One in six children aged 5-16 have a probable mental health disorder and since Covid, mental health issues in young people have increased by 58%. In 2025, children face many challenges such as bullying and complicated home lives which can result in depression, low self-esteem and difficulty making friends. They can be angry with the world and subsequently can be withdrawn or disruptive at school and home, because they struggle to cope with their emotions.

Our Flourish Project helps to improve mental and emotional well-being, self-esteem and resilience by supporting children to see their own potential, giving them ‘permission’ to dream and helping them to develop future aspirations with achievable goals.

Our project is not a ‘Quick Fix’. It supports them to face and cope with their everyday life challenges and long-term objectives. Over 8 weeks (8 x 1 hour sessions) our volunteer trainers help young people to see themselves in a more positive way by looking at:- how personal life beliefs are formed; the power of thought and how it effects behaviour; effects of social media; positive self-esteem and healthy self-talk and celebrating personal growth and development.

Since starting 3 years ago, we have worked with 580 children with very positive, long-term results. With your help, we aim to work with 400 more in North Aberdeen in 2025, aged between 10 and 14. Our Flourish Project really makes positive life changes in young lives and we want to make that difference to every young life that needs it.

Our project is focused on providing an enriched programme of activities for the 51st Kincorth Brownies in Aberdeen. As a key part of the Girl guiding community, we aim to inspire and empower girls aged 7–10, helping them develop valuable life skills, confidence, and friendships. We plan to use the funding to continue offering our local community a low-cost activity for our young people and create engaging opportunities that enhance the Brownies’ experiences. This includes organising adventurous trips, hands-on workshops, and special events like outdoor camps. We also want to invest in new equipment and resources to support activities like STEM challenges, creative arts, and community projects. The funding would allow us to cover regular running costs such as venue hire and resources as well as offer experiences like camps, adventurous activities and day trips (skiing, tubing, theatre etc) that our members may otherwise not have access to as well as ensuring that every girl can take part regardless of financial background. By making these opportunities accessible, we aim to foster inclusion and inspire every Brownie to achieve their potential in a safe and supportive environment. Your vote will help us provide unforgettable experiences for the girls in Kincorth, giving them memories to cherish and the tools to grow into confident, empowered individuals. Together, we can make a lasting impact on their lives. Thank you!

In order to support families in the local area, we would like to develop our space to be more child friendly.

For safety, we would like to purchase child gates to prevent access to the kitchen and to outside, allowing parents and carers to be more relaxed within the space.

We have a number of toys but require storage space to make them more accessible and would like to purchase suitable units for this purpose.

The floor is hardwood which makes it great for riding bikes and pushing buggies around, but cold for little ones, so we would like to purchase a large rug for the floor to make the area more comfortable.

JOG TORRY - keep on running! There is a proven link between fitness and both physical and mental health - which is why SAMH works in tandem with Jog Scotland to promote the couch to 5km programme in local communities. Our aim is to kickstart jogging in Torry with 2 blocks of coach-led sessions. The model is that from the 20 plus local participants, two will then go on to complete the Jog Scotland training so that they can then run the Torry group as volunteers. This will mean that Jog Torry will be self-sustaining. By having a community fitness celebration day this will encourage the wider community to get fit. It is envisaged that the fitness day will take place at St Fitticks Park and include a 5km round the park for the first couch to 5km course completers. The fitness day will also provide refreshments for the community and will host info stalls on various themes including community walking groups (paths for all), chair based aerobics, Sport Aberdeen’s offers and other fitness opportunities in the area. Local parents at Greyhope have already expressed an interest. Jog Scotland/SAMH are supporting this bid and will provide a letter of support. The Torry Health Matters group has identified this as one of its 4 core aims (adult fitness/mental health/diabetes prevention) and hence it is supportive of this bid. Sport Aberdeen is supporting the bid too.

