Triple triumph as Buckie area groups celebrate £12k windfalls
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THREE Buckie-area community group are each celebrating a five-figure windfall for mental health and wellbeing initiatives.
Buckie Community Hub, which is situated at 17, East Church Street, has landed a cash boost to the tune of £11,825 from the Moray Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund, which is funded by the Scottish Government.
Grants of £12,000 have also been awarded to Cullen Sea School's Mental Health and Wellbeing Initiative Phase 2 and the Moray Hope for Peace Project at Moray Coast Methodist Church.
While Buckie Community Hub only opened its doors last November, it has been a busy time for the volunteer team as they strive to help people struggling with the cost of living crisis and a host of other issues.
The project is the brainchild of local community group Buckie Area Forum (BAF).
Hailing the cash award was BAF chairman Gordon McDonald.
He said: "The grant is basically to help us with running costs - rental, water charges, utilities and other overheads we have.
"Vitally it means that we'll be able to continue running until at least the end of the year.
"The need for what the Hub offers will be there at least that long, especially the cost of living crisis.
"We're absolutely delighted to get this grant; it's well over-subscribed and to receive an award of this size is confirmation that what we're doing is relevant and needed."
The scope of the services the Hub offers has been increasing as the weeks go by.
Mr McDonald continued: "The Hub is run completely by volunteers, at the moment we've got about 30.
"This means we can now look at expanding the hours we open to Wednesdays and also Saturday mornings.
"The demand is certainly there and is likely to keep on rising.
"Saturday opening would help those who, for example, are on benefits and working so it's often difficult for them to drop by during the week.
"The hub is reasonably busy every single day it's open. There're people from all walks of life coming through the door with a wide range of issues, ranging from benefits to clothing and food.
"Another service which has been a big part of what we do is signposting posting people to other agencies to get the help and advice they need.
"We're also delighted to host agencies such as IT support sessions from Moray Pathways, a mental health drop-in by Moray Wellbeing Hub and a weekly session with the Peoplehood Project.
"These drop-ins are all free of charge to attend.
"The hub is also a warm space where people can come in and have a cuppa and a chat – it's a service which has proved very popular as energy bills continue to remain high."
To find out more about what is on at the Hub, visit their Facebook page, email Admin@buckie.co or phone (01542) 780624.
At present the hub is open 10am-4pm on Monday, Thursday and Friday, 10am-4pm and 6pm-8pm on Tuesday and is closed Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
Success with funding granted last year has reaped more rewards for Cullen Sea School, as chairman Prof Ashley Mowat explained.
“At Cullen Sea School we are celebrating the news that we have been awarded a £12,000 grant from the Moray Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund.
"The grant will be used to provide free of charge watersports sessions to mental and wellbeing referrals.
"In 2022, we received a grant from round of the fund which allowed us to welcome 71 participants onto the water for kayaking, paddleboarding, sailing and coastal rowing. Referrals were received from organisations including NHS Grampian, Moray Council, Moray Sonas Wellbeing Services and Distress Brief Intervention Moray.
"The round two grant award will allow us to build on year one of the project and to broaden the reach and benefit to participants for their mental health and wellbeing while contributing towards the aims and objectives of the sea school.”
Two plus years of pandemic followed by the spiralling cost of living has created a crisis for families in Scotland, and contributed to mental health concerns, particularly among young adults. This has led to plans by the Moray Coast Methodist Church to launch a new initiative in the Moray area, called Hope for Peace, by establishing a Centre for Peace and Reconciliation. The centre will encourage religious and non-religious participation, and be accessible to all members of the public regardless of any faith affiliation, or none.
The Methodist Church in the north of Scotland is fortunate to have close connections with several skilled practitioners with extensive experience in conflict resolution and restorative justice, including internationally, with families and in prisons with offenders. Utilising these resources, Hope for Peace will be able to offer seminars and workshops with a view to training peace ambassadors on the Moray Coast.
The Scottish Government has placed a high priority on Restorative Justice with its Restorative Justice Action Plan aiming to have such services widely available across Scotland by 2023, with the interests of victims at their heart. There is, currently, no centre for Restorative Justice in Moray. Hope for Peace will seek to raise community awareness of the need for Restorative Justice while providing resources and opportunities to explore reconciliation pathways and helping to alleviate the trauma of conflict, harm and family breakdown.
As part of this project, the Methodist Church is making available its chapel in Cullen, which is currently underutilised by the church, to provide premises and a base for Moray Hope for Peace’s new Centre for Reconciliation. This will enable it to become a training hub, as well as a centre for safe retreat, in a beautiful coastal setting.
Key to the strategy will be strong partnerships with other groups working and offering services and training in the same and parallel areas of families, youth, mental health, wellbeing and restorative justice. It is hoped to be able to make this same space available to them as well.
Rev Jon Garde of the Moray Coast Methodist Church said: “We are extremely grateful to the Moray Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for its grant of £12,000 to Moray Hope for Peace, enabling us to quickly progress to the pilot phase of the Hope for Peace project.
"In the years to come we hope that the people of Elgin, Moray, and even further afield, will benefit greatly from a Centre for Reconciliation in the community, thanks to this generous funding support.”
Also benefitting from Moray Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund in the Buckie area are Cullen Men's Shed to the tune of £2486.02 while the Cullen Connected newsletter has received £2000.
The fund has distributed a total of £258,624.02 in Moray to a wide range of groups.
