Pupils at Lasswade Primary School in Bonnyrigg are all set for their summer camping adventure thanks to donation from local homebuilder, Walker Group.
The primary 7’s are fundraising for their two night summer camping trip in Ford Castle, Northumberland where they’ll enjoy archery, kayaking and orienteering as well as a silent disco and toasted marshmallows around the fire.
The pupils have already been exploring ways to fundraise for the trip from bag packing in supermarkets, car boot sales, Grow a Pound and bucket collections at local sports clubs.
Walker Group, part of the Springfield Group, has agreed to match the schools fundraising efforts up to £1,000.
Alison Malcolm, Mum of one of Lasswade Primary’s P7 pupils, said: “The pupils have been working so hard to raise money for the trip to cover the cost of the coach and to also to bring the overall cost down for families so that it is as inclusive as possible.
“Through our own fundraising, we’ve raised £1,100. It’s hugely generous of Walker to offer to match our fundraising pot up to £1,000 bringing our total so far to over £2,000. It’s made the children all the more determined to keep going!”
The developers are building high-quality and energy efficient homes at One Dalhousie, within walking distance of the school.
Development Consultant, Luca Tropea, selling the 3- and 4-bedroom homes at One Dalhousie, said: “A key part of our ethos at Walker, and indeed across all the homebuilding brands within the Springfield Group, is to support local schools, charities and groups wherever possible.
“It’s great we’re able to offer support to the pupils at Lasswade Primary so all the children that want to go, can enjoy their summer camping trip.
“We’re especially pleased to see the children working so hard to do their own fundraising to make their trip possible and delighted to match their activities.”
The pupils have already organised a bucket collection and tombola to be held at a local supermarket in the new year and have carried out bucket collections at the Bonnyrigg Rose game on Sat 15th of October where almost £500 was generously donated by supporters (pictured).
Donations made to the school feeding charity will be matched, with up to £1.5 million available
Judy Murray is encouraging people across Scotland to give to Mary’s Meals this winter – so that the charity can reach even more hungry children with its nutritious school meals.
The British tennis coach is supporting the Double The Love campaign – which will see donations made to Mary’s Meals until 31 January 2023 doubled by a group of generous supporters, up to £1.5 million.
Judy says: “I am delighted to announce that donations to Mary’s Meals are being doubled this winter – meaning this wonderful charity can reach even more children with daily school meals.
“It’s game, set, match funding – so please give, if you can!”
Mary’s Meals, which was founded in a shed in Argyll, feeds an incredible 2,279,941 children every day in countries including Kenya, Ethiopia, India and Yemen.
The promise of a meal at school attracts hungry children into the classroom where, instead of working or looking for food, they can gain an education and hope for a better future.
But the charity has warned that the world is facing a hunger crisis of unprecedented proportions brought about by conflict, climate change and Covid-19 – making its work both challenging and indispensable.
Judy took part in a Q&A at an event held at Glasgow Caledonian University on Saturday [12 November] to mark the 20th anniversary of the charity. Mary’s Meals’ founder, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, also spoke at the celebration.
Suzy Harley, head of supporter care at Mary’s Meals, says: “Every day, we encounter new children who desperately need our life-changing meals. And every day we find new ways of reaching them thanks to the kindness of those who believe in our mission. But it has never been more difficult to do so – and that is why we need your support now more than ever.
“Double The Love is an important opportunity for us to feed even more little ones. We are deeply thankful to Judy and everyone who is helping us keep our promise to the more than 2.2 million children who rely on our meals, while allowing us to reach the next hungry child waiting for Mary’s Meals.”
Thanks to the charity’s low-cost approach it costs just £15.90 to feed a child with Mary’s Meals every school day for a year. And, thanks to Double The Love, a donation of £15.90 made before 31 January 2023 will feed two children for a year. To find out more, visit marysmeals.org.uk/double.
Projects aiming to help transform towns and neighbourhoods could apply to a new £10 million multi-year fund.
The Scotland Loves Local Fund aims to encourage people to think local first, and support businesses and enterprises in their community. The fund will provide match funding of between £5,000 and £25,000 for projects run by groups like town centre partnerships, chambers of commerce or community and charity trusts.
