Latest Event Updates
Volunteer this Summer
Now the long summer holidays are approaching you may be looking for something to do or something for the kids to do. Have you ever considered volunteering?
Maybe you’re just looking for something to do for a few hours a week or possibly you have more time to spare and are looking for something to do with the family and kids over the school holidays. Then perhaps volunteering is something to consider.
Whether it’s helping out at the local youth club over the summer holidays, or at the local animal shelter or just helping the old lady next door with her shopping, the benefits of volunteering are many.
Volunteering is something a person does in their own time, without pay or compulsion, and which is for the benefit of the community, the environment or other people outside their immediate family. Read the rest of this entry »
Awards for Volunteering
Continuing to focus on Volunteers, find out more about an inspirational programme for young volunteers…
This award is available for young people from Primary School up to the age of 15 years. Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action’s role is to support schools in the local development of the award, and they will provide administrative support to facilitate the recording of pupil’s achievements and issuing certificates. 
The Saltire Award is a national programme for young people between 12 and 25 years old designed to recognise achievements in volunteering and has been administered by Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action since early 2012.
There are 4 sections to the awards, Challenge, Approach, Ascent and Summit
The Award is designed to give young people an experience of volunteering as part of a team and is the ideal introduction to volunteering for young volunteers and is about discovering more about themselves, others and the community. It is designed to encourage a regular commitment to volunteering but in realistic, bit sized chunks. Read the rest of this entry »
How Can I Volunteer ?
Do you want to help the world or your community? Do you want to build your own skills, make new friends, and learn? Do you love what you do? Do you want to share your gifts with others or give something back? Examining these sorts of questions can help you to choose the right direction for your volunteer work. 
Every day there are thousands of people making a difference in all sorts of ways, but they don’t get paid. They are benefiting their communities and also themselves. They are volunteers!
No-one will ask you to sign a contract or commit yourself to work or time that doesn’t suit you and you are free to stop volunteering if you wish to. On the other hand organisations will be very grateful for whatever help you are able to give. It is your community and we all contribute to it in whichever way we want. Read the rest of this entry »
Are you Volunteer Friendly?
Continuing our to focus on Volunteer week, we find out a bit about The Volunteer Friendly Award…
The Volunteer Friendly Award is a simple, user-friendly quality standard designed to support, recognise and reward groups who are good at involving volunteers.
There are several groups in the Kincardine and Mearns area working towards the award and the Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action is encouraging other groups to get involved in achieving Volunteer Friendly status
Many essential services in Scotland’s communities are enhanced by volunteers. Volunteering also has a significant social value as it is increasingly being used to give excluded individuals the chance to build their confidence and skills through helping others. It has never been more important for groups to be able to show how good they are at involving and managing their volunteers.
Volunteer Friendly helps you to take a systematic look at what your organisation does and how you do it. It offers a flexible approach which allows your group to work at its own pace, with full support from the Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action. Read the rest of this entry »
Volunteers Week 2015
Volunteers Week is an annual event that takes place between 1st and 7th June.. Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action are planning events all over the area and are encouraging volunteers and voluntary groups to get involved. Make this year special and show your volunteers how valuable they are to your service and do something special for them.
Here are some ideas to think about. Read the rest of this entry »
Gaelic for Beginners
Starting Friday 29th May, CliS – Conversation Course for Beginners will begin at Mearns Community Library.
CLiS is focused on adults in the early stages of learning Gaelic. It is suitable as an introductory course for those learning the language for the first time, and also compliments other methods of learning that students may already be participating in.
Contact Mechthild Graeme for further information
01463-226732 mechthild@cli.org.uk or visit www.cli.org.uk
or email laurencekirk.library@aberdeenshire.gov.uk
tel. 01339 886 004
Raising the bar on safety and security in Aberdeenshire
Entries are now being sought for the 2015 Aberdeenshire Best Bar None awards, a Scottish initiative aimed at combating alcohol related crime.
All licensed premises in the area are encouraged to take part in the scheme to help Aberdeenshire’s night-time economy flourish and keep the public safe whilst enjoying the area’s pubs, bars and clubs.
Administered nationally by the Scottish Business Resilience Centre but run locally, Best Bar None Aberdeenshire is a joint partnership between Aberdeenshire Council, the Scottish Government, Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Belhaven Pubs and the Scottish Licensing Trade Association.
