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Education
For Active Citizenship In The Forth Valley
CTDU
aims to be a resourceful ally to enable groups and individuals
to:
act
together effectively and co-operatively, by offering skills
training and information to people who want to take an active
role in running their organisations
build
vibrant democratic communities, by running citizen education
courses to help people learn new ways of connecting with and
representing their communities, looking into and presenting
local issues and being heard at local and national government
levels
understand
the past and the present, and shape the future by holding
gatherings of participants from CTDU's member groups to network,
to learn more about history, cultures and present day experiences,
and to develop confidence and capacity to work for change.
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With Core funding from Falkirk and Clackmannanshire Councils,
CTDU offers capacity building training to grassroots members
of community and voluntary organisations. CTDU projects 2005-2006:
Equality
Matters, funded by the Falkirk Community Planning Partnership
Equality Matters, funded by the Clackmannanshire Regeneration
Partnerhip
Volunteers'
Mentoring Support, funded by the Voluntary Action Fund
UP
4IT, funded by the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland
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The
Bothkennar Centre for Citizen Education
We are
very fortunate to be based in the beautiful setting of the
RSPB Bothkennar reserve, a peaceful and interesting environment
for our members to learn from and enjoy. RSPB are particularly
interested in protecting the coastline and the many birds
which overwinter on the reserve and feed from the mudflats.
Several species of endangered birds, and some whose numbers
are falling dramatically, live at Bothkennar. Tree sparrows
and yellow hammers can be seen feeding in our garden and at
the nuts and seed we provide for them, and grey partridges
and skylarks inhabit the fields behind the centre.
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Chairs
Report
Where
has the last year gone, it seems only a few weeks ago that
I was writing my last report. A lot has been going on for
me both personally and at Bothkennar. I have been involved
in the “Get Heard” movement through the Poverty
Alliance and have attended conferences both in the Scottish
Parliament and in London where people from all walks of life
told of their experiences living in poverty to MPs.
New
developments at CTDU this year include the establishing
of a group of ‘CTDU
Associates’. CTDU Associates are a group of freelance
development workers who offer a wide range of practical and
affordable training to community groups who want to be more
active within their own communities by building their confidence,
skills, knowledge and voice.
During
March – May 06 artist and community educator Tansy Lee
Moir worked alongside our students to make a mosaic
of the CTDU logo for our garden, and if I say so myself it
looks very impressive. The grand opening of the mosaic took
place in August and our grateful thanks go to George Reid
for taking on the task. We have also put in place a bench
dedicated to the memory of Jackie Beresford. Jackie, who was
vice-chair of our students association and chair of CTDU,
sadly passed away in January 2005.
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August, the CTDU students association learned that they had
been successful in securing funding from Awards for All. This
funding will enable us to increase our membership through
reaching out and visiting communities and inviting more people
to join us. We plan to run an educational programme on social
issues of interest to our members, and hold two social events
to introduce new members to our centre. Some of the other
activities planned are creating a sculpture for our community
garden, and a new banner.
In October
06, CTDU won the ‘Volunteer Engaging Organisation
of the Year’ award in Falkirk. We are very
proud of our new cup as it recognises CTDU’s commitment
to grassroots communities and equality of opportunity.
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On behalf
of everyone at CTDU, I would like to thank our funders for
the resources that enable us to support communities.
My thanks
to all the members of the Board, the students association,
volunteers, sessional workers, Anne who is on a work placement
from Moray House University and of course the staff, Rosemary
and Fiona. They have kept me going this last year and without
them I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Lorraine
Kane
Chair
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Volunteers'
Mentoring Support Project
Funded
by the Voluntary Action Fund 2003 to 2006
In this final year of the project, groups have been working
towards sustainability. |
Disability Awareness Group
The group was successful in receiving a start up grant from
the Community Purse, which they’ve used to pay for meeting
rooms, transport, stationery costs and management committee
training.
Members
completed a PATH exercise that got them thinking about the
future direction of the group; they drew up a development
plan, organised committee and book keeping training, and sent
a funding application to Tesco Trust. One major thing for
DAG members has been taking their meetings outside the Whins.
DAG now meets in the community at various centres, for example
Hawkhill Community Centre.
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Students Association
Volunteers
organised and facilitated a Film 4UM at Bothkennar and invited
volunteers from other groups along to watch ‘Inside
I’m Dancing’, and then have a bite to eat and
a discussion about the film.
