushcraft is proving to be an exciting and inspirational way of supporting both local youth action and our ongoing #ConnectingwiththeOutdoors programme. The nights may have got darker and the weather colder and wetter as we have moved through the autumn and into the winter, but these conditions can in fact add value to the quality of our outdoor experiences whilst continuing to facilitate positive mental wellbeing.

https://www.well-wild.co.uk/

After our successful summer programme 23 and our ongoing Connecting with the Outdoors programme where we have enjoyed a wide array of outdoor experiences, including: water-based activities on the canal in canoes and a fantastic cruise with the Seagull Trust, angling at different fisheries and locally at the Falkirk Wheel, archery, Bushcraft and survival skills out in the woods at Tamfourhill and Rough Castle. These sessions received very positive feedback from the members of the Recovery Community , local volunteers and the young people who had taken part over the summer. These outdoor activities are also underpinned by a therapeutic and mindfulness approach to being in the outdoors and this was reflected in our Mindfulness Monday Programme with the Forth Valley Recovery Community and supported by Scottish Canals. The positive value to our mental wellbeing through engaging with the outdoors has been well documented and our Falkirk Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing funding from the Scottish Government is focussed upon these very attributes. The primary aim is to better connect people with their community through them engaging with the natural assets and wild green places within Camelon and Tamfourhill. This process will facilitate improved mental and physical wellbeing and encourage greater community cohesion through connecting people with natural local places. The Project was also very much concerned with raising awareness of the benefits of being outdoors and how activities in nature can have a lasting positive impact upon your mental and physical wellbeing. A very successful aspect of our Connecting with the Outdoors Programme has been how it has enabled people to come together in groups to form supportive relationships and share learning and outdoor experiences and this aspect has been recognised and expressed by the members of the local Recovery Community and other local volunteers. The local Recovery Community will be undertaking a programme of four consecutive sessions with the Well Wild Project starting in early January and I will regularly highlight these sessions on our social media platforms in the New Year.

The Recovery Community angling at the Lilly Loch in North Lanarkshire

Having noted how positively local young people in particular were responding to outdoor learning and our previous successful John Muir Award Group and linked to our key outcome: Young People will improve their mental and physical health and wellbeing, forming a partnership with the Well Wild Project based in the local Rough Castle Woods made absolute sense. That Project had also positively engaged a group of local young people with an innovative programme of restorative justice in response to some acts of vandalism and with the support of our Local Community Police Officers we have begun a new collaborative approach to delivering outdoor learning through Bushcraft , survival skills and mindfulness . The Well Wild Safer Communities Outreach Programme will endeavour to connect with young people who may be at risk of becoming involved with Anti-social behaviour and other community safety concerns through a programme of street-based outreach engagement, through our Twilight sports programme and through linking with the local schools. A key aspect of this collaboration with the Well Wild: A therapeutic approach to Bushcraft and forest schools, is to utilise that local facility and approach as a means for young people to build a wide array of social skills which will improve their resilience, self-esteem, confidence, problem solving skills and ability to adapt to challenging circumstances. The therapeutic underpinning of the outdoor learning aspect of this project will offer a unique opportunity for some local young people to tackle personal issues and better equip them to deal with challenges that they may be facing at home, in the community and at work or in education.

The accreditation aspect which can be provided through the SCYAP will facilitate an important method of enabling young people to acknowledge their own learning and achievements and this is well aligned to another of our key outcomes; Young people will increase their social skills, confidence and levels of attainment. The new year will bring in several new Youth Action Groups who will directly benefit form this new local partnership and work has just begun with a group of P7 young people at Carmuirs Primary School. Potentially there are three additional groups from Easter Carmuirs Primary School a group from Falkirk High School and the continuation of our community-based youth groups one of whom took part in an introduction session in the Tamfourhill woods a couple of weeks ago.

And to finish with the outdoors theme the Scouting movement are keen to start activities in Camelon, Tamfourhill & Bantaskin, I am sure there would be lots of local young people interested in getting involved , however volunteer leaders would be required to get this established in the area.

I recently met with representatives of local scouting. They are trying to see if there is any demand for scouting locally. They are looking at the possibility of starting scouting in the area for the 4-14 age groups and potentially also older age groups. They are particularly interested at this stage if any adults over the age of 18 who might be interested in getting involved as leaders in the initiative

Please get in touch with John@ttrohub.co.uk or on 07391524528 or contact Falkirk District Scouts directly at: development@falkirkscouts.org.uk

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Winter Twilight Sports Programme dates confirmed, Mindfulness Benches installed into local park and Development Plan for Youth Action Project published.