Administered by Scotland’s Towns Partnership it aims to bring new, suitable, creative projects and activity to towns and neighbourhoods – helping build local wealth and increase footfall and activity, while supporting local enterprise partnerships. Eligible projects could include things like community shops, marketing and digital schemes, or enabling larger construction projects delivery.
Community Wealth Minister (Eh? – Ed.) Tom Arthur said: “To support Scotland’s towns and neighbourhoods recover from the pandemic we are launching a new £10 million Scotland Loves Local Fund.
“This will provide 50% match funding for local projects between £5,000 and £25,000. Whether it be funding for small-scale improvements or adaptations, climate or active travel programmes, home delivery digital schemes, pop up shops and markets, or the direct funding or expansion of Scotland Loves Local loyalty card schemes – communities will be able to decide how best to improve their local area.
“This 100 day Scottish Government commitment reinforces our determination to support all our communities as they recover from the pandemic and will help strengthen the vital support being provided through the Scotland Loves Local marketing campaign and loyalty card scheme.”
Scotland’s Towns Partnership Chief Officer Phil Prentice said: “Over the coming years, this significant commitment from the Scottish Government will make a real difference – empowering communities to take action that will make their areas fairer, greener and more successful. We are delighted to be working with ministers to deliver this.
“This funding will unlock the great potential of our towns and neighbourhoods, allowing them not just to recover from the impact of Covid-19, but to create a stronger, more sustainable future which has localism at its heart. I would encourage interested organisations across Scotland to get their applications in.”
Director of Milngavie Business Improvement District and Business owner Wendy Ross said: “The Scotland Loves Local campaign was a massive help to Milngavie, especially at the peak of the pandemic when non-essential retail businesses were forced to close.
“Using the digital experience of our business improvement district place manager and his network of collaborators, the Loves Local funding was invested to build many e-commerce websites very quickly so we could continue to trade online, with click and collect and deliveries.
“This was a critical help for local businesses and really opened our eyes to aspects of the digital world that we knew little about. Using the Loves Local messaging and excellent #ThinkLocalFirst campaign, we used social media and milngavie.co.uk to reach local people. That really struck home and continues to do so.”
20 creatives launch new campaigns and bid for up to £10,000 match funding
Eight Edinburgh based projects are among twenty creative projects across Scotland to launch their worldwide crowdfunding campaigns, thanks to a coaching and match-funding scheme run by Creative Scotland in partnership with Crowdfunder.
The Edinburgh based Crowdfunding campaigns include INKLINGS, a new non-fiction series from award winning, independent publisher 404 INK;
ReStyler a brand-new and sustainable garment restyling alteration service from award-winning social enterprise Remode Collective;
Ink on Mesh, a community print, and textiles studio facility offering fully equipped studio space from contemporary textiles brand Blessed Unrest;
songwriter Amy Duncan is fundraising for her new album ‘Cocoon’;and
Rowanbank Environmental Arts & Education CIC is fundraising to develop an original outdoor circus & theatre show, ‘Positive Imaginings’, that engages children with the issue of climate change and how it is linked to our connection with the natural world, amongst others.
As part of the Creative Scotland Crowdmatch programme, the creatives have been building their campaigns with coaching support from Crowdfunder over the past four weeks.
Now ‘live’, once projects raise £1,000 from at least 30 supporters they will receive £1,000 match funding from the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.
Further match funding is potentially available, up to a maximum of £10,000 per project, for those that reach additional funding targets, until the total sum available of £75,000 is allocated.
Jason Nuttall, Programme Director at Crowdfunder said:“Working with Creative Scotland in 2020 was a very positive experience so we’re pleased to be collaborating once again on what is shaping up another fantastic round of crowdfunding.
“We had a huge response to this year’s call for entry, with an amazing range of ideas submitted for big and small creative projects across Scotland. Throughout the COVID crisis we have worked with thousands of organisations, so we know that crowdfunding has many positive benefits, even during tough times.
“Good luck to all the entrants, we’re looking forward to sharing the highs, lows, and surprises over the coming weeks.
Jackie Stewart, Creative Industries Officer, Creative Scotland said: “We’re delighted to continue working with Crowdfunder to help more creative businesses in Scotland gain a deeper understanding of crowdfunding by giving them the coaching and tools to launch their own campaigns.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for the projects selected to grow their networks, increase awareness of their work and build stronger connections with their customers and audiences.