The students
maintained our garden and made a mosaic feature with community
artist Tansy Lee Moir, which George Reid unveiled in August.
Volunteers
also learnt how to manage their funds and set up their own
financial systems. In August the students worked on an application
for Awards for All with the help of one of CTDU associates,
and have been successful in receiving £5,325 to develop
their learning programme.
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Participatory
Video Project
In January 30 people from Falkirk viewed “Video Letters
from Grangemouth to Brazil” at its public screening
in Falkirk Lesser Town Hall.
Video
Letters is a collection of short films created by local residents
living close to the oil industry in Grangemouth. Each film
describes different aspects of the impact the industry has
on individual lives. The project gave people the opportunity
to tell their own story while considering the global aspects
of the oil industry. About 100 people throughout the UK and
Canada have so far viewed the film.
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Participatory
Action Research Project
Members
of this group, AKA co-researchers, have been very busy this
year. They took part in listening skills, speaking in groups
and note taking training to prepare them for gathering their
research.
The community
drama worker at Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh helped the
group put together their drama piece, and they delivered 5
drama workshops throughout Forth Valley to collect views to
inform their research. The findings of the research are now
in a paper report, and an accessible report is available.
The group made a banner, with symbols representing the recommendations
from the report and launched the banner and reports on Mental
Health Week. Over 100 reports have been sent out to the various
mental health professionals in the Forth Valley.
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Review
of the Volunteers Mentoring Support Project
Funded
by the Voluntary Action Fund
The review
was carried out by volunteers who participated in an intensive
training programme and learnt a wide range of skills such
as:
training
in video making, evaluation and review, and interview skills
discussion and agreement about the purpose and content of
the review
participatory planning and ‘storyboarding’
shooting on location, with volunteers doing camera work and
interviewing
What
has the project achieved over the last 3 years
- 48
volunteers received one-to-one support to enable them to
become effective members of groups within their communities
- 15
community groups and organisations given support, for example
through skills training, equality awareness, and help in
becoming constituted
- Support
to volunteers to be involved in other CTDU learning programmes,
including community arts, participatory video and participatory
action research
- Support
to volunteers to form the CTDU Students Association, with
accessible garden project, Global Citizens Programme, and
fundraising events
- Practical
support to mainstream equalities within CTDU, including
supporting volunteers to become office bearers and carry
out an access audit for the centre
- ‘In
house’ opportunities to learn and practice new skills,
e.g. IT, telephone, catering and food hygiene, planning,
communication, research and video
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The review’s main findings
All
four project aims have been achieved, and surpassed!
Individual volunteers have greatly increased their confidence
and skills and have become active members of community organisations.
The video review features volunteers active in Greenhill
Community Resource Centre in Bonnybridge and the Disability
Awareness Group in Clackmannanshire. The project has supported
other volunteers to become involved in mental health and physical
and learning disability groups, including People First (Voices
Group), Reachout, and Clackmannanshire Community Access Volunteers.
Partnerships have been cemented with other organisations,
for example with Friends of the Earth Scotland and Kersiebank
Community Project through the participatory video project.
The support given to volunteers to become active members
of CTDU’s Students’ Association has provided students
with many formal and informal opportunities to learn about
each other’s situation, to have fun, and to learn new
skills.
Volunteers have a tangible pride in the Students’ Association
and CTDU’s Bothkennar premises and garden, and help
make it a friendly and welcoming place.
All
interviewees were asked if they had any ideas for improving
the project. It is significant that all made comments such
as ‘Just to carry on as it is’.
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A
final word from CTDU
‘I’ve
learnt so much about people’s needs, about their determination
and their passion for what they believe in. The passion that
people have just blows you away and makes me feel really proud
to work with the people I’ve worked with.’
Fiona McKeown, CTDU’s Volunteers Mentor
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Equality
Matters
Funded
by Falkirk Community Planning Partnership 2005 - 2008 |
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The
Equality Matters programme aims to encourage and enable more
people from Falkirk’s Regeneration Areas to be involved
in community organising and campaigning. It is designed to
help communities develop an autonomous voice to communicate
with their members and represent them, participate effectively
in community planning structures, make presentations and deliver
equality training programmes.
Equality Matters focus is on building the capacity of ‘hard
to reach’ groups e.g. people who experience discrimination
because of their race, disability, gender, age, sexuality,
as well as the disadvantages inherent in living in a relatively
deprived area.
