The Kintyre Link Club was set up in 1999, and is a mental health club run by members for member’s with our main aim, being to promote the welfare of those who suffer or have suffered from mental ill health. Some of our members also have other health issues which include epilepsy, learning difficulties, chronic pain, stroke, heart and lung problems, cancer, blindness, memory problems, dementia and drink and drug dependency to name but a few.
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Essentially we offer mutual support to each other and try to provide a supportive environment where we can socialise, relax and learn without the fear of stigmatisation.

The Link Club is a safe place to come and meet other people on an equal basis, learn and share new skills, become more active, gain work experience, be involved in interesting and stimulating activities within the club and the local community and build up confidence, self-esteem and independence.

The Dochas Centre is in Lochgilphead, Argyll and was founded in 1998 by John Paterson after John was diagnosed with both Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS) and Motor Neurone Disease (MND). He was an artist and psychiatric nurse. John’s vision was to bring hope to others living with these incurable conditions by using the sale of reproductions of his art to support care and research. Since John’s death in 1998 his wife, Catherine Paterson, has carried on his work. The Dochas Fund became a registered charity in February 2000.

A number of years on, that vision and work continues to operate from the Dochas Centre. The centre houses a Gallery and Carers’ Room that is available to all carers in the Mid-Argyll area and was purpose built by donations. It houses John’s art work which is for sale and is a centre and meeting place for individuals and various group such as Dementia Support, Parkinson’s Support, GBS and MND support, Carers’ Support, Mental Health Support, Alcohol Addiction Support and Life after Bereavement Support.

Our centre offers hope not only to people living with GBS or MND but also to others who have sought our support and guidance living with other medical conditions. We offer emotional and practical support by providing information, guidance and training for unpaid carers through the maze of services. All our services are free to carers. Within Argyll and Bute we work to improve the lives of all unpaid carers who face particular problems due to the rural and remote aspects of the region.

We don’t work alone and over the years have formed strong partnerships with a number of other agencies and care professionals. We also rely on a wonderful team of volunteers who bring a range of skills and commitment to our work and play a key role and integral part in the success of the centre.

Community First is about meeting the needs of communities, groups, organisations, business and people.

We strive to be a force for good by offering a wide range of support and services to local communities, groups and organisations.

We help those who help, volunteer and support their communities.

Our priority is to empower individuals, by supporting them to develop skills and knowledge and as a result of their learning and experiences increase in confidence in their home, work and community lives.

The idea for Community First came to mind in 2015 when we began to be approached by individuals and local organisations who were being supported by the good Samaritans and volunteers who ran them. Because of their self-identified lack of digital skills, they felt they were not being able to fully benefit the organisations they were supporting. Something as simple as emailing, sharing information or reaching their most isolated members was an area that was causing great concern. This was a need we could see and luckily one we could most definitely meet.

We then began being asked for similar help but on a commercial level by small and start up-businesses.

Because we wouldn’t take any kind of payment, we started to receive boxes of sweets, biscuits and bottles of wine. Whilst this was very generous, it wasn’t too good for our waistlines or general health! So when we were offered a donation towards future support we might give to others, a sort of Pay it Forward idea, CommunityfirstUK was formed.

We went on to register as a Social Enterprise limited by guarantee in 2016 where any profit our organisation makes goes back into other projects allowing us to support more people and organisations, not just with digital but with needs they have that we can help with.

Our motto? SEE A NEED, MEET THAT NEED

The Knowe Garden Centre (Auchinleck Community Development Initiative) offers retail and the propagation of Plants, Floral and Hanging Baskets at community prices. Added attractions include: a Sensory Garden and an Educational Poison Garden.

Screen Argyll has been created to support and grow all forms of cinema and film activity in Argyll, providing opportunities to connect remote communities through film and supporting venues to engage with the widest audience.

We run an annual film festival and development lab on the Isle of Tiree, called Sea Change: Powering Women in Film. We support a network of cinema venues across Argyll and the small Isles, curating programmes and offering bespoke support where required. We deliver an annual BFI Film Academy in Oban, focussed on animation and open to 16-19 year olds as well as a range of other film education opportunities.

The Scottish Land Commission is working to create a Scotland where everybody benefits from the ownership, management and use of the nation’s land and buildings.

The Walking Theatre Company is a Social Enterprise who produce critically acclaimed interactive theatre across the UK, and beyond!

Our unique brand of interactive ‘walking’ theatre literally takes our audiences on a journey, both physically and creatively, walking through any environment imaginable. Our skilled team of professional actors gently draw audiences into the drama, making a fun, interactive spontaneous event!

We use theatre in any context, with a repertoire of touring plays including “Macbeth The Red” and “Robin Hoodie”, Flying Kitchens combining cooking and theatre, to bespoke theatre that tells a place or a community’s story through its history and heritage, to conference ‘shorts’ and training, and rather wicked Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre events and parties.

As a theatre ‘without walls’, your environment becomes our stage, creating an interactive event full of fun and energy, suitable for everyone, bringing a place, a time, and a group to life, no matter where the location, and whatever the weather!

We pride ourselves on producing high-quality, interactive, educational and imaginative theatre experiences, ideal for any event! Take an evocative walk with The Walking Theatre Company and discover a whole new dramatic adventure.

ALIenergy (Argyll, Lomond and the Islands Energy Agency) works to promote sustainable energy use and renewable energy generation, to address fuel poverty and reduce carbon emissions.

