The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations is the membership organisation for Scotland's charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises. Charity registered in Scotland SC003558. Registered office Caledonian Exchange, 19A Canning Street, Edinburgh EH3 8EG.
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Our latest members
Welcome to all the organisations that have joined SCVO recently. You can find out more about them below:
Auchterarder & District Community Sports Hub
Joined SCVO on 4 September
<p>"the advancement of public participation in sport", "the provision of recreational facilities, or the organisation of recreational activities, with the object of improving the conditions of life for the persons for whom the facilities or activities are primarily intended"</p>
The Minerva Trust
Joined SCVO on 4 September
<p>The Minerva Trust provide guidance for the stewardship of investments owned by charities - by providing mentors, who offer experience and guidance on the duties, principles and practicalities that encompass the stewardship of their investments. The service is free.</p>
The Star Centre (Rape Counselling And Resource Centre)
Joined SCVO on 4 September
<p>The Star Centre offers specialist trauma informed support and advocacy services to survivors of sexual violence, abuse, and sexual exploitation across East, North, and South Ayrshire, Arran and Cumbrae. Our services are available to survivors from aged 13 years and over, no matter when the abuse has happened in their lives.</p>
20th Ayrshire (Stewarton) Scout Group
Joined SCVO on 3 September
<p>Promoting the wellbeing of young people aged between 6 and 14 by supporting them to develop life values, working in teams, learn new skills and stretch themselves to achieve more than they thought was possible.</p>
Craigiebarn Owls Out Of School Care Club
Joined SCVO on 3 September
<p>We are a non-profit out of school cub in Dundee providing before and after school care as well as holiday care to children in our local community and surrounding areas. We have a strong focus on supporting families to gain and sustain employment and further education by providing funded childcare to families most at risk of poverty or hardship.</p>
Crichton Foundation
Joined SCVO on 3 September
<p>Provide financial and other support to the students and academic institutions at the Crichton, Dumfries and other associated locations.</p>
Dunbar Surf Life Saving Club
Joined SCVO on 2 September
<p>Dunbar Surf Life Saving Club is a volunteer-led community club based at Belhaven Bay in East Lothian. Our aim is to help children and young people become confident, capable and safe around the sea, while developing valuable lifesaving, teamwork and leadership skills.</p> <p>We provide surf lifesaving training for children and young people, from our youngest Nippers through to teenagers and future lifeguards. Sessions combine practical water skills with beach and sea safety, including understanding waves, tides and currents, recognising hazards, using rescue equipment, board skills, first aid awareness and learning how to respond safely in an emergency.</p> <p>Just as importantly, the club gives young people the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors, build confidence, make friends and become part of a supportive local community. We encourage teamwork, responsibility and resilience, with older members having opportunities to develop their skills further and progress towards lifesaving, coaching and leadership roles.</p> <p>Dunbar Surf Life Saving Club is run by volunteers and currently supports more than 50 junior members. We have also invested in training around 20 volunteers to help us provide safe, high-quality sessions for our young people.</p> <p>As the club continues to grow, fundraising is vital. We are working to increase our equipment, including rescue boards, rescue tubes and first aid equipment; improve our storage facilities; and provide further training for volunteer coaches, safety personnel and future beach lifeguards.</p> <p>Ultimately, we want to give more local children and young people the skills and confidence to enjoy our coastline safely, while developing the next generation of lifesavers, volunteers and community leaders.</p>
Good Morning Project Ltd
Joined SCVO on 2 September
<p>Good Morning Service are a 365-day telephone befriending and safety-net alert service for vulnerable older people. The Service began as a community safety initiative lead by the then Strathclyde Police in 2000 in response to an elderly man who had, very sadly, passed away without anyone noticing. The gentleman had been active in his community yet nobody noticed his absence or took action if they had noticed. </p> <p>Annually approx. 45,000 Good Morning Calls are made to over 300 older people whose average age is 82 years, providing social, emotional, and safety support to those in need. </p> <p>In the field of mental health listening is an intervention in itself, but Good Morning Service go further. Befrienders take time and care to build knowledge and trust so that they build a relationship which is meaningful; able to give emotional support when life is challenging, e.g., in experiencing loss or a worrying diagnosis. </p> <p>When a Good Morning Call remains unanswered then an emergency contact person or the police can be alerted to a potential problem – very much appreciated by those who had fallen at home, and also Betty who was having a mini-stroke while on the phone.