Since Fiona took up post in October 2005 she has worked with
a number of groups, including a group of mums whose children
have additional support needs in Denny, the Rainbow Multicultural
Women’s Group based in Camelon, and is developing stronger
links with Central Scotland Racial Equality Council.
She has also met with people from different services Falkirk
Council provide to build a picture of what is happening already
and look at ways statutory services and CTDU can work together.
Learning Network
45 ROA residents took part in Learning Network events in
March and October 2006. The format of each Learning Network
is:
Round Robin - a chance to talk about your
group and your community.
Now Hear This - where workers and agencies
to give useful information
Bite and a Blether - lunch and an opportunity
to speak other participants
Bite Size Learning - short, taster sessions
for community organising
Taster sessions we have run are:
Dealing Creatively with Conflict, with Scottish Centre for Non-Violence.
Forum Theatre, with Birds of Paradise Theatre
Most participants had never used Forum Theatre before but really
enjoyed it. They thought it was a useful tool for encouraging
people to get active, and for engaging with people about issues
of concern in their communities. |
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SEN Group
SEN
stands for Special Educational Needs. The group started
as a support group for Mums of children with additional
learning support needs.
Over
the last 6 months, they have had visits from workers from
other support groups, school nurses, Parent Forums and Adult
Education.
The
group have now made a video about their experiences of having
a child with additional support needs, which aims to highlight;
- How
the parents deal with their children, and how they manage
- Different
conditions and helpful techniques
- What’s
worked for them
- How
the simplest thing can make a huge difference
The
video is an educational tool for other parents and for professionals.
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The
Rainbow Group
The
Rainbow Group completed “Money Matters” training
and made a banner for Pakistan Day.
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Equality
Matters
Funded
by Clackmannanshire Regeneration Partnership
CTDU’s
Equality Matters project is an outreach project for Clackmannanshire
Regeneration communities
There
are three strategic levels of work in this project:
- facilitating
a learning network for community activists and volunteers
from priority areas
- delivering
a development programme to enable new community leaders
to emerge, strengthen the voice of communities to influence
policy making and service delivery and raise awareness
locally of a range of equality issues
- broadening
participants’ horizons by introducing them to the
CTDU student association and involving them in a range
of arts based media and environmental work to campaign
against poverty and equality locally, nationally and globally.
The key aims are Strengthening local organisations, supporting
active involvement of participants in community organisations,
in community planning partnerships, and in making presentations
for their own communities, for the learning network and for
services.
Since
April we have collected baseline information trying to find
our what already exits in Clacks. We have done this by mapping
the area finding out what’s out there in Clackmannanshire.
We then made contact new and exiting groups and organisations
by going along to meetings and places where people meet. The
aim is to reach out to communities where there is currently
little community activity or few supports for community activity.
To
assist the worker CTDU volunteers have gone on community outreach
visits to find out what community and voluntary organisations
are doing and discuss how Equality Matters can help them with
educational and training programmes.
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Green Mapping
The
project has been working with The Disability Awareness Group
and CVS to produce an Accessible Green Map of Alloa town centre.
“Green maps link people to a place using visual icons
representing the local environment. The ancient art of map
making brings together all ages and social groups within a
given area allowing them to create a graphic picture of their
community”. The process aim is to highlight the positive
and not so positive aspects of access in Alloa. A map will
be produced and this will then feed into the environmental
theme team of Community Planning.
Learning Network
Our
first Learning Network for Clackmannanshire regeneration areas
took place on 3 November at St Mungos with a participatory
taster session on creative ways of engaging with the community
lead by CTDU Associate Tansy Lee Moir.
Training
ROA
residents who go to Reachout have taken part in a Development
Plan Training Day. The aim of this day was to prepare for
the new outreach worker coming to Reachout. The CPTR management
committee took part in an Away Day and two further training
sessions where 12 committee members from Sauchie, Alloa South
and East, Coalsnaughton and Tullibody all took part. The main
focus was looking at committee skills. The Clackmannanshire
Tenants and Residents Federation have also completed committee
roles training.
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UP
4 IT
Funded
by the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland
This
3 year project started in April 2005 and its key ideas are:
- teaching
basic ICT skills and practical training to enable students
to use tools, such as email and the Internet
- supporting
students to use ICT and to resource their work in their
communities
-
supporting students to use the local resources, facilities
and expertise already available to them in their communities
- promoting
awareness of ICT and its potential benefits
- creating
an accessible students association portal website and
engaging with students to assist them to express their
views
- developing
links with other local/national/international organisations
to promote and enhance opportunities for sustained use
of ICT.
