How the People’s Postcode Lottery has helped us make an impact

Clackmannanshire Economic Regeneration Trust (CERT) was formed in 2020 to work alongside the community and in partnership with others to make Clackmannanshire a vibrant place to live where people are happy, healthy and where opportunities, connections and support are available for all.  

In the last four years CERT has grown substantially, successfully delivering the Positive Moves programme to over 300 residents. The programme aims to help people progress towards securing employment, by providing bespoke one to one support and skills training. CERT is also delivering the literacy and numeracy programme, Multiply, which has reached over 200 residents. Building on these successes, CERT is able to work closely with Clacks’ residents of all ages to understand their needs and create and implement support solutions that we know they want.   

CERT was fortunate to receive funding from the People’s Postcode Lottery to support our Let Us Decide programme. This programme worked with 7 community groups across the county to identify how best the people of Clacks could be supported and to provide the financial support to make it happen. 

Successful projects include:   

• Providing tents and other outdoor equipment to enable families in Sauchie, a deprived area of Alloa to allow family and friends to spend time together enjoying the outdoors 
• Providing equipment for a youth organisation to host events to facilitate socialisation and team building in a post-pandemic environment 
• Enabling an over 50s group to expand to reach more people, so that self-help and access to external support could be widened 
• Upskilling childminders so they can offer their services to more local children  
• Supporting an LGBTQ+ group to develop a website aimed at both employers and employees to provide them with information on employment law and practices 
• Supporting a local men’s shed to install disabled building access and increase their marketing to grow their membership  
• Organising a local litter pick aimed at young people, to encourage them to socialise, look after their wellbeing and take care of their environment  

These projects demonstrate how crucial it is to listen to our clients and co-design activities with them at the heart. This ensures we deliver on the areas that matter the most to them: affordable and accessible childcare, support for those facing mental health challenges and access to reliable and efficient transport.  We can only do this with the generous support of funders, partners and of course the people of Clacks.