Welcome to the KDP Bulletin.
Founded in 1995, Home-Start Kincardine is a local charity dedicated to supporting families with young children across Kincardine and Mearns. Our goal is to empower parents and caregivers, helping them navigate the challenges of family life with confidence and strength.
Many of the families we support face mental health struggles, financial hardship, isolation, or additional challenges such as postnatal depression, disability, or bereavement. Living in a rural area can compound these difficulties, with limited transport and fewer accessible support services.
At Home-Start Kincardine, we provide practical and emotional support through our trained volunteers, all of whom are parents or carers themselves. Our volunteers offer weekly home visits, providing a friendly ear, practical help, and encouragement to families who need it most.
Alongside this, we run the Laurencekirk Tiny Tots group, a friendly and welcoming space where parents and young children can connect, play, and support each other. The group meets every Wednesday from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM at the Masonic Hall, Laurencekirk. Tiny Tots provides a fantastic opportunity for little ones to explore, socialize, and learn through play, while parents and carers can enjoy a cuppa and a chat in a supportive environment.
- In 2023/24, our dedicated volunteers provided 1,044 hours of one-to-one support to 47 families, including 96 children.
- Our Laurencekirk Tiny Tots group and other activities welcomed 150 parents and children, offering vital social interaction and support.
We rely on the generosity of our community to keep our services running, and we’ve got some exciting fundraising events coming up.
- Sponsored Skydive – Friday, 4th April. One of our amazing volunteers, Lorraine, is taking to the skies to raise funds for Home-Start Kincardine—show your support!
- Quiz Night – Saturday, 30th August at Stonehaven Town Hall. Gather your team and test your trivia skills for a great cause!
- 30th Anniversary Dinner – Saturday, 15th November at Meldrum House. Join us for an evening of celebration, fine dining, and fundraising.
Our amazing volunteers make a real difference in the lives of local families. If you’d like to experience the rewards of volunteering, would like more information about our services, or to get involved in our fundraisers above, please get in touch!
📞 Call us on – 01569 767773
📧 Email us at – office@homestartkincardine.org
📍 Visit us at – 32 David Street, Stonehaven, AB39 2AL
💻 Follow us on Facebook for updates!
The Hillhead of Auquhirie Wind Farm Community Fund is open until 30th June 2025. This year, there is £16,217.67 to be awarded. The maximum grant will be £1500.
Applications to the fund can be made from groups and projects which benefit the communities living in the community council areas of:
- Arbuthnott
- Catterline, Kinneff & Dunnottar
- Mearns
- Stonehaven & District
If you would like to discuss a potential application, contact Margo at margo@kdp.scot.
Visit the KDP website for the application form and guidelines.
Exciting Job Opportunity
KDP is looking for a freelance Development Officer to work on a Rural Transport Project. The post is for 20 hours a week (£25 an hour) and is funded for a 6 month period. You will work from home but will be required to travel within Kincardine and Mearns regularly to meet community groups. We will cover travel costs within K&M.
You will collaborate closely with rural communities within Ward 19 to identify travel constraints and barriers, with a view to developing local sustainable solutions. You will have a good understanding of the disadvantages caused by a lack of accessible, inclusive transport and will have experience of community engagement.
Visit our website to find out more.
To apply please send a covering letter and CV to Mairi@kdp.scot
Aberdeenshire Health & Social Care Partnership (AHSCP) would like to compile and share a list of events that Aberdeenshire groups are running during Dementia Awareness Week on 2nd – 8th June 2025.
If there are events or activities you are planning, please let them know by emailing gram.southpublichealth@nhs.scot.
Grants are available for UK registered charities seeking to enhance and improve people’s lives through advancing the arts, health and medical welfare, and the environment. The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust typically awards grants of between £500 and £6,000 for projects and core costs, with a preference for small-scale, locally based initiatives.
Community services could include promoting access to the arts, conservation activities, music and art therapy to improve mental health and wellbeing, and providing breaks for carers.
There are three grant-making meetings held annually. Projects should have a start date of at least three months after the meeting date. The next deadline for applications is midnight on the 3rd June 2025.
More here.
The Living with Grief, Bereavement or Loss project is open to anyone over 50 years who is affected by grief associated with loss or bereavement. The sessions will be person centred and will build as connections develop between those attending. The idea is to use a therapeutic approach to working creatively when appropriate to engage older adults who might be finding negotiating this stage of life difficult, to due to feelings of loss, isolation and loneliness.
