Falkirk Golf Club
Falkirk Golf Club secured £39,800 through Community Choices to make its clubhouse more accessible for all members of the community to use and its 18-hole golf course more playable for golfers of all ages.
The club used the money to improve access to the clubhouse and the course - replacing two steep set of steps with a new entrance ramp and constructing paths around the course to make it safer for people who rely on golf buggies.
Thanks to the work, the club, which celebrated its centenary in 2022, was able to work with members of The Scottish Disability Golfers Association to host its first ever event for golfers with additional support needs.
Nicky Barr, Club Captain, said:
"The Community Choices award has allowed us to make the club far more accessible. Now, people with mobility issues and wheelchair users can access the clubhouse more easily and if playing golf navigate around the course using the new paths work. By undertaking the work, we are a far more inclusive club, and more people can take part in the sport."
Friends of Forth Valley First Responders
Having spotted a post on social media promoting Community Choices, Friends of Forth Valley First Responders submitted a bid to the Falkirk area-wide category and secured £73,485 to install lifesaving equipment in every council ward.
The charity, which supports the work of Forth Valley First Responders, aims to install five Public Access Defibrillators (PADs) in each of Falkirk's nine council wards by June 2023. By end of October 2022, 15 PADS will have been installed across the Falkirk Council area.
Martin Stuart, Treasurer, said:
"Every year the Scottish Ambulance Service responds to around 200 people in the Falkirk area who have a sudden, unexpected out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Only 10% of these people survive. Research shows that PADs, placed within 150 metres of a person having a cardiac arrest, increases their chance of survival by 50 to 70%.
Community Choices funding allows us to buy, install and maintain an additional 45 PADs, raising the number that can be deployed by the Scottish Ambulance Service in the Falkirk Council area to 115."
Visit www.defibfinder.uk to find out where PADS are available.
Bo'ness Car 4U secured
Bo’ness Car 4U secured £5,000 through Community Choices to help cover volunteer mileage costs during the first year of its operation.
Since launching in January 2022, the charity - which provides a free hospital transport service to cancer patients who would otherwise struggle to get to their appointments - has covered 8,230 miles (to end September).
With referrals coming in from all three GP practices based in Bo’ness, the charity undertook 64 journeys in August and September alone.
Once a referral is made, Bo’ness Car 4U liaises directly with patients to arrange transportation, picking them up and dropping them off at their home. This helps reduce the length of time they are away from home and the stress they face travelling to and from treatments.
Rod McNeill, Chair, said:
"One particular day we conveyed five different patients to their places of treatment and home again, something we are proud to have been able to do. That was only made possible because of two things, donations and volunteers, so thank you Community Choices for helping us achieve that."
Falkirk Made Friends
Using £4,706 of funding secured through Community Choices, Falkirk Made Friends created an eye-catching mural to celebrate the world-famous products made by Falkirk's foundries.
The 49ft by 6ft 'Ironheart 2022’ mural covers the entire length of the former Malcolm Cockburn’s Gowanbank Foundry office block in Gowan Avenue, Falkirk.
Using the colour palette favoured by the foundry in the 1930s, the vibrant piece of public art features the baths, cooking ranges and utensils that transformed how people lived.
Dr Duncan Comrie, Secretary said:
"The pandemic raised the profile of public health and provided a new context to consider how products designed and cast locally helped raise people’s standard of living.
Our Community Choices award gave us the fuel to tap into the creative furnace of Ironheart achievements, allowing us to design the mural and buy materials to make it happen."