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Twilight Sports returns for the winter programme 2023-24

The first block of the winter twilight sports programme will take place from Friday 10^th November until Friday 15^th December from 6pm-8pm in Tamfourhill Community Hub, the programme is open to all 10–16-year-olds and is entirely free. The weekly Programme will be split between Fun football provided by the fantastic Warriors in the Community and Rollerblading run by the fabulous Falkirk Wheelers, all equipment is provided and there will be a snack and drink for everyone who comes along. The Twilight sports will continue to work closely with our local community Police Officers and the Fire and Rescue Service who will be making regular visits to the Twilight sports sessions to get to know the young people and promote positive community Safety messages. The programme will run indoors until March 2024 and the intention is to move to Easter Carmuirs after the Christmas and New Year holidays and we will publish the dates and venue ASAP.

twilight-sports-winter-prg-tch-flyer-feb-march-23 Download

Mindfulness and Sensory Benches installed in local park:

Two of the key activities for the local area that were identified by the Youth Action Group through their summer programme arts project were: (1) Arts Projects to improve the appearance and quality of the local area, and (2) Developing community green spaces and parks through new facilities, opportunities and environmental improvements. The Youth Action Group have responded to these priorities through their very recent design and installation of the mindfulness and sensory benches within the public park on Carradale Avenue in Tamfourhill. The Benches will provide a chill out and relaxed location for anybody to just sit and enjoy the green space around them. The experience will be enhanced through the different sensory plants by smell and taste that the Group have planted into the benches, The Group had spent time during the summer programme considering what they felt were the best values that they wanted their group and the wider community to aspire too. These values and statements reflect the Groups aspirations for improving their community and some of these values are detailed through the painted designs on the benches and these include; Mindful, Calmness, Kinder, Inclusive, Aware, Diverse and Respect. As part of the Groups commitment to inclusiveness these word and values are also carved into the planters in brail and this can be accessed from underneath the seated benches. We would like to thank Link Housing Association (https://www.linkhousing.org.uk/) who provided the funding for these benches through their new Community Fund and the professionalism and commitment of our Community Artist Sarah Diver.

Many photos taken by Alba Coventry as part of her Target for the Groups Dynamic Youth Award

Safer Communities Youth Action Project (SCYAP) Strategic Plan 2023-26:

In confirming strategic outcomes and a Development Plan for the SCYAP it is critically important that local young people’s views, opinions and aspirations are at the centre of that plan and that they are also fully aligned to the relevant National Youth work Outcomes and the expectations of the Project’s main funders. The Safer Communities Youth Action Project is itself a legacy of the local Community Safety Strategy: Camelon and Tamfourhill will be a safer, happier and more attractive place to live, therefore a number of those key outcomes remain very much relevant and ongoing. The types of activities and programmes that will be developed will always be young person led, involve the wider community and will be an empowering and learning process for the participating young people. The published Development Plans proposed youth activities also strongly reflect the types of activities that young people themselves expressed as strong preferences through the work led by our Youth Action Group over the summer of 2023, namely: Arts Projects, Improving outdoor spaces, Sports & Games, Campaigning and learning new skills through training and recognised accreditations.

Here is a pictorial representation of the 5 strategic outcomes for the SCYAP:

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 reduce 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

Underpinning these outcomes and proposed areas of youth action will be the values that have been identified over our Summer Programme 23 and these should be reflected in all the work developed and delivered by the SCYAP and in terms of the work undertaken with the wider community:

The Community will therefore be improved through making it Safer, More Positive, Greener, Mindful, Calmer, More Respectful, Creative, Expressive, Inclusive, Aware and Diverse.

Documents for reference:

SCYAP Key Outcomes and Development Plan (Full document)

scyap-development-plan-sept-23 Download

Camelon and Tamfourhill will be a safer, happier and more attractive place to live

community-safety-strategy-for-camelon-and-tamfourhill Download

Young People and Community Safety in Camelon and Tamfourhill

young-people-and-community-safety-priotities-recommendations Download

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Launching the Safer Communities Youth Action Project

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Review of the Summer Programme 2023

Staff, volunteers and young people who all took part in #SummerProgramme23

#YouthAction #Summerprogramme23

Rather than arrange a high-profile launch for our new local Youth Project we believed it would be more effective to get young people involved from the outset and use the summer school holidays as an opportunity to have young people immediately participating. The Summer Programme 23 provided an array of outdoor learning activities, sports, creativity, accredited learning opportunities, and community development projects and this was delivered with the view to involving young people directly with the planning of the Youth Action Projects longer term aims and priorities.

The Youth Action Group and Community Arts Project:

An important outcome from the Summer Programme has been the formation of the Youth Action Group who had initially got involved through the Summer Programmes community arts project and who were also undertaking their Dynamic Youth Awards as part of that project. This was ostensibly an arts project which was concerned with creativity and enabling young people to design logos and images for banners and publicity materials for the new youth project, but it was built around a strong commitment to youth empowerment and where peer consultation was utilised to ensure that the confirmed priorities for future local youth action were relevant and meaningful. The process and workshops were initially focused upon young people identifying what they felt were local community assets and similarly encouraged them to identify areas and locations they felt required improvement and development. Underpinning this approach was a commitment to empowerment and giving young people a greater voice in the community and a means for them to take collective action to bring about positive change for themselves and the wider community. The group consulted their peers at the twilight sports, fun in the park sessions and at the Tamfourhill community fun day and encouraged young people to take part in the consultation through t-shirt making and supporting them to vote on their priorities through using designed themed badges and ballot boxes. This enabled the Youth Action Group to confirm five key themes which they believed were the most important for future local youth action, would be relevant and meaningful and would best reflect young people’s aspirations for their local community.

