Three good cause groups from the North of Scotland have benefited from Scotmid’s latest Community Membership initiative – Community Connect.
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Dundee’s 18 and Under, Rothes’ Moray School Bank and Montrose’ Links Park Community Trust were each awarded a share of £30,000 following a vote by Scotmid members.
After a nail biting vote 18 and Under‘s plan to support children who are at risk of abuse captured the imagination of members who used their votes to award them £15,000. Links Park Community Trust received the second most votes and were awarded £10,000 whilst Moray School Bank were awarded £5,000.
Exclusively trialled in Scotmid’s North Member Region, encompassing Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness and Coupar Angus Community Connect enabled members to award good cause groups with funding of up to £15,000, generated via the proceeds of sales from single-use carrier bags.
Each member in the North Region received a Community Connect card which they scan each time they shop in store to receive a Community Connect vote. They then used these votes at the North Region Ordinary General Meeting held in Brechin on 3rd October to allocate £30,000 to the three good cause groups.
18 & Under were awarded funding of £15,000 and intend to use the much needed funds to expand their reach onto the streets and estates to help young people at risk of exploitation.
Keiran Watson at 18 & Under said: “The £15,000 from Community Connect will make an enormous difference to us and the young people we aim to support. It means our volunteers can get out onto the streets and look out for and offer support to young people who are often unable to seek support. We estimate that this award will help us reach 1000 more young people and empower them to turn their lives around.
“We would like to say a huge thank you to Scotmid and to everyone there who voted for Eighteen and Under. This is a significant amount of money for a small charity and will enable us to make a positive impact in the community and increase the safety of vulnerable young people. I would highly recommend other charities to explore Scotmid’s Community Connect scheme as a source of funding.”
The remaining short-listed groups Links Park Community Trust and Moray School Bank were also winners on the night collecting cheques for £10,000 and £5,000 respectively.
Scotmid Co-operative Chief Executive John Brodie said: “The vote was extremely close on the night reflecting the high esteem that our members had for the three short-listed groups and the good work that they do. We very much look forward to following the progress of the groups and working together to improve the quality of life for people in our local communities.”
Over the past 12 months, Scotmid has awarded £313,000 to hundreds of community groups via the successful Community Grant programme while the Society’s last Charity of the Year partner, Childline, received £345,000 – Community Connect compliments these two long running community initiatives.
Applications are nowclosed for the next cycle of Community Connect funding and a short-list of local Good Cause Groups from both Scotmid’s North and West member Regions will be announced at the end of October with the next batch of financial awards being issued at the Annual General Meeting in April 2018.