Mearns & Coastal Healthy Living Network plan to run 3 intakes over the next 12 month, covering the area of K&M. The initial group is planned for the end of April and is potentially confirmed to be held at Chapelton, Newtonhill.
Liz Rushmer, facilitator and BACP registered Counsellor, will provide the participants with a confidential space to share their lived experience of grief with peers, under the guidance of a qualified counsellor. Whilst these will not be 1:1 counselling session there will be the opportunity if required, for this service to be available at a later date.
Please contact Liz (liz.rushmer@mchln.org.uk) for more information and to request client referral forms.
The Power of Music Fund offers small grants to local organisations that use music making to support people living with dementia and their carers. Applications from underrepresented communities such as those from the Global Majority will be prioritised, as will applications that can evidence that the people receiving support, or are intentionally being targeted, share a particular identity or lived experience.
The beneficiaries must be people living with dementia and their carers and the application must describe how the grant will provide a musical moment(s) of joy for a person or people living with dementia.
The application can support costs associated with rehearsals/performance(s) including transport for participants.
Learn more here.
Are you passionate about making a real difference in your community? Kincardine & Deeside Befriending is looking for an inspiring and committed leader to take on the role of Chairperson.
They provide life-changing support to people over 55 who are facing isolation and loneliness. As Chair, you’ll guide the team, shape strategy, and ensure they continue to thrive.
If you have leadership experience, a passion for the third sector, and the ability to work collaboratively with staff and trustees, they would love to hear from you!
Interested?
Get in touch by email for more information cherry.lawson@kdbefriending.org.uk.
Community groups in the K&M are invited to apply for a Kincardine & Mearns Area Committee Grant 2025/26 for funding towards projects to improve local communities.
Grants of up £3000 are available to constituted groups.
Further information is available on the Council website.
As part of their Restart a Heart 2025 campaign, the Resuscitation Council UK has reopened the Community Grant Scheme following its success last year. Grants of up to £1,500 are available for small charities and community groups to help educate people about CPR and defib use.
Please note that these grants are not for the sole purpose of purchasing a defibrillator, cabinet, or replacement defib pads. Find out more by looking at our FAQs below.
The application deadline is 17:00 on Thursday 17 April 2025.
Find out more here.
The PVG scheme is now a legal requirement to better protect vulnerable groups in Scotland
From 1 April 2025, membership of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme becomes a legal requirement in Scotland. Any individual who is to carry out a regulated role (paid or voluntary) with children, protected adults or both, must be a member of the PVG scheme, prior to carrying out that role.
Through continuous monitoring by Disclosure Scotland, membership of the PVG scheme provides confidence to organisations and the public that a person continues to be suitable to carry out a regulated role.
For more information on the PVG scheme and to find out if the new legal requirement applies to you or those in your organisation, visit Disclosure Scotland’s website. Individuals and organisations can use Disclosure Scotland’s regulated roles guidance, online checker tool, and their regulated roles video to help them to decide if a role is a regulated role and requires PVG scheme membership.
Small grants are available to fund projects to improve the lives of the elderly across the UK. Home Instead Charities awards grants of up to £1,500 to small, local registered charities and up to £500 to grassroots organisations for well-being events, activities or pastimes that prevent social isolation and loneliness amongst adults over 55.
Eligible projects may include regular events such as a cinema club, knitting group, or lunch club; one-off activities like a day trip or Christmas lunch; or other initiatives such as yoga classes or guest speaker sessions.
The Fund accepts applications four times a year. Applications can be submitted four times per year; the next application closing date is the 30th April 2025.
More here.
Help@ is a free advisory service from Get Growing Scotland for anyone looking to start or grow more food with others in their community.
Offering specialist and technical advice, the service understands, enables, and can
accelerate vital work that is taking root in communities across Scotland.
Visit their website here.
The Parks4Life Community Fund offers grants of between £500 and £1,500 to Community and Friends groups who work to improve, promote and develop a park or greenspace across Scotland. Funding could be used to put on or expand an event to attract visitors, skills training for your volunteers or something more practical such as a small planting scheme.
The fund is open for applications until Friday 25 April.
Visit the Greenspace Scotland website for more information.