The Five Agreed Themes that will form the basis of the Projects work and activities over the next three years are:

Arts Projects to improve the appearance and quality of the local area.
Developing community green spaces and parks through new facilities, opportunities and environmental improvements.
Sports and Games, building on the success of the Twilight Sports Programme.
Campaigning on youth issues and having an effective voice within the local community and beyond.
Skills and Training through nationally recognised accreditation opportunities and gaining certificates and awards.

There will be a wide array of opportunities for local young people to now be involved with these activities and projects and the intention will be to take this forward in partnership with local groups and organisations along with our partners from other voluntary agencies, statutory services, and Falkirk Council. The Youth Action Group themselves will be working on a number of local improvement projects over the next few months which will put young people and their aspirations right at the centre of local community developments.

The Junior Sports Leadership Award and Community Capacity Building:

This programme was delivered as a Dynamic Youth Award and was designed to provide an opportunity for some of the young people who regularly attended the Twilight Sport programme on a Friday evening to develop their leadership, organisation, and communication skills, facilitate confidence building and to focus that process on their interest in sport. An important aspect of the Twilight sports is to build local capacity and therefore to embed the programme in the longer term. This will require building the capacity of local people to become qualified coaches and skilled instructors who can deliver the programme locally and this award represents the first rung on that development ladder. We are absolutely delighted to announce that we now have 6 junior sports leaders who it is hoped will now be further involved in a peer leadership role at the winter twilight sports programme when it gets underway in November.

Summer activities and Learning Programmes:

The summer programme provided a wide range of fun sports and nature activities in local parks along with some more challenging outdoor learning activities like days in canoes on the canal, a visit to a trout fishery in Balmule in Fife, bike maintenance classes and sessions which focussed upon mindfulness, environmental clean ups and survival skills in the woods. Young people could undertake accreditation through the Dynamic Youth Awards that were offered as part of the Community Arts Project and the Junior Sports leadership Award and Saltire volunteering certificates will be issued to those young people who took part in the environmental clean ups and paddle pick-ups on the canoes.

93 young people completed session evaluation forms over the 6 weeks of the programme, and here are some of the key findings from that feedback:

88% really enjoyed the activity session they attended

What did young people learn that surprised them:

What would they remember about the activity?

Qu (5) How much do you feel that you have learnt today about teamwork and or working in a group? (Score between 1 for you never learnt anything to 10 Yes, I learnt a lot about teamwork today)

85 responses to this question were returned with an average score of 8.4

Qu (6) How much do you feel that you personally have used different skills like decision making & problem solving at today’s activity session? (Score between 1 if you felt you used no skills and 10 Yes, I used loads of these skills today)

82 responses to this question were returned with an average score of 8.4

Here is a breakdown of the ages and genders of the young people who took part over the programme:

AGE	MALE	FEMALE	NON-BINARY	NUMBERS
12 years and under	28 (21%)	65 (48%)	5 (4%)	98 (72.6%)
13-15 years old	21 (16%)	16 (12%)	0	37 (27.4%)
TOTAL	49 (36%)	81 (60%)	5 (4%)	135

Breakdown of participating young people by age and gender.

14 Dynamic Youth Awards were successfully achieved, 1 High 5 Award and 8 Saltire Volunteering certificates will be issued.

I would like to acknowledge and thank the following individuals and organisations who supported, delivered and contributed to a magnificent #SummerProgramme23 of #YouthAction.

John Wells at the Well Wild- A therapeutic approach to Forest school and Bushcraft

Sarah Diver: Community artist who worked with the Youth Action Groups Community art project

Martin Wylie Community Sports Hub Officer at Falkirk Council for delivering activities for the junior Sports Leadership Award

Gregor Watson at the Falkirk Wheelers for the rollerblading at the summer fun in the park sessions.

TCV and Laura Hindle

Scottish Canals for canoeing

Balmule Fishery

Ginger our mini bus driver

TTRO: All the committee for their positive encouragement and volunteering

TCH: Use of the Hall , Hub , kitchen and lots of support

Falkirk Council and the school food and activity funding

Ryan Flaherty at Forth Environment Link for bike maintenance drop-ins & Dr Bike

Next month’s blog will feature a review of the #Connectingwiththeoutdoors programme, the Youth Action groups Mindfulness and sensory benches project which is scheduled for a local park in Tamfourhill and news and details about the Twilight Sports Indoors winter programme.

The Safer Communities Youth Action Project supports young people to have an effective voice and take #YouthAction:

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Youth Action in Camelon and Tamfourhill for Summer 2023:

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The forthcoming summer school holidays provide an excellent opportunity to launch the new Safer Streets Youth Action Project (SSYAP). Since the Project began in April, we have been supporting the Friday night Twilight Sports Programme which has had a fantastic series of sessions at Easter Carmuirs park and in the last couple of weeks has moved to Nailer Road Park. This open approach to providing young people with sports activities in public parks will be extended over the summer holidays with additional Monday afternoon sessions taking place in 4 local parks. The Project is fortunate in having recently employed our new Youth Outreach Worker Rachael Hardy who joined the team in early May, and she has been settling into her new role and enjoying the opportunity to meet some local young people, community volunteers and the partners we will be working with over the next three years. Here is Rachael helping put on a Climate Action Plan litter pick.