“The arts and creative industries have been hit hard by the consequences of the pandemic and crowdfunding offers creative individuals and businesses a viable way to generate the income required for creative projects and to sustain and grow a business.
“Thanks to the generosity of National Lottery players, who raise £30 million for good causes across the UK every week these creative projects will be supported to deliver a fantastic range of work.”
About the Creative Scotland Crowdmatch 2021 projects in Edinburgh
Heather McDaid and Laura Jones of award-winning independent publisher 404 Ink is crowdfunding for the launch of their non-fiction seriesINKLINGS.
The eight titles, part of their series of big ideas in compact packages, are designed for the curious reader, looking to learn more on subjects that they may be interested in learning more about, but don’t know where to start.
Laura Jones, co-founder & publisher, 404 Ink: “What a thrill to see our new Inklings series launched with Crowdfunder and the Creative Scotland Crowdmatch initiative!
“The idea for this series came mid-pandemic when life was looking bleak for so many people and 404 Ink was in hibernation and now that idea has bloomed into a full series of topics that are vital, timely, and insightful, we can’t wait to get the books into people’s hands.
“We’re honoured to be working with such talented writers who are trusting us with their words and experiences – we hope we can do them justice and that this campaign will launch the Inklings with the fanfare it deserves.”
Edinburgh based songwriter Amy Duncan is fundraising for her new album ‘Cocoon’, which was written during lockdown.
Amy will be working with percussionist Guy Nicolson and co producer Cameron Malcolm to record the album.
Amy Duncancommented: “I am a music artist based in Scotland and will be releasing a new album next November. It was written in 2020 throughout the lockdown and it is my hope that the songs will resonate widely with people through the shared experience of being in the midst of a global pandemic.
“I will be working with PR specialist Black Arts PR who work with renowned artists such as Mogwai and C Duncan. Crowdfunding will cover costs of recording, PR, radio plugging, and a special live stream album launch gig which I will perform with a band in an Edinburgh venue.”
Isla Munro is crowdfunding the 100 Days Project Scotland which encourages people to undertake daily creative pursuits which will be exhibited in an annual show.
Building on the award-winning album Songs of Separation, Jenny Hill is fundraising for ‘SoS Music – ALL SING!’.
The project will bring together community choir leaders from across the UK to enjoy a rewarding creative residential which will result in new song teaching resources.
Contemporary textiles brand Blessed Unrest is crowdfunding Ink on Mesh, a community print, and textiles studio facility offering fully equipped studio space, a wide range of classes and expert technical support to its community.
Lorna Brown ofBlessed Unrestcommented: “With the support of Creative Scotland Crowdmatch and Crowdfunder UK I’m looking to achieve my dream of establishing INK on MESH in the heart of my local community.
“The studio will allow me to continue to develop my own textiles brand as well as providing invaluable space and specialized equipment for developing, emerging and graduate textile practitioners.
“I know just how challenging it is to pursue your professional career as a textile graduate without access to screens, studio space and the support networks that college life offers”.
Award-winning social enterprise Remode Collective are crowdfunding ReStyler, a brand-new and sustainable garment restyling alteration and mending service in Edinburgh.
Producer Penny Davies (co-owner of Smashing Pictures) is working with an all-female team including Director Shiona McCubbin and Writer Amy Hawes to crowdfund their short film ‘Maureen’.
Penny Davies commented: “Shiona, Amy and I have talked about working together a number of times, so we’re absolutely delighted to have been selected for Creative Scotland Crowdfunder with our short film Maureen.
Amy has written a fantastic script, and we have a wonderful all-female team lined up – we can’t wait to get going now!”
Rowanbank Environmental Arts & Education CIC is fundraising to develop an original outdoor circus & theatre show, ‘Positive Imaginings’, that engages children with the issue of climate change and how it is linked to our connection with the natural world.
Rowanbank Environmental Arts & Education commented: “2021 is the year we must address the climate emergency.
“Coming out of COVID-19 we have an opportunity to create a new way of living. Scotland is hosting COP26 this year, the most important meeting on climate change since 2015 when the Paris agreement was drawn up. This project aims to both educate and give a voice to children creating a sense of agency and hope for their future.”
For the full list of projects across Scotland please visit:
