1. Motorvators Shed

 

The Motorvators Shed project mainly serves volunteers at the acute end of Mental Health, with most referrals coming from Occupation Health at local hospitals.

 

The projects aims to create shed banter, laughing, fun, hope, independence, wellbeing and resilience so that people can live life to the full and reduce isolation and loneliness. Collaboratively working on a project as a team enables individuals to work together to reach a specific goal, whilst increasing their own confidence, problem solving, reasoning, planning, skills and a general senses of pride and fulfilment.

 

The project is also a unique way of working to increase cognitive, sensory and fine motor development and processing.

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2. Supported Volunteering

 

Supported volunteering offers marginalised groups opportunities to work in a safe, supportive, inclusive environment. People are offered the respect, consideration and are given the opportunity to learn, to help others and to regain self-respect, confidence and a sense of self-worth.

 

Being in a position to help others is a core element of this process and the furniture which the project collects and redistributes enables individuals to help other people who are facing extreme hardship. Supported volunteers do not have the same responsibilities as volunteers that support the staff team.

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3. Active Volunteering

 

Active volunteering brings together a diverse range of people from all backgrounds, different environments and walks of life.

 

For both the recipients of the volunteer efforts and co-workers volunteerism can be a rich source of inspiration and an excellent way to develop interpersonal skills as well as developing employability skills, acquiring accredited training and enhancing CV’s. The project has witnessed over the years that long lasting personal and professional relationships can develop under the umbrella of volunteering.

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4. Training

 

Provide training to improve the life chances, choices and opportunities to people with mental health illness, young people at risk, ex-offenders, people with addictive and ‘self-harming’ behaviours, victims of domestic and/or sexual abuse and the long term unemployed with underlying mental and/or physical health issues in Fife.

 

Through providing educational deficit reduction, work based practical progress into work skills training, practical and psychological support, ‘meaningful occupation’ and employment. Castle offer accredited training including City & Guilds in PAT Testing, SVQ’s in Administration, Warehousing, Health & Safety and First Aid. All of the training is offered to all service users, the courses allow services users to take the course at a pace that is tailored to their personal development.

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5. Help those in need with free/low cost furniture

 

Provide free/low cost furniture, carpets and domestic appliances to disadvantaged families and individuals throughout Fife.

 

To that end, the project provides the transport and labour to collect donations from households. These donations are brought to the warehouse where they are sorted, cleaned, assessed for condition, repaired where possible, renovated when feasible, and displayed in our warehouses in Cupar and Glenrothes.

 

Any resident in Fife receive 20% discount on all items displayed in the warehouses if they are in receipt of Housing and/or Council Tax rebate. Free household items are distributed on referral scheme from Social Workers, Voluntary Organisations and Health Visitors etc.

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6. Social Interaction

 

Provide social events and activites; a really important element in reducing isolation, development of confidence and social skills.

 

An important element in the process of bringing about recovery in health and the development of confidence and social skills is having opportunities to take part in social activities.

 

We facilitate this by organising project specific events during the Christmas/New Year period and by having a week away in the summer at a time-share lodge in Kilconquhar, as well as ad-hoc lunches and games nights together. These activities serve to bring the volunteers, clients, people on placements and staff together in a more relaxed environment and allows for time to play and talk!

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7. Community Support

 

Support the community, which we can sometimes take for granted.

 

People and societies co-depend on each other for survival but growth of such things as commercialism are seeing traditional values being disregarded.

 

As Castle sits in the heart of the community, we have a real opportunity to engage with the community seven days a week, volunteers and customers bump into old friends and people they haven’t seen in a long time and often take a seat on the sofas while chatting.

 

Volunteering and befriending is ultimately about helping others and having an impact on each other’s wellbeing. What better way is there to connect within our community than in our re-use stores, at our Befriending Drop-in Lounge, Elders Lunch Club, at our Fayre share distributions points or at one of our toy drives for Christmas.

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8. Support the Environment

 

The projects activities surrounding collections and redistribution of furniture has a direct impact on the amount of waste going to landfill and is making a positive contribution to diverting tonnes of furniture from landfill and assisting in reducing local and nation recycling targets.