The Summer Programme 2023 has a community safety and youth action theme, and this will be reflected in an exciting programme of outdoor learning, activity-based opportunities, bike maintenance and a community arts project. We will provide an additional opportunity for local young people to use these experiences to gain nationally recognised accreditations like the Saltire volunteering award, and the High 5 and Dynamic Youth Awards. The Summer Programme has been funded by Falkirk Council School Holiday fund and will involve a range of delivery partners, including: The Falkirk Wheelers, Well Wild, Scottish Canals, Camelon Sports Hub, Forth Environment Link and will also be connected to local community groups and organisations. The Community arts project will be led by an experienced community artist, and this will involve young people exploring their community for its positive assets and potential improvements along with peer consultation events. We are using this summer engagement to get to know the young people better, build good positive relationships with them and most importantly listen to their views, opinions and aspirations about their community. The full programme is below and many of the activities and projects have limited places so pre booking is essential and we will be operating a first come first served system, and to book a young person onto these activities please go to this link:

https://tamfourhill-gymnastics-club.class4kids.co.uk/

please also speak to myself if you want to chat about any matters concerning the actual programme; john@ttrohub.co.uk

The Open Doors Safer Streets event is taking place on Friday 23^rd June form 11am-2pm in the Forth Valley Sensory Centre and the theme is tackling poverty and especially within the context of the current cost of living crises. The Councils Debt Advice Team will be present who can help you to manage your money and if you are worried about debt or are struggling to manage your money, they can help. The Debt Advice Team can give you help and advice on all types of debt including rent and mortgage arrears, council tax, personal loans, hire purchase agreements, credit cards, store cards, payday loans, catalogues and fuel bills. They will attend this Event, and they will provide free advice which is confidential and impartial and is available to anyone who lives or works in the Falkirk Council area. There will also be welfare advice available and that will include support with issues of claiming the right benefits, and they can provide support with getting you relevant training and potential employment. The other partners at the event will include Community Police, Fire and Rescue Service, Forth Valley Recovery Community, Transform drugs agency, The Sensory Centre, Forth environment Link with Dr Bike, Falkirk Council and providing confidential advice and support will be the Central Scotland Regional Equality Council. It will also be a great opportunity for our new Youth Action Project to be introduced to this wide array of organisations and services and to highlight the summer school holiday programme, so please pop in for a visit and hear what’s happening locally and perhaps make some suggestions which can contribute positively to improved community involvement and action.

An important aspect of the local community safety strategy was the production of a Community Climate Action Plan and I have continued to support and develop this area of work. The Core Group who steers the Plan forward met recently and it was great to hear how much work is going on locally to combat climate change and support environmental improvements and our contribution to Net Zero. I have been working with the Tamfourhill Community Hub committee to look at retrofitting the building with improved energy efficiency technology. We are currently examining funding options through the Scottish Government’s Community Renewables Energy Scheme or for short the CARES programme in order to install heat pumps, solar panels and a new heating system which would create a sustainable net zero community hub, so watch this space over the next year. The Climate action plan also facilitates fun activities, and it was an enjoyable day back in May when we supported a group of Community Champions from Falkirk High School take part in a canal clear up and Action for Net Zero workshop. The young people from Falkirk High School with the support of their teacher are very active and vocal members of the Climate Action Plan Core Group and now with our local youth project fully active we will look to build and expand local young people’s role within the Core Group and with Net Zero and climate change activities around Camelon and Tamfourhill.

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Podcast featuring the Community Climate Action Plan for Camelon and Tamfourhill and news of local environmental activities in April.

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I would like to begin this months blog in a unique way by providing the link to a recent podcast which was broadcast by the Scottish Community Climate Action Networks 1000 Better Stories Series which was focused upon the Community Climate Action Plan (CCAP) for Camelon and Tamfourhill. Please have a listen as the community safety engager along with Maya, Olivia and Ms Stroud from Falkirk High School chat about their experiences of creating our CCAP.

https://www.podbean.com/player-v2/?from=embed&i=wtp6p-13d4e9c-pb&square=1&share=1&download=1&fonts=Arial&skin=f6f6f6&font-color=auto&rtl=0&logo_link=episode_page&btn-skin=7&size=300

1000 Better Stories : The Story of the Camelon and Tamfourhill Community Climate Action Plan

At the CCAP Core Group meeting on the 27th March it was agreed to implement the following aspects of the plan for this spring:

Develop the raised beds at Tamfourhill Community Hub and adjacent community woodland and support other local community growing projects.

Organise the planting of trees, including fruit trees at different locations of the community and supported by Tidy, Clean & Green, Our Place and the Forth Valley Sensory Centre.

To work with the Forth Environment Link to deliver additional food and cooking workshops and also in partnership with Forth Environment link establish a new bike maintenance Hub which will train up local people and potentially start a local bike library.

Organise a canal clear up and conservation day for pupils from Falkirk High School.

Support Tamfourhill Community Hub with their energy efficiency audit and explore options for installing a sustainable and non carbon based heating system.

Support local volunteers who are setting up a Rubbish uplift and collection service for the local area.

Work with local groups and organisations to confirm regular monthly community litter picks targeted at key locations.

SPRING CLEAN UP 2023

And finally I would like to highlight this fantastic community event which is scheduled for this Saturday 8th April being organised by Tidy, Clean and Green in partnership with Go Forth and Clyde as part of the Keep Scotland Beautiful Spring Clean 2023. Please go along if you can the details are below or contact tidycleangreen@gmail.com

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Twilight Sports Drop -in Resumes and new innovative Youth Action Project to be launched.