We plan to set up the centre ar least one morning a week to offer soup and a roll in a warm and friendly safe space with no cost to entry.  All our volunteers will have been trained in the rquirements of food hygiene (L2) legislation and will have PVG accreditation.  We will be building up a pool of volunteers and team leaders to ensure that we have a sustainable rota built in for ensuring local continuity once the project starts.  We will also be looking to collaborate with Lochside Academy and other community partners in the management and delivery of this project to assist young people gain experience in the running a model of a social enterprise community cafe with an offfer of friendship and hot soup and a roll, acommpanied by a welcome cuppie.  We will endeavour to source quality produce from CFINE, supermarkets and other suppliers at no cost wherever possible, and where needed we will seek external funding to support our operational costs.  We have also set aside a reserve within our business planning for operational costs to ensure we can achieve our charitable purposes and meet an un-met local need in Torry.

For several years, the community flat has supported local residents with emergency food provision. Due to the steep rise in food and energy costs, job losses as a result of the pandemic and the downturn in oil and gas services and the introduction of Universal Credit, more and more vulnerable residents are seeking support to feed themselves and their families. We provide food to everyone who needs it – babies, children, single people, pensioners, refugees, asylum seekers and those who have No Recourse to Public Funds. We provide a food parcel (approx. two days of emergency food) once a fortnight and this is topped up through weekly deliveries from Fareshare and donations from Cairncry Community Centre who have links with the Co-op.  Demand has increased exponentially over the past few years and despite reducing our service from once a week to once every two weeks, we still struggle to meet demand. The foodbank service plays a vital role in maintaining health and equalities within the community and is a lifeline for many. 

Following the outcome of a recent survey from members of Torry community we would like to run a project based on the requests of members of the community. They have expressed their wish to have a type of recreational club.

This project aims to engage people with weekly activities that will help their mental resilience, health and wellbeing, support them in building healthy relationship among members of the community, build community spirit, social interactions/connections. This club will also improve the self-awareness of beneficiaries and enhance their self-esteem. This club will offer activities like fitness classes, games sessions, outdoor walk sessions, knitting and dance sessions.

We want to provide the opportunity for high quality, accredited bike maintenance training through the delivery of the nationally recognised Velotech Bronze award.

Velotech are the UK industry leader in mechanical cycle maintenance training and we would like to be able to deliver the nationally recognised Bronze level award to young people living in Northfield. This training will present an opportunity to gain a vocational qualification and increase employability as well as empowering participants to not only fix and maintain their own bikes but to also offer that service to others as a qualified person.

This funding will allow for up to 20 people to take part in the 2 day course which can be delivered in the community by qualified Adventure Aberdeen staff.

This is an excellent opportunity for young people interested in developing their skills in basic mechanics or interested in career pathways in this area

Family Learning and Sport Aberdeen, using Cummings Park Centre plan to deliver wellbeing physical activities and arts/crafts wellbeing sessions and offer wellbeing sessions aimed directly at those who currently experience mental health symptoms, or are felt from time to time, or from those in the process of recovery.

For this, EFT Natural Healing Therapy sessions would be purchased from a local community business which would not only provide the skills necessary to reduce stress, low mood and anxiety but help assist develop a local small business

The families targeted and expected to attended have many wellbeing needs and the activities provided are designed to combat many of these by ensuring all abilities can participate, sessions/activities are good fun, everything is easy for beginners, there is a role for everyone, provides the ability to improve confidence and improves social skills for families, adults and children alike.

One in five people live below the poverty line and with the rising cost of living crisis, many more people are finding themselves struggling to pay bills including putting food on the table. The Aberdeen North Foodbank is one of 428 Trussell foodbanks across the UK, providing 3 day, nutritionally balanced food parcels for those in need as well as providing a friendly face, a listening ear and practical support. In 2024, our foodbank was extremely busy, provided more than 50,000 meals to 11,000 people in crisis and unfortunately, we expect these numbers to be similar in 2025. Our costs to run the foodbank are also rising, and whilst we have support from The Trussell Trust and local supermarkets, we still have to find around £30,000 per year to pay for additional food needs, warehouse costs, staffing and for running a van to transport supplies to both our foodbanks. Most of this comes from grants, appeals and donations of both food and money and we are incredibly lucky to have a group of very dedicated volunteers, who help us to run our food warehouse and the two foodbanks in central Aberdeen. No-one should be hungry and without food. Support from Central U Decide, will ensure that we can support families and individuals most in need in 2025.