During
this year, training took place both at CTDU and in community
venues in Falkirk and Alloa where Internet access and classes
on computers are on offer.
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Nine
students stories went onto the student association portal:
Here’s a flavour of what our students had to say:
- I
enjoy coming to CTDU because the people there are nice
and gentle.
- CTDU
has given me more confidence to meet people from other
organisations and who I would like to keep in contact
with.
- I'm
more confident and more sociable than before.
- Getting
involved in things at CTDU has helped me to move on.
- I
always go away feeling better having learned something
from the programme but most importantly from each other.
- What
I like about CTDU is that everyone gets treated the same.
People just feel at home right away.
- The
friendships that I have formed at Bothkennar have been
a great help to me and give me the confidence to do more
with my life
- At
CTDU we all realise everywhere has problems and we can
share ideas.
- I've
learned to stand up for rights and fight for people. Before
- I didn't have any confidence at all but I do now.
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CTDU
Associates
CTDU
Associates offer practical and affordable training to encourage
community involvement and community action. So far this year
they have worked with:
Camphill
Students Committee; Community Activists Regeneration Project;
Community Partnership Team for Regeneration; Counselling and
Support Services for Alcohol and Drugs; Dawson Community Council;
Disability Awareness Group; Falkirk International Women’s
Day; Princess Royal Trust Carers; Reachout.
For more
information visit the website to see what’s on offer:
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CTDU
Associates website
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Capacity Building
With
financial support from Falkirk and Clackmannanshire Councils
and direct commissions from voluntary organisations, CTDU
works with volunteers and community activists to develop skills,
knowledge and confidence to represent their communities, run
grassroots community organisations and participate in local
initiatives. The organisations CTDU has worked with this year
include:
In Falkirk . . .
Advocacy into Action; Caledonia Clubhouse; Camelon Regeneration
Forum; CVS Falkirk & District; Denny Community Support
Group; Equal People; Falkirk Access Group; Falkirk Council:
Adult Literacies, Community Education Service, Capacity Building;
Corporate Services and Community Planning teams; Falkirk District
Association for Mental Health; Falkirk Training Consortium;
Greenhill Resource Centre; Kersiebank Community Projects;
Linked Work & Training Trust; Maddiston Community Centre;
Falkirk Community Health Partnership; Public Partnership Forum;
Special Education Needs group; Rainbow Multicultural Group;
Slammannan Community Education Association; Stuart Road Action
Group; Volunteer Centre, Falkirk; Westfield Community Centre.
In
Clackmannanshire . . .
Clackmannanshire Community Access Volunteers; Clackmannanshire
Council; Community Planning; Youth and Children services;
Clackmannanshire Social Enterprise Development; Clackmannanshire
Tenants and Residents Federation; Clackmannanshire Volunteer
Development Agency; Clackmannanshire Youth Forum; CLiCK Centre;
Coalsnaughton and Devonside Regeneration Group; Community
Maintenance and Environmental Enterprise -C-MEE; Community
Partnership Team for Regeneration; Community Regeneration
Partnership; CVS Clackmannanshire; DASH (Depression Anxiety
Self Help); Devon House; Disability Awareness Group (DAG);
Green Mapping Project, CVS Clackmannanshire; Hawkhill Community
Association; Linked Work &Training Trust; People First
(in Clackmannanshire); Reachout; Sustainable Dialogue; Tullibody
Regeneration Group; Whins Resource Centre.
In Stirling (no Council funding). . .
Adult Carers Education; CVS Stirling; Stirling Users Network
(STUN); Stirling and District Association for Mental Health;
Wolfcraig Training Project.
Forth
valley wide organisations . . .
Central Scotland Racial Equality Council.
Other
groups . . .
Barnardos Matrix Project; Camcorder Guerrillas; Carbon Trade
Watch; Community Health Exchange; Craigmillar Capacity Building
Project; Disability, Democracy and Society Group; First Class
Group; Friends of the Earth (Scotland); Glasgow University:
Research and Practice in Adult Literary project; Jubilee Scotland;
Learning Link Scotland; Linked Work & Training/SCVO Black
& Minority Ethnic students; NHS Forth Valley; Oxfam; Pilton
Partnership Group; Poverty Alliance; RSPB; Scottish Enterprise
Forth Valley; Scottish Education and Action for Development
(SEAD); Scottish Executive; Scottish Parliament; University
of Edinburgh.