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The Twilight Sports programme was piloted over the spring and summer of 2022 as part of the wider community safety strategy for Camelon and Tamfourhill, and the pilot phase of the Programme was made possible through funding and support provided by the Camelon Community Sports Hub and Police Scotland. The Pilot project took place on Friday nights in local parks and was focused upon providing sporting and healthy activities for local young people and the intention was to address some of the community safety concerns and risky behaviour that many young people are vulnerable to getting involved with at the weekends. The local community Police Officers and the Fire and Rescue Services from Larbert and Falkirk were regular visitors to the sessions and took part in the different sports that were on offer, including: the Falkirk Wheelers and Rollerblading, fun football, Rugby, and outdoor nature activities. The Programme was also enhanced through the Dr Bike Service provided by the Forth Environment Links Active Travel Hub with their free servicing and maintenance of push bikes which has greatly contributed to the local community safety agenda. The sessions were a great success, were very well attended and are widely recognised as an important and enjoyable community activity.

Twilight Sports Interview for TV

The success of the pilot Programme has now attracted longer term funding and the Our Place Camelon and Tamfourhill Project is overjoyed to announce a three-year funding package from the Falkirk Community Schools Fund (2008) which will embed the twilight sports programme for the next three years and enable additional youth outreach activities to be developed throughout Camelon and Tamfourhill. I will further detail in a future blog the vision and plans for this additional funding which will form a significant strand of a new local Youth Action Project. This Project will be focused upon connecting with young people throughout the community over the next three years and I would like to thank the Falkirk Community School Funds for generously supporting the work of the Our Place Camelon and Tamfourhill Project and recognising the essential community support provided by the Tamfourhill Tenants and Residents Organisation. This is a really important investment in our community and young people in particular and the outreach programme will again be aligned to the broader objectives of the local community safety plan.

The Camelon Community Sports Hub and Police Scotland have also continued to support and fund the Friday night Twilight sessions and along with our existing partnership with the Falkirk Wheelers we have now also entered into an exciting new partnership with the Warriors in the Community, who will now be responsible for the footballing aspect of the Twilight Sports Programme throughout all of 2023. The Warriors In the Community are part of Stenhousemuir Football Club and they have been developing innovative community involvement projects for a number of years and we are certain that this new partnership will facilitate lots of new footballing and personal development opportunities for local young people. The Falkirk Wheelers who will continue to work on the programme are also a dynamic community-based sports organisation, and it is great to see the enthusiasm that local young people have for rollerblading and the level of skill and ability that has been nurtured over the programme. This Programme is an excellent example of partnership working where different agencies and sports clubs have come together to provide a quality sporting and youth work development programme whilst also addressing local community safety priorities. The Programme winter drop-in programme resumed on Friday 3rd February, its open to all 10–16-year-old from the Camelon and Tamfourhill areas, all equipment is provided as is a snack with something to drink and it’s all free of charge. The full programme with additional youth work activities will return to local parks in the spring when we hope the weather improves and we will off course have the lighter evenings.

The Rising Energy Costs and their crippling impact upon Tamfourhill Community Hub

It is off significant concern that the costs for heating and lighting the Tamfourhill Community Hub have risen to astronomical levels since the autumn of last year. The payment of the current energy bills are not sustainable, and the Hub could not remain operational at its existing levels if long term sustainable solutions are not identified and implemented. These circumstances will not be unique to Tamfourhill and the Third sector and all charities with premises to be maintained and managed will be dealing with this energy crises. I personally feel that Governments along with regional and national agencies have been slow to respond to this crises. I would therefore ask that tangible support is more forthcoming and that regional and national networks gather and confirm an immediate plan of action focussed upon the smaller community organisations and support them to access some shorter-term relief whilst also confirming a longer-term strategy for the Third Sectors sustainability. Asset Transfer is again a big issue as Falkirk Councils Strategic Property Review has identified around 130 community buildings which may have no futures without an Asset Transfer or leasing arrangement with the various communities. In this respect Tamfourhill Community Hub has very recently been through a less than streamline process to asset transfer the Hub over to the Hall Committee. My understanding is that the Council now have a dedicated community team in place and a ring-fenced budget to facilitate any asset transfers which take place as a consequence of their Strategic Property Review. I would hope that these circumstances can also be beneficial to Tamfourhill in at least the short term. I also acknowledge that not everyone is on board with the science and social narrative of the Climate Emergency and global warming, however I am absolutely certain that communities which are already disadvantaged through economic inequalities will have to take long term radical and innovative action and explore alternative options for creating energy efficient and affordable community spaces and buildings. I am aware that the Tamfourhill Community Hub committee are giving this matter priority and I also know that they will want to avoid at all costs losing the current programme of activities and services which operate from the building and that moving the costs onto user groups is entirely unrealistic and socially unjust. From a community safety perspective, the loss of any provision from the Hub would be devastating to Camelon and Tamfourhill, I could not underscore the importance of the current programmes and their contribution to local community cohesion. On a more positive note, our Community Climate Action Plan identified options for carrying out energy efficiency audits of the Hub and there is the potential to secure part funding for alternative energy sources like heat pumps and solar panelling. The long-term sustainability of the Hub will be reliant upon grossly improving energy efficiency and generating energy through new sources independently and for that to happen then new green technologies will be essential. In the shorter term the bills mut be paid and I would want to support the Hall Committee in any way that I can to get the Hub through this significant challenge. I do have an optimistic outlook that there can be a sustainable future for the Hub through shorter term relief and through securing the longer-term use and development of new green reusable and sustainable technologies.