ALIenergy is a facilitator, project manager and programme co-ordinator and we devise projects, educate, advise and improve access to knowledge and skills so that communities build capacity to participate in renewable energy and energy saving activity.

ALIenergy is an award-winning organisation at the interface between communities, economy and environment – ensuring that these three themes are integrated in all our projects and activities. Also, we provide the link between the strategic overview at European, national and regional levels and direct action locally.

HomeSong is non-profit organisation that exists simply to encourage the growth of small, grass roots music gigs and artistic events in people’s homes. A HomeSong gig is a non-ticketed event in someone’s home with an invited performer and an invited audience. HomeSong Hosts are volunteers who are happy to use their homes to encourage new live music for an audience of friends, family, and neighbours. In a HomeSong gig artists earn money on the night through voluntary donations from the audience.

We endeavour to promote both the concept of HomeSong and to support people who wish to host HomeSong gigs and artists who wish to perform at them via word of mouth and by providing information via the HomeSong Website, the HomeSong Facebook page, and the HomeSong Youtube channel. We can also help to connect artists and hosts with each other, although we try to encourage that to happen independently of our input.

The College has two campuses (Dumfries and Stranraer) and many learning centre partnerships across the region. We are a College without walls – creating flexible learning approaches to suit everyone. This means learning opportunities are varied and abundant – from full-time courses to flexible part-time courses, from learning in College to learning at home, work or at the top of The Merrick (local fell walking landmark) or beyond.

Visit our website!

https://www.dumgal.ac.uk/dumgalportal/

Visit us on social media!

Facebook – @DAGCOL4Business; @DumfiresandGallowayCollege
Twitter – @DAGCOL4Business; @DandGCollege
Instagram – @DAGCOL4Business; @d.g.college
Linkedin – https://www.linkedin.com/company/complete-training-solutions-dumfries-and-galloway-college; https://www.linkedin.com/company/dumfries-and-galloway-college-1/

Helping young people grow and giving them the chance to achieve more than they thought possible, whatever their background.

Leading the way in outdoor learning

We never stand still – we’re forever evolving. And we always put people first. That’s why we’re one of the longest-running and leading outdoor learning organisations in the UK. 
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Youth leaders have been bringing young people to us for over two decades. And because our team get the same care and attention we give them, many of the best instructors in the UK make it their mission to work with us.
So, you can depend on us.

We are a charity which looks after the island under the Skye bridge and have a small museum and visitor centre relating to Gavin Maxwell and his life with otters.

GrowBiz is based in Perthshire and provides a community-based enterprise support service for rural businesses throughout Scotland. Since 2007, GrowBiz has developed a unique approach to community-based support for rural enterprise – and is cited as a model of ‘best practice’ by the European Network for Rural Development.

This has been set up to facilitate the possibility of a community owned tourism business. This would run solely for the social,economic and environmental benefit of Fort William and Lochaber.

Firstport is Scotland’s agency for start-up social entrepreneurs and social enterprise. We are here to support individuals across Scotland to start, develop and grow their ideas into businesses with social impact at their core. Since 2007, we have grown and evolved, supported thousands of individuals and distributed millions of pounds of start-up funding, all with the aim to achieve our vision: Social enterprises play a key role in society, transforming lives, communities and the economy.

We offer start-up grants of between £5,000 and £25,000 alongside one-to-one and group-based business support to help social entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey. We also offer support programmes, including What If…, a local ideas generator programme, and LaunchMe, a social investment readiness programme which helps social enterprises to scale and grow.

An early stage start-up providing practical training and skills development in horticulture, agriculture, machinery, countryside and habitat management, and heritage crafts.

We are focused on supporting women and ethnic minority groups in particular.

The Rural Youth Project is an international grassroots movement for positive change to empower young people (18 to 28 years of age) to develop their leadership, enterprise & activism skills, to play an integral part in making rural places attractive and viable for young people to build their lives and their futures there. The project is creative in how it works, using Ideas Festivals and workshops, story seeking and telling and sharing the voices of young people. It also fosters international relationships and learning via learning journeys and joint events with other nations.

We provide a Relationship Counselling Service for all couples and individuals regardless of their circumstances. We operate throughout Argyll & Bute, and also by telephone and on-line.

Our mission is to tackle social isolation by connecting people with the places and facilities they need. We hire out vehicles with or without drivers to community groups; we take the elderly and disabled to Day Centres, Lunch Clubs, and on weekly excursions; we take young people with additional support needs to school, college and work placements; we run a scheduled bus service between Barr and Girvan; we run a MyBus service in the south of the county; we provide minibus driver training and D1 training; we have an Electric Car Club offering low cost car hire in areas of multiple deprivation in Ayr and Girvan allowing low cost transport to hospital appointments, shopping, leisure and health and social care facilities; we work closely with statutory agencies and other third sector charities and social enterprises to improve facilities for the South Ayrshire communities.

Eat, Sleep, Ride is an approved horse riding school offering lessons and hacking to the public, as well as education and corporate team building. In addition we are a social enterprise targeting people experiencing mental health problems, those that have suffered abuse, lived in areas of high deprivation and other challenges such as drug/alcohol addiction.

We provide quality qualified tuition to both adults and children on well schooled horses and ponies specialising in holistic training methods and groundwork.