In February 2023, the SPA Community Benefit Fund in partnership with Lintel Trust awarded £20K in grant funding to a local charity focussed on transforming the lives of people and their families affected by addiction, poor mental health, and those living in circumstances, surrounding food poverty and social isolation.

The charity, 1st Step Development Ventures, operates across multiple sites in Linlithgow and Falkirk within these locations they have a bike workshop and showroom, food larder, local café, community garden and they rent out a community village to conduct their recovery meetings.

They have formed strong partnerships with the NHS and other public bodies as well as charities who frequently drop in to the recovery meetings to deliver a range of workshops, offer advice and signpost useful services to aid recovery.

Earlier this year we recorded a short film which epitomises the true value of 1st Step demonstrating the impact and transformation that has been achieved for individuals affected by challenging circumstances and how the charity is fuelled to continue this incredible work that is having tremendous benefit to the community, but also it’s giving the participants their life back and allowing them to grow as individuals giving them confidence, a sense of purpose and a feeling of belonging.

In addition to the weekly recovery meetings, 1st Step achieves these incredible outcomes by bestowing trust on individuals through a multitude of community facing opportunities like the café, bike workshop and sales, and food larder.

Each participant, volunteer or staff member can level up their skills through training, mentorship or vocational qualifications provided by the organisation. If there is an interest in learning new skills 1st Step encourages people to seize the opportunity by funding courses that will enhance personal development and attract employers. They are passionate about the growth of individuals and endeavour to develop people both academically and socially to their full potential.

The £20K grant that was awarded to 1st Step was used to build on its service capacity by adding a Recovery and Connection Coordinator and Volunteer Support Worker as well as enabling them to develop food sourcing strategies to maintain the sustainability of their food larder.

This is definitely an organisation to read more about, find the full case study and press release https://bit.ly/4eKe6PR

Link to video https://youtu.be/KoaivWV-z7M?si=yEm5kI9YLajqZki8