Community Safety Highlights for January and February 2023:

The Open Doors Community Safety Event took place on Friday 20^th January, and I would like to thank the Forth Valley Sensory Centre for being such wonderful hosts. This was the busiest of the recent events with lots of quality engagement taking place and it was especially positive to involve the Sensory Centre and many of their regular users with the community safety partners who were in attendance. We also welcomed for the first time Home Energy Scotland who set up a well utilised advice stall which also included support and resources to encourage better use of our domestic water supplies through reducing waste and increasing water efficiency. The success of this event is reliant upon the commitment and inputs of all the Partners so I would like to express my personal gratitude to everybody from each organisation who has supported and contributed to this programme over the last few months. The intention is to continue running community safety open doors events which provide local people and organisations with the opportunity to directly engage with services around any relevant issues or concerns and to introduce their own ideas and suggestions for improved local community safety. I recently attended the inaugural meeting of the Camelon, Tamfourhill and Bantaskin Community Council and I am certain they will also want direct involvement with the Open Doors Events. I will be meeting with the Partners in the next few weeks and I will provide further details as to how these events will be rolled out going forward.

Community Safety Partners at the Forth Valley Sensory Centre
Info stalls
Home Energy Scotland
Open Doors
Some of the Partners

Congratulations to the John Muir Discovery Group who received their Awards at ta recent John muir presentation evening which was held in Tamfourhill Community Hub. This was very much a local project with the group of 12 young people, discovering, exploring, and conserving wild places around their community, including: The Forth and Clyde Canal, Easter Carmuirs Park, Antonine Wall and the woods around Tamfourhill. The Awards presentation evening was also an opportunity for the group to share their experiences with family friends and other young people who attend the Monday evening youth club.

Family and friends attending the recent John Muir Presentation evening.

Pocket Places Programme and improved road safety in Camelon are two distinct projects which are linked by the notion of the Low Traffic Neighbourhood, improved road safety and the promotion of active travel. The Easter Carmuirs Pocket Places Steering Group met recently and looked and design proposals for a new layout of the school campus as phase one of the Project and the introduction of zebra crossings on the surrounding streets as phase 2 of the Project. Further consultation and community involvement will be required in relation to phase 2 of the Project and that engagement work is planned to take place towards the end of February with hopefully also some preliminary design work being implemented within the school playground. I am also coordinating and supporting a partnership approach to improving road safety and encouraging safe active travel in Camelon around Nailer Road, Stirling Road, and environs. The local primary school, Early Years Centre, the Sensory centre and the Management Committee of the Camelon Community centre have all been working on their respective street reviews and this process is now nearing completion. A published report with a series of recommendations will be available in the next month or so and thereafter there will be a community event or conference held to look at how the key stakeholders can respond and where possible ensure that the recommendations and suggested improvements are acted upon and actioned. I would like to thank Forth Environment Link who have worked closely with me in coordinating and supporting the different partners to carry out their own bespoke street reviews and studies. I will off course keep the community updated with both of these projects.

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A Community Charter that is having positive impacts for the local area.

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One of the key partners within the Community Climate Action Plan Core Group has been Falkirk High School, they have been onboard with this Plan from its inception back in April 2022. The school has been represented on the Core Group by Ms Stroud along with groups of young people who have been involved with various school initiatives. The CCAP Core Group process has complimented the ongoing work that I have supported at the school involving litter picks around the school’s immediate neighbourhood and along the route used by many pupils at lunchtime through Lock 14 at the canal and into Camelon Public park. The canal has also been the focus for a paddle pick up session on the canal back in May and more recently with the school’s community champions again focussed upon the route between the school via the canal into Camelon last month.

Community Champions from Falkirk High School taking part in a recent litter pick

This work has been supported by Falkirk Councils Waste Services and I have very much enjoyed delivering joint inputs with Ella Gorman the Services educationalist where we have engaged the young people with topics relating to global warming, the climate emergency, the social and economic costs of littering and off course our own local Community Climate Action Plan. Ella has supported the school with producing their own litter prevention action plan and this work dovetails nicely with several of the Our Place Camelon and Tamfourhill community-based action plans. This is a fruitful partnership which is delivering action on the ground, and for the benefit of the wider community through the clearance and recycling of litter, whilst also facilitating important and meaningful learning outcomes for the young people. I was very impressed with the schools work on confirming their own Community Charter which is detailed in the photo at the top of this article. This initiative represents an engaging community development process, recognising young people and the school as key stakeholders whilst also clearly highlighting their responsibilities for the wellbeing, environmental improvement, and quality of local community life. I highly commend this work and will continue to support activities and projects throughout 2023 which can significantly contribute to the school’s positive community involvement. The young people from the school produced this excellent documentary which showcases much of their community engagement through the last school year, please have a look below:

