ALDI LIVINGSTON

At Armadale Academy we believe that no child should go hungry, therefore our aim to to provide help and support for our students and families in the form of food sharing cupboard which will help parents to access food at short notice. For families in urgent circumstances a food parcel can be made up to meet the needs of individual families. Our family support workers work closely with families 52 weeks of and deliver various clubs/courses offering support in various forms.We are also in the process of setting up a cooking workshop for families to attend and up skill. With help from the neighbourly scheme we are able to continue to offer services to the Children and families with in our community.

We are a Church of Scotland parish, providing spiritual help and practical help to people in our area. We run a Preloved clothes shop and cafe weekly, providing nutritious soups, bread, tea & coffee, biscuits, cakes as well as a small amount of essentials foods etc to people in need, in a warm space. We have been able to run Christmas Day dinners in our hall for the past few years now. We can provide all this with generous donations from individuals, small local businesses and local supermarkets. We also run a youth group after school on Fridays which includes promoting independence with cooking.

The project explicitly aims to support young people aged 10-25 years from West Lothian who find themselves disadvantaged and in need of support. Our approach is a holistic and responsive service to young people and the communities they live in. The mission statement of the charity is as follows: "Your choice, your chance, your future, offering young people the chance to advance." Young people may be at risk of, or involved in crime, experiencing difficulties within the education system, unemployed, have problems with substance use, experience emotional or relationship difficulties. Or they simply wish to engage in constructive action and new opportunities to improve their personal circumstances and communities. The Youth Action Project engages with those young people who are isolated from mainstream youth services, through its detached youth work, early intervention, groupwork programmes, youth committees and other services. It also provides West Lothian Council and other interested bodies with the issues and concerns of young people who might not otherwise be heard. We have experienced many changes during the history of the organisation, adapting to the needs of young people in our society today. Recently we have seen a downward trend in mental health issues for young people, often triggered by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES). Our organisation is fundraising in many different ways to purchase resources, training materials and costs for accreditation, to develop volunteer opportunities and to ensure that we can continue to deliver our vital services for some of our most disadvantaged young people in West Lothian. Examples of our services include: • Detached streetwork, which engaged 3435 young people last year, providing support advice, and information on many topics affecting young people. • Music project – Informal and tuition sessions for many young people who do not get the opportunity to study music at school and whose families cannot afford private tuition. • Befriending service – trained volunteers support young people who are often some of the most vulnerable in West Lothian. • Youth work drop-in facilities – locally based youth drop-ins where young people can meet and socialise safely and develop new skills from the opportunities offered. • Tooled Up – landscape and garden training for young people who are involved in our intensive groupwork and practical skills programmes. The outcomes we aim to achieve with our participants include the following: • Reduced involvement in crime • Increased involvement in positive activities • Take up of new opportunities, education, training & employment. • Improved attendance at school • Reduced risk taking behaviour • Increased involvement with other youth service providers • Increased number of those involved in volunteering • Improved level of mental health and wellbeing • Increased levels of self confidence We help many young people to find worthwhile paths for their lives