Community Benefits - Good news stories
“Over the last couple of months, we have been so delighted by the response from our feature on the social benefit Wishlist. Within weeks of each other we received two very large donations totalling £2080, which is amazing!!”
David C. Watson, Empower Project Service Co-ordinator
The first donation of £1000 we received was from Sidey, and after long discussions with our service users they decided to spend the money on improving their chill out area within the project. We are so looking forward to, any day now, receiving our new seating!
The second donation of £1080 came from ENVA and again we were all so grateful and surprised to receive this further donation. In late November we had a visit from Chris and Connor from ENVA, who spent time chatting with our service users, who explained that we would love to buy an interactive smart board with their donation. We gave Chris and Connor our homemade thank you card which was signed by all our services users. ENVA have offered us support in the new year with our litter picking activities, which is great.
We cannot thank Sidey and Enva enough for the very generous donations which will make a long lasting very positive difference to all.
Lomond Community Pantry would not have been able to be open to our community today if it were not for grants, funding applications and the kindness of donations from local businesses and social benefit contractors through West Dunbartonshire Council’s Working 4U team.
When we met David Wilkie , he advised us to create a Wishlist of things we would need to enable the project to continue. We listed skips, slabs, edging stones, builders' sand, shelving, fridges, freezer, painting and of course money to enable us to buy food to set up our initial stock.
The donations started to come in thick and fast. David arranged a meeting with Leigh from JM Murdoch who provided the skip needed to clear the hall and later the building sand required for a new pathway to be laid from pavement to hall plus a cash donation. David continued on behalf of the pantry to liaise with WDC contractors to work his way through our wishlist. The pathway and slabbing of the outside area required 400 slabs which were kindly donated by McConnell which was a cash Equivalent of £3792!!! The edging stones were donated by McNairs Building Supplies. We then received further cash donations from Walker Love, Allsports Construction & Maintenance, Hawthorn Heights, FCA Fostering, NEC Software Solutions, Enva, and a very generous donation from Arnold Clark.
Without these donations and funding, the Lomond Community Pantry would not be able to help ease food poverty in our local area. Since opening in October 2024 we have 80 members registered and can foresee the numbers rising as we hit the winter months.
The pantry offers a warm space, a space to chat, to meet others and to let our members know that our community cares as reflected in all our kind donations received which allowed the idea of the pantry become a reality.
“Working4U have been invaluable in setting up the Lomond Pantry. They sourced building and landscaping materials from donor companies. These materials helped to make the building and the surrounds safe for people to use. Without its help we would not be in a position to help people in need throughout the Lomond Ward.” Councillor Hazel Sorrell
Paula McAuley, Sportex: Sportex is delighted to support the local community following our project at East End Park. We made donations to Street League and the Routes Young Person's Project to help fund the incredible work they do for the community. Additionally, we donated sports equipment to Time for Tully, giving children the opportunity to enjoy playing football with proper gear.
Alison Donnelly, Street League: We couldn’t have run the event as successfully without the generous £500 donation from Sportex – we’re incredibly grateful for their support! The donation was used to provide food and drinks for 60 young people attending the event. We were also able to purchase two new footballs, five trophies, and 30 medals for the winning teams.
It was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate how far our young people have come. The event also gave them the chance to stay active, socialise, and connect with local health and wellbeing partners, as well as potential employers.
Pam Burns, Routes Project: Sportex recently donated £500, and we used the money they donated to take 20 young people to the Alpine Coaster in Edinburgh. The young people absolutely loved it! They had seen it last year on Tik Tok and kept asking to go but we didn't have any funding to take them as its quite far and expensive.
Quotes from young people: “Did you see how fast I went! I loved the wind and feeling free” & “Omg I can't wait to put this on my snap story. This is the best thing I have ever done!'
Nicola Snedden, Time for Tully: Our committee is thrilled with the recent donation of training goals, footballs and cones from Sportex. The children of Tullichewan are also over the moon!! Donations like these are crucial to grass roots organisations like Time For Tully, with the emphasis on getting children/youth and families out into the community to play.
Pupils in their Senior Phase years at school, from S4 to S6, can choose a **Foundation Apprenticeship** as one of their school subjects. During the apprenticeship, learners work on employability skills, gain an understanding of the industry and the job roles within the sector, and collaborate on a project to meet a brief from a real client. They also develop practical skills in painting and decorating, bricklaying, and joinery. McTaggart Construction was very keen to support the Foundation Apprenticeships and provided six pupils with a five-week programme consisting of a series of planned interventions.
Ross Hammel, McTaggart Construction: McTaggart is committed to supporting the next generation of the construction workforce. The Willox Park development has been used to enhance industry learning and support the WDC Foundation Apprenticeship programme.
These site-based learning opportunities not only promote the construction industry but also provide a unique and valuable environment for young people interested in the built environment.
Stephen Knox, Working4U: Ross and the team at McTaggart's provided work placements for our Civil Engineering Foundation Apprentices. The experience included a combination of professional talks, hands-on activities, and site observations. Topics covered various aspects of the construction industry, such as health and safety, engineering, quantity surveying, and sustainability, among others. The placement not only supported the young people in completing their qualifications but also gave them valuable insight into the industry as a whole. Participants found it both interesting and informative to learn about the different career opportunities within the construction sector, and they enjoyed observing the work being carried out on-site. This experience was essential for the apprentices to complete their course and helped them become more knowledgeable about the construction industry overall.
Carers of West Dunbartonshire recruited a member of staff from West Dunbartonshire as part of their social benefit offers. They also made a very generous donation of £500 to Y Sort It.