Energy Efficiency for Camelon and Tamfourhill: A dual track approach

As winter has really begun to snap over the last few days it should remind us all that fuel poverty, the cost-of-living crisis and the rampantly rising energy costs are all going to have a massive negative impact upon the local community. The matter of energy efficiency is woven though our local Community Climate Action Plan and this is reflected in a dual approach in terms of the Plans response to these local energy efficiency priorities. Firstly, community buildings like the Tamfourhill Community Hub will be required to cut costs and massively cut their energy bills if the building is to continue operating at its current capacity, any loss of services, provisions or activities is quite simply unthinkable. To this end I will be working with the Committee to carry out an energy efficiency audit of the building with the view to making considerable savings through improved efficiency but also look at the possibility and potential of operating the building with renewable energy sources such as solar panels and heat pumps. Secondly, I am in the process of confirming a partnership arrangement with Home Energy Scotland who are an organisation who provide support and advise with making your own home more energy efficient therefore reducing your costs whilst also contributing to a just transition to net zero. In the first instance HES will be providing an energy efficiency advice stand, along with a Scottish water stand, as Falkirk is within a high priority water area, so they have access to water saving devices. This will be taking place at the Safer Streets Open Doors event on Friday 20^th January 2023 from 11am-2pm in the Forth Valley Sensory Centre. Please put this in your diaries as it could make a big difference to your gas and electric bills and keeping your home warm over the coming months. The partnership we are entering into with HES will also provide a local community portal for Camelon and Tamfourhill so you will be able to access their services directly through the Our Place Camelon and Tamfourhill Project.

More can be found out about Home Energy Scotland at this link: https://www.homeenergyscotland.org/

In Summary:

Home Energy Scotland helps people in Scotland create warmer homes, reduce their energy bills, and lower their carbon footprint. They are funded by the Scottish Government and managed by Energy Saving Trust.

They work with people and organisations to help tackle fuel poverty and the climate emergency – both key priorities for Scottish Government (and humans in general).

They do this through a network of regional advice centres covering all of Scotland, which offer local knowledge and expert advice on:

saving energy and keeping warm at home

funding options including Scottish Government grants and interest free loans

installing renewable energy at home

greener travel including electric vehicles and ebikes

cutting water waste.

And finally for 2022 I would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a guid new year, this has been a very busy year and I would like to believe a very productive one for OPCT. There are so many people to thank but I wont go through a very long list, but I would want to send my good wishes to the staff, volunteers, and young people who made the twilight sports such a great success and the committee, staff and volunteers at Tamfourhill Community Hub for their continual support and good humour. A special thanks to all of the Community Safety Partners who have made a massive contribution to making Camelon and Tamfourhill a safer, happier, and more attractive place to live.

Merry Christmas

John R Hosie

Community Safety Engager

Our Place Camelon and Tamfourhill

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Making our Streets Safer for Active Travel and Providing Positive Community Activities for our Young People:

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Thanks to Isla Rous who made this poster at Easter Carmuirs Primary School: It provides a really positive and creative message about the importance of active travel to and from school

In one of my very earliest blogs back in 2020, I highlighted the role that Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTN) can contribute to creating a safer community. This reflected the feedback I had received from the community safety survey and the various consultation activities that I had undertaken. A key outcome of the Community Safety Strategy was therefore stated as: There will be greater road safety and an increase in the level of Active Travel, and to achieve this I would support projects that encouraged low traffic neighbourhoods, promoted greater active travel, and created safer school streets. In this respect it was great to be able to announce in last month’s blog the Sustrans supported project: Easter Carmuirs Pocket Places which is focussed upon making it safer for children travelling to and from Easter Carmuirs Primary School. This will involve a partnership with the school, community, Falkirk Council and OPCT where Sustrans will deliver simple and low-cost adaptations around the school gate and surrounding streets with the intention of these interventions helping to increase safety, improve place quality and encourage active travel in the area.

Camelon Road Safety and Active Travel Project:

I am very pleased to introduce a new initiative which is focussed upon the streets around Carmuirs Primary School and Camelon Community Centre and will also involve the Camelon Early Years and Childcare Centre along with the Forth Valley Sensory Centre. The concerns about road safety and the danger especially for young people accessing local community amenities and the Nailer Road Park in particular were initially raised with myself by members of the Camelon Community Centre Management Committee.In response to this I am grateful that Forth Environment (FEL) Links Active Travel staff have responded positively to these concerns and have enthusiastically come on board to provide resources, guidance, and direct inputs to develop a Project that empowers local groups and organisations to examine the exact nature of the road safety concerns at these particular locations and work with them to identify potential solutions. Drew Taylor from FEL has been working closely with the young people and teaching staff at Carmuirs Primary School who recently conducted a detailed road safety survey around the streets of Camelon and have identified changes which they believe will make the streets safer for the young people and encourage safe active travel to and from the school and other local amenities and community facilities. The respective partners will all be working on their own priorities for road safety, active and accessible travel from their own perspectives. FEL will collate all the different groups survey results into a combined report which will then be used to involve the other key stakeholders with the view to bringing about the necessary changes and improvements which will make that area of Camelon safer for active travel. I will present the key findings and suggested improvements for road safety and active travel in this part of Camelon once the final report has been published.

