OCN grants to support communities in Stirling to become more dementia-inclusive
Up to 5 community groups in the Stirling area;
Between £5,000 and £10,000 available per proposal;
The funding
The OCN community funding – which launched in October 2021 – will be accessible to community groups and organisations based within the Stirling Council area, which are already operating with dementia-inclusion as a focus, or willing to strengthen their awareness and promote further inclusion and access in their local area.
The funding will be administered to up to 5 groups, for an amount ranging between £5,000 and £10,000 per proposal. The capital funding can be used for making practical changes to their neighbourhoods, support research for larger-scale accessibility changes to be proposed to local authorities, and delivering activities that raise awareness and promote inclusion of people leaving with dementia and their unpaid carers. Examples of how the capital funding can be used include: signage/wayfinding, dementia-friendly seating (i.e. benches), digital equipment to support work aimed at reducing digital exclusion for people living with dementia and their carers, and other practical/production costs as part of a wider programme around raising awareness and improving inclusivity in the neighbourhood.
Applications, Review Process, and Timescales
Interested applicants should submit an expression of interest using our online form.
After a review of your expression of interest, in collaboration with Dementia-Friendly Stirling Partners, and local third sector organisations, you will be supported with the aim to submit a final proposal by March 2022.
What support do successful applicants receive
Successful groups will be supported through a series of tailored training and support sessions, including dementia-inclusive training, including guidance on using the OCN toolkit and experiential audit walks. The OCN toolkit is a series of tools developed by the OCN team and volunteers, in collaboration with people living with dementia and their carers. These are aimed at initiating conversations and guiding assessment activities with the purpose of creating a Neighbourhood Action Plan, identifying clear priorities and a step-by-step approach to make an neighbourhood more dementia-inclusive.
Below is an illustration of the approach we have used to create the toolkit, and the Neighbourhood Compass will be used to assess and organise your group’s specific needs and ambitions:
The full toolkit will be shared with successful applicants and dedicated sessions to use it in a way that is impactful to the work of a specific group will be provided as part of the training. In addition, the training is intended to guide and inform the applicants’ final proposals for projects to be launched during the following weeks.
How to find out more
Please email Donna Paterson at donna@artlinkcentral.org