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Income
and Expenditure
April 2005 to March 2006
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| Income |
2005/6 |
2004/5 |
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£ |
£ |
| The
Big Lottery |
1,365 |
60,189 |
Voluntary
Action Fund (Main Grants Programme) |
27,199 |
26,248 |
| Falkirk
Council |
9,724 |
9,408 |
| Clackmannanshire
Council |
4,930 |
4,930 |
| Ideas
(Department for International Development) |
765 |
4,838 |
| Falkirk
Community Planning Partnership |
32,000 |
0 |
| Student
Association |
726 |
553 |
| Generated
Income, donations and bank interest |
6,717 |
9,138 |
| Lloyds
TSB Foundation for Scotland |
5,412 |
0 |
| Scottish
Community Action Research Fund |
3,150 |
0 |
| Voluntary
Action Fund (Valuing Volunteers) |
0 |
500 |
| Total
Income |
£91,988 |
£115,804 |
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| Expenditure |
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| Staff
costs |
60,970 |
85,484 |
| Beneficiary
costs: travel, care of dependents and subsistence |
17,420 |
12,238 |
| General
administration costs |
6,330 |
8,297 |
| Property
costs |
7,552 |
8,568 |
| Student
Association |
595 |
1,748 |
| Total
Expenditure |
£92,867 |
£116,335 |
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Balance
at start of year
Surplus/Deficit
Balance at end of year |
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£9,242
-531
£8,711 |
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A full set of accounts is available on request.
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Reporting Accountants
ATN Chartered Accountants
Greencornhill
38 Falkirk Road
Bannockburn
Stirling
FK7 8AG
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Bankers
Bank of Scotland
138/140 High Street
Falkirk
FK1 1NR
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Thanks
to . . .
Volunteers
-
Lorraine Kane for supporting the student association,
making transport arrangements and being a great support
to everyone.
-
Finlay Currie for countless hours of centre maintenance,
garden development, driving, and support with financial
record keeping.
-
Ann Wilson and Carol Gray for shopping and preparing lunch
for events and for help with jobs in the office.
-
Jason Wallace for helping in the kitchen at CTDU.
Garden
development
Tansy Lee Moir for assisting our students to create our garden
mosaic, and George Reid for officially unveiling our latest
addition to the garden.
Community
Work Student
Grateful
thanks Anne Reid her enthusiastic and excellent work for CTDU.
Friends
of CTDU
Iyaah
Warren, Jan Nimmo, Joette Thomas, Jean Bareham, Tansy Lee
Moir, Alex Staerck, Steven Watson, Janet Wallace, Linda Gow,
Heidi Bachram, Ell Southern, Norman Phillip, Lynn Burnett,
George Lamb, Mike Bell, Nick Chambers, Janet Wallace, Fraser
Currie, and our neighbours at Bothkennar Fiona, Charlie and
Joy.
Special
thanks to:
Alison Black for taking notes, typing up records and contributing
to our Participatory Action Research project. Also for assisting
with the students ICT learning programme and producing some
great reports.
And finally
….
All our students and participants for their enthusiastic and
thoughtful work with CTDU this year.
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Thanks
to our funders |
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Clackmannanshire
Council
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Falkirk
Community Planning Partnership |
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LLoyds
TSB Foundation for Scotland
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Directors
and Company Secretary
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| Alister
Scott |
Director |
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| Carey
Sinclair (Treasurer) |
Director |
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| Finlay
Currie |
Director |
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| Jason
Wallace |
Director |
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| Gillian
Orr |
Director |
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| Lorraine
Kane (Chair) |
Director |
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| Roni
Fleming |
Director |
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| Tan
Proffitt |
Director |
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| Rosemary
Currie |
Company
Secretary |
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| Falkirk
Council |
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| Mike
Watson |
Community
Education Service |
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| Staff |
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| Fiona
McKeown |
Development
Worker |
| Rosemary
Currie |
Information
Resource Development |
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| Students |
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| Anne
Reid |
21
September to 10 December 2006 |
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| Scottish
Company No: 202872 |
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| Scottish
Charity No: SC022418 |
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