‘On behalf of Y Sort It I would like to say thanks very much to Carers of West Dunbartonshire for their generous donation of £500. This money will be put towards our “Helping Hand Fund” which was created by our youth management board to support families in times of hardship and also promote health and wellbeing. Many of our young carers have accessed this funding and has used it to purchase bikes and sports equipment.' - Y Sort It.
**Müller donated £2600 to Work Connect** in order to allow them to install electricity points in their new woodwork facility based in Levengrove Park.
Laura Parker, Work Connect:
‘The money generously gifted from Muller has allowed us to install **electricity points** within our newly converted woodwork facility. Our staff and service users had undertaken this conversion last winter as we needed a space to work when the weather made gardening tasks difficult (often!). This area provides us with a warm, dry area to learn many new skills such as making planters to sell in the community which allows us to keep supplies topped up and to donate items to other local community groups. Clients have also been upcycling old furniture and learning to make other small items. The wood-work room has been a fabulous addition to our facility and we hope to extend the use to other organisations for their own learning opportunities. The installation of the electricity even means we will have the luxury of **heaters in the winter months**!!!’
Alex Lacy, Vale of Leven FC:
‘The Vale of Leven 2010 team would like to thank Allsports CM for their very generous sponsorship which allowed the team to purchase their new kit for the upcoming season. Grassroot football teams rely heavily on sponsorship in a sport that financially takes a lot of effort to maintain and even be a part of. When company’s of this stature give back to the kids and the community it really makes a difference!’
As part of their ongoing commitment to supporting our communities and the people who live in them, Story and Network Rail recently hosted three Industry taster days on site at Exxon Bowling, welcoming 34 pupils for an engaging and educational experience. The pupils from St Patrick’s Primary School and two FA Construction & Civil Engineering cohorts participating in the Working 4 U programme joined site teams for a day of hands-on learning. Activities included meeting the project team, learning about the construction of the underbridge, taking part in a STEM workshop involving a bridge building challenge (with prizes!), and a site tour.
The pupils were fascinated to see the works taking place in their local area, and the day was filled with curiosity and thoughtful questions. There was also an opportunity to discuss career pathways in construction, highlighting roles such as Civil Engineer, Quantity Surveyor, Ganger, and Works Superintendent, among others. Staff volunteering efforts totalled 70 hours, directly contributing to the pupils’ learning and development.
Stephen Knox, Working4U – “Emma and the team at Story Contracting, in partnership with Network Rail, delivered an engaging session for our Foundation Apprentices at the Exxon site. Pupils spoke with industry professionals, took part in a bridge-building activity to develop key skills, and gained valuable insight into engineering on a live site. A highly beneficial and enjoyable experience for all involved.”
Elizabeth Mooney, Dumbarton District Women’s Aid
“City Technical very kindly provided us with two teams of 10 volunteers for two days who came and gave our garden a badly needed make-over. We were amazed by the amount of work they covered, including weeding all our flower beds and putting in some plants, trimming back some bushes and digging others, lopping trees and power washing all our paths and paving. When they were finished, we discovered a beautiful little haven at the back corner of our garden! We had received some funding from the B&Q Fund, so we have ordered a gazebo to put in this corner. We can’t express just how much we appreciate what City Technical have done. The garden is always on our to-do list, but with the number of families we support, we rarely get the chance to get round to it. We have also just had our new playground completed, so our garden looks amazing. A great big Thank you to everyone involved!!!”
Balfour Beatty, in partnership with West Dunbartonshire Council's Working 4U recently engaged with the CITB funded Scottish Pathways to Construction Programme to deliver a targeted local initiative to tackle skills shortages within the construction industry, particularly focusing on those entering the sector. This initiative went beyond traditional classroom learning, incorporating crucial on-site work placements for participants with both Balfour Beatty, Story Contracting, and McTaggart Construction. These placements offered invaluable real-world experience, enabling individuals to apply their newly acquired skills and knowledge within a live construction environment under the guidance of experienced professionals. This practical experience was vital for developing job readiness, bolstering confidence, and making participants highly attractive to employers in the local construction sector.
The success of this program demonstrates the power of combining tailored training with hands-on work placements. It not only helped bridge local skills gaps and increase the employability of participants but also provided a vital pipeline of skilled workers ready to contribute to projects, bolstering our local workforce and delivering significant community benefit.
The initiative supported 11 local people to access accredited training including Abrasive Wheels, REHIS and Health & Safety, Working at Height, and CSCS Green card training and assessment.
Moira O’Kane, Working4U Officer.
“Watching participants grow in confidence and capability through their site placements & training has been incredibly rewarding. It’s clear this approach makes a real difference in people’s lives.”
HLS McConnell donated £5000 to Knowetop. This has allowed Knowetop to build a fence around their community garden’s plots and assisted them to purchase landscaping materials.
Claire Travis, Knowetop Manager:
After initially agreeing to pay for the installation of a fence for our community plots, HLS McConnell’s added an extra **£2000 to their contribution**. This will be used for hard landscaping, either flagstones or raised beds. The raised beds will be made for us by another local community garden, so the donation will also benefit them. As well as directly funding this part of the plots project their money has enabled us to bring in other funding and in-kind support. We have been able to secure **£5,000 from the Community Food Framework Fund**, and the equivalent in in-kind contribution from WDC Greenspace, and the **Corra Foundation have agreed to fund the purchase of a polytunnel**. This means we should have the community plots up and running by next growing season and be able to offer space to individuals and groups from across the community. We already have people who are interested in becoming plot holder.
Thanks again for the donation, it’s had an even bigger impact than we expected!!!
