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.

This year Tillydrone Community Campus SCIO would like to provide FREE fun activities for young people 8-12 years,  over four weeks in the Summer. Each week there will be different activities running at The Campus.  

THe SCIO wants to engage more with the community and what better way to engage with young people than in the school holidays! There will be lots to choose from so they can attend for a half day or for a full week!  

If successful, in the lead up to the school holiday we will engage through social media, local Schools and Campus users to shape a fun filled programme for primary fours to Primary sevens.  

The format of “Fun in the Sun” will be two weeks of skills based classes taught by local tutors. Examples: Drama, Singing, Art, Yoga. 

The other two weeks will be run by our Project Coordinator and sessional workers providing workshops like “a play in a day”, Table top games, Picnic in the park, Scavenger hunt, Crafts etc. This is just some of the ideas we have been giving.  

We really want to give young people of Tillydrone the chance to have fun in The Campus and help show them it can be a welcoming space for all. The main result The SCIO would like to see is young people coming and using the building respectively, realising The Campus is a space for them, and they are an important part of the community. They are the future after all! 

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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.

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. 

This project involves the creation of a children’s book about St Fittick’s Park to be distributed to schools, the library and children within Torry. The aim of the project is to engage local children in reading and connecting with nature and the outdoors,particularly in St Fittick’s Park. Writer and academic Orla Shortall (www.orlashortall.com) is currently working on a draft of the story called “Fern Fox and St Fitticks Friends”. The story follows the adventures of four animal friends: Fern the fox, Hannah the hedgehog, Dara the deer and Lucky the duck in St Fittick’s Park. We want to make the book engaging and appealing for children and we are applying for funding to work with a local artist to illustrate the book and local printers Peacock Visual Arts to produce copies for distribution. We will also workshop the story with local residents before its publication. The book includes dialogue in Doric, celebrating the North East’s unique linguistic heritage.There will be events organised around the book including a book launch in the St Fittick’s Park outdoor classroom with nature engagement activities for children and a writing workshop to encourage the children to write their own story about the park. The costs for this will be covered through existing funding for the outdoor classroom and volunteer time.

We aim to support financially struggling members of our community by providing care packages. We are Tillydrone Community Council and we are dedicated to supporting those most at risk within our community. This includes elderly residents in sheltered housing, families with children who are living on a low income, and individuals who live alone. Tillydrone has been identified by the Scottish government as one of the top 10-20% most deprived areas in Scotland (SMID). Our aim is to provide as much support to our residents as we possibly can. We regularly engage with our community through social media and we have conducted online surveys to gauge community sentiments. Additionally, we are collaborating with other community groups to determine the best ways to provide care packages. Many individuals are struggling to afford food, cleaning supplies, and personal care products. Our goal is to supply these essentials in care packages for those most in need within our community.