Twilight Sports returns for a winter programme:

After the success of the Twilight Sports Pilot Programme throughout the summer its absolutely fantastic to announce that there will be an indoor version of the programme kicking off on Friday November 4^th in Tamfourhill Community Hub from 6pm-8pm, the Programme will again be free for all 10-16 years olds, and this will run initially for 6 weeks with the last session for 2022 taking place on Friday December. Similar to the outdoor programme the plan will be to move the locations around Camelon and Tamfourhill, however at this time of writing I can’t yet confirm where the venues for January and February 2023 will be, but I will off course announce these well in advance of the start dates. The focussed sports for the first six weeks will be rollerblading provided by the Falkirk Wheelers and fun football once again run by our qualified football coach Grant Ferguson. This will be a different experience from having the sessions out in the freedom of a public park and that will bring some new challenges, but it is very much hoped that there will be the same welcoming, open and positive atmosphere. A tremendous new addition will be the involvement and support of new youth work staff who will have a specific role to engage with and get to know the young people who attend every week, and we are hoping that this will provide a useful and wider service for local young people which and can be the start of further young person led community projects. A big part of the role of the youth workers will be to listen to young people’s issues and respond to their ideas and aspirations and they will also be able to provide young people with advice and support as required. The Twilight sports is very much about community safety and in this respect the Community Police Officer and the local Fire Service will continue to regularly visit the Twilight sessions and get involved with all the young people who come along. Dr Bike will be back to service bikes for free and where possible carry out basic repairs, the full programme will be available in the next couple of weeks on our Social media platforms and through the distribution of flyers. I look forward to seeing lots of the young people returning and taking part and Friday nights will once again be a great experience for all the young people, staff, and volunteers.

This is what young people told me they liked about coming to the Twilight Sports Programme

All Games Allowed at Nailer Road Park:

I have been supporting this Arts project over the last year, the initial idea had been developed by community artist Mark Bleakley and it has been further rolled out with the support of the Camelon Arts Project. We were at Nailer Road Park last Wednesday where we were joined by an enthusiastic group of young people who spent the afternoon creating their own version of the All Games Allowed ground based creative games court. We appreciated the support of the Nailer Park Tenants and Residents Organisation who came along and helped out, and the young people came up with some colourful crazy designs and ingenious games, the photos illustrate their temporary creations made with the spray chalks and gaffer tape.

Safer Streets Open Doors Events:

There will be a continuation of the Safer Streets roadshows which we are now calling Open Door Events and they to will also be moving inside for the winter period. The format will be similar to the roadshows but will be more structured with each community safety partner having their own stall set up within the various community venues. The statutory services will again be in attendance, including Falkirk Council, Police and Fire Services and a wide variety of local third sector organisations will also be participating: Forth Valley Recovery Community, Transform Forth Valley, Neighbourhood Watch Scotland and the Forth Valley Sensory Centre, there will also be stalls and information available from local community organisations and groups. Full publicity with dates and locations will soon be available and the intention is to begin the events on Thursday 3^rd November. This is a good opportunity to raise issues, concerns and bring new ideas to all off the main community safety services and agencies and to be able to access them all under the one roof, tea and coffee will be available and there will be a very warm welcome from all of the Community Safety Partners and local Groups.

Safer Streets Partners at Tamfourhill October 2021

camelon, community, Our Place, tamfourhill

And now….

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Community Coach Blog, Dan Rous, 24 February 2022

So this is it. This is my final blog as your Community Coach.

I have mixed emotions as I write and I am not going to drag this out any longer than necessary. The last 2 years have been a rollercoaster of emotions as we’ve dealt with all the restrictions Covid threw at us, and here at OPCT there is so much we wanted to do but never got the chance to. Many things on my list remain untouched mostly due to Covid. But there have also been some surprise activities that we didn’t anticipate which has been great. I have spent so much time dealing with frustrations of not being able to do things, and as many of you will know, there’s only so much of that you can take. That’s not why I’m leaving though. Infact, as I come into land in this role, many fruits are forming from the seeds sown. Many things are coming to fruition from the foundations laid. As I’ve been trying to wrap things up for a handover to an as yet unappointed replacement, so much has been coming into my inbox in relation to really positive developments. That’s exciting and gives me hope for the future. All it needs now is for more of you, the lovely people of Camelon and Tamfourhill, to come out from behind the scenes and get involved – it’s the only way positive change is going to happen in our community.

I’ll not disappear completely – sorry! I live here. This is my community. You are my neighbours. Those who know me will know where to find me! (I also know where to find some of you!!!!) I will support local development as much as I’m able through various ways. So I simply encourage you to put your full effort behind John and my replacement when they’re in post. You have the power to be part of the change for good. You can be involved in positive developments. You can be part of a really exciting future for Camelon and Tamfourhill.

I leave you with a favourite song that I’ve performed many times before – don’t worry, this isn’t me singing though! I use it here as it sums things up from my time in this role as, whilst I know I haven’t got everything right or achieved everything that I wanted to, I can say with hand on heart that, right or wrong, I did it My Way. These words particularly stand out: “Regrets, I’ve had a few, but then again, too few to mention. I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption. I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway. And more, much more than this, I did it my way. Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew, when I bit off more than I could chew. But through it all, when there was doubt I ate it up and spit it out. I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way.”

Until we meet again…….