The scheme is helping to create a safer drinking environment across Scotland for everyone involved – the wider community, customers, owners, licensees and bar staff, as well as police, fire and other partner agencies.
It focuses on safety and customer care and gives each licensed venue the opportunity to prove it meets the standard of safety and service set by the government and alcohol industry.
Jenny Wylie, Community Safety Officer, said: “Aberdeenshire has been involved in the Best Bar None scheme since 2007 and we are delighted that it is going ahead again this year.
“It is a fantastic opportunity for premises to demonstrate their dedication in running establishments in a professional, safe and caring manner and for those premises to receive accolade for this.
“The invitations for this year’s scheme have just been distributed and I would urge all premises to get involved so we can continue to make Aberdeenshire a safe place for all.”
Music and Mental Health Benefits
Listening to music is a relatively inexpensive, effective activity which can be used in everyday life to improve our mental wellbeing. Lively up beat music can lift the spirits and improve mood and sometimes encourage us to get moving! Similarly calm and soothing music can help us to relax and ease fear and anxiety. Studies suggest, listening to music releases a chemical in the brain that has a key role in affecting our mood.
Here are some of the psychological benefits of listening to music:
- Helps improve mood and increase positive emotions
- Encourages self-expression
- Improves level of interest
- Improves social interaction
- Increases relaxation and reduces tension and anxiety
- Improves self esteem
Studies also show that music promotes positive overall health and those that listen to music demonstrate:
- A better night’s sleep
- Diminished pain
- Improved memory and recall
- Increased ability to concentrate
- Increased mobility and co-ordination
As mentioned above music is something that can be incorporated into your everyday life and is very versatile. Music can be enjoyed:
- On your own or in a crowd
- While doing housework or in the shower
- While out for a walk or in the car
- At work or relaxing at home in the evening
- Going to sleep or awakening
- While moving/dancing or lying still
- At home or outdoors
The possibilities for incorporating music into our everyday routines are endless and with the use of modern technology e.g. iPod, iPad, playlists, i tunes, Spotify etc. a wide variety of music and genres have become extremely easy to access. 
Eating Well and Mental Wellbeing
All this week, Pillar Kincardine have been telling us about issues important to them. Over the next couple of days, we look at how your diet and what you listen to can effect your mental health…
What does eating well mean? Broadly speaking it means eating in a way that:
- Keeps our weight stable
- Provides all the necessary food groups and vitamins
- Is an enjoyable experience
Why is eating well important?
It helps to prevent many diseases which are linked with being overweight. Diseases include high blood sugar, high blood pressure, heart problems, stroke, cancer, joint problems and sleep difficulties. Eating well also nourishes our brain so we feel better emotionally.
Eating is essential for sustaining our lives, keeping healthy and preventing disease but most of us struggle to eat what we need and battle with eating what we want and what makes us feel better emotionally. We tend to eat if we are sad, lonely or hurt but equally if we want to celebrate success or as a reward. Attempting to change our eating habits is much more than just learning the facts it’s about making good choices every day which is easier said than done. Understanding why healthy eating is so important and looking at the benefits of certain foods helps on this journey. Read the rest of this entry »
The Benefits of Arts and Crafts
“Some of us feel bad about [taking] time for creative expression. One would think that we’d view creativity as ‘more productive’ and hence less guilt- producing than leisure, yet we still seem to believe that self-expression is less of a priority than satisfying the needs of others.” Alice Domar, Ph.D.
Unfortunately, many of us push crafting and creativity to the bottom of our To Do List. Maybe we feel guilty for doing something for ourselves—women, of course, are taught that everyone else’s needs should come first—or maybe we feel that even when we’re relaxing, we should be doing something productive. All we need is permission from ourselves to spend time creating and the courage to push beyond our comfort zone so our projects truly express what’s inside and help us to unblock, purge, and transform our feelings. Read the rest of this entry »
Mindfulness Meditation
Continuing our focus on mental health, find out how Pillar are using mindfulness with great results.. 
Another way in which we have been practising mindfulness at Pillar is via meditation. We have discussed how meditation need not be associated with specific religious beliefs or entail difficult body postures. It need not take longer than five minutes and does not involve an ‘emptying’ of the mind, but rather an effort to take some control of our thoughts. Meditation has been shown to increase the grey matter associated with wellbeing and compassion, and decrease areas associated with stress. On a physical level, it has been shown to lower high blood pressure and lessen chronic pain. Read the rest of this entry »
K&M Communities 