This project aims to organise gaming nights that will bring gamers together from different backgrounds to enjoy various video games in a friendly environment. There will be a mix of competitive tournaments, casual play and opportunities for participants to connect and share their gaming experiences. Friendly competitions with prizes for winners to encourage participants to compete and showcase their skills

Outcomes/Impact – Strengthened relationships, positive lasting connections, new friendships and enriching community. Creating opportunities for those who identify as socially isolated or vulnerable to take part in activities. Increase volunteering opportunities in the area and the communication of them and to provide more activities/spaces for children and young people to participate in/be together

We are applying for funding to expand our free soup and sandwich club from once per month to two times per month. The overall aim of the soup and sandwich club is to reduce social isolation, improve mental health, and to reduce food poverty which are key issues in our locality. The project will run on a Thursday between 11:00 – 13:00 whereby local people can come along to their community centre and enjoy a light lunch of free soup and sandwiches. This project will reduce the barriers tolocal people having access to a free nutritious meal whilst developing stronger ties to their local area. This project will also help towards the important goal of reducing the impact of the cost-of-living crisis by ensuring people do not go hungry.

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!

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.

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.

The Peep service would like funding to deliver the Peep TALK programme in Kincorth. This is a free group for families with young children (aged 0-5 years) and differs from our traditional Peep groups with the focus being on supporting families to support their young children’s speech, language, and communication. Since Covid, there has been an increase of referrals to NHS Speech and Language services and the waiting lists to receive support are extremely long. The Peep TALK programme, co- written by a speech and language therapist, would alleviate some of the need for the NHS speech and language services and/or provide families support while they are on the waiting list. The Peep TALK sessions will include singing, sharing stories, play activities, and opportunities for families to socialise all while supporting their children’s development of speech and language.

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.

Kincorth is called the garden estate. Although the area has many green spaces the community doesn’t use this to its advantage, many of the areas are under developed or over grown particularly the trees. This project is about creating a safe and welcoming green spaces for the residents in the Gardner community. We want to take community action to develop the areas to provide green spaces that are used by all residents to socialise and enjoy nature. We want children to be able to feel safe and play in a positive clean environment. Our ideas include planting and growing flowers and cultivating vegetables using raised beds, seating for residents and equipment to support wildlife and biodiversity. We want to motivate people to take a personal pride in their area, clean encouraging owners to clean after their dogs.

Empowher is a peer-to-peer mental health support group for women in Aberdeen. Setup in Nov. 2024 the group meets on a fortnightly basis for 1 hour & provides a safe space for women to have open & honest discussions around mental health, with a focus on suicide prevention. The idea came from the founders' lived experience, recognition in the success of groups such as Andy’s Man Club & Man chat, and identification of a lack of similar help for women.  The venue is a cosy room in Hilton Community Centre, which has been popular, and has been free while the group has been set up. The Centre is very near Woodside and at least two regular participants are from Woodside. The project aims to help women help each other with improvement of their mental wellbeing. About 8 people have come along to each session with varying degrees of mental health issues, some with Autism or ADHD & is inclusive to anyone struggling or feeling alone. The budget includes venue hire for the fortnightly meetings for a year, as well as separate professional art therapy for people who would like to try this. The group will also aim to find free, in-kind advice from specialist organizations, to learn more about keeping the group going safely.  

We have been based in the Kincorth Community for over 30 years as an integral part of the community, previously we met in the church prior to its closure.  We then moved to KCC, initially we were not charged for meeting here as we were for the youth of the community.  However we have now been notified that we will be charged £30 a week due to their financial issues.  Due to the short notice of this change we have had to put up our fees from next term slightly.  As the group provides a safe girls only space for the members to be themselves, learn and develop.  Powered by volunteers the organisation aims to provide the girls, opportunities to laugh, learn and have fun within a creative space creating a wonderful world of adventure working together as individual as well as within groups.  As we meet in an area of deprivation we do not want to increase fees too much as this may cause girls to be unable to come due to parents not being able to afford as we would no longer be a low cost activity in relation to their income.  This would mean girls missing out on magic moments with their peers and creating a social gap.  We would also appreciate funding to buy some uniform to lend out so that girls whose parents struggle to afford the uniform, could borrow and have the same as the other girls in the group.