</p> <p>The charity provide Good Night Calls over winter to alleviate the heightened sense of loneliness that the dark nights can bring; monthly group social outings to places of interest; pass on safety advice from the police; signpost and refer to other support; monthly informative newsletters; plus, they deliver Christmas hampers over the festive period including on Christmas Day itself. </p> <p>Good Morning’s light-touch support is very attractive to older people because it doesn’t diminish their sense of ability to live independently: it enhances it as Anna, 95 years, explains;</p> <p>“I’m 95, life can be difficult at times. When I got out of hospital your calls kept my chin up and kept me moving forward. Being independent means a lot to me and speaking to someone else and getting their advice means a lot. I’m safer with this service because I live alone and anything can happen. I’m independent because of you.” </p> <p>Connected | Safer | Valued = The Good Morning Service is available for those aged 65+ in Glasgow City and South Ayrshire Council areas. To join or refer someone call 0141 336 7766.</p>
Kinder Handl Community Enterprise CIC
Joined SCVO on 2 September
<p>Kinder Handl Community Enterprise CIC is a Glasgow community enterprise built around reuse. We run 3 donation-based preloved shops where unwanted household and business items are collected, sorted and sold at prices local families can afford, along with online sales through eBay, vinted and Depop. Anything we can’t sell goes to charities, schools and community groups rather than landfill. The money from sales stays in the community. It pays for local job, including paid, supported employment for staff with additional support needs and free facilities like our sensory room, reading and play areas, community piano and refreshment space, where anyone can drop in for a cuppa and some company. We also provide urgent care packages for people in crisis, working alongside Glasgow City Council, Women’s Aid, Money Matters, local food banks, the Scottish Refugee Council, Glasgow Social Work, health visitors, schools, nurseries and many more, who refer families to us for free toys, clothing and furniture. Our customers are mainly families on the south side of Glasgow, but the shops serve everyone. The aim is simple: reduce waste, reduce isolation, and make sure the value of what Glasgow gives us goes straight back into Glasgow.</p>
Scottish Community Drama Association South West Ross Division
Joined SCVO on 2 September
<p>We strive to keep amateur drama alive and well in rural communities across highland and the western isles.</p>
Scottish Wheelchair Curling Association
Joined SCVO on 2 September
<p>We promote and support Wheelchair curling in Scotland. Responsible for organising the main wheelchair curling competitions in Scotland</p>
The Friendship Cabin (SCIO)
Joined SCVO on 2 September
<p>The Friendship Cabin is a community-based charity in Glenrothes that supports local people through social activities, games, music and shared meals. We provide a safe welcoming space to reduce loneliness, improve wellbeing, and build friendships while promoting inclusion, fun and positive connections within the community. The organisation operates an open door policy and aims to improve the quality of life of those affected by long term physical health. This helps to tackle loneliness and mental health and mitigate some of the cost of living crisis.</p>
Feeding East Renfrewshire Now (FERN) Foodbank
Joined SCVO on 1 September
<p>Who Are We? We are a small independent foodbank established to support people in need within East Renfrewshire. Our service is not means tested and is open to all – no questions asked. From 1st March 2025 we were established to continue the work started by a local larder organisation, ensuring that the 100+ households (equating to 150 service users) per week continue to get the support they need.</p> <p>What do we do? We are a service run entirely by volunteers that provides a variety of food and essential parcels to individuals, couples and families in need. We offer a home delivery service as we know access to transport can be difficult. We can deliver on Wednesdays between 5.00pm – 7.30pm, Fridays between 4.30pm - 6.30pm. For those looking to collect FERN is open from 4.30-5.30pm on Wednesdays and 4-4.45pm on Fridays. Clients can complete our online form, telling us what they need and how many people there are at home. This confidential form also gives us their home address and contact number but does not ask for any personal identifiable information. On a Wednesday we deliver parcels to up to 50 households and facilitate up to 20 household collections. On a Friday we deliver parcels to up to 20 households and facilitate up to 10 household collections. We currently delivery in the following areas: • Newton Mearns • Eaglesham • Barrhead • Neilston • Giffnock • Clarkston • Busby Examples of the parcels we provide are shown below and these are aimed at supporting clients with emergency food and essentials that will last at least a couple of days. • Breakfast Parcel - Cereal, Milk, Bread, Jam, Tea or Coffee • Lunch Parcel - Beans, Soup, Bread, Tuna, Fruit • Dinner Parcel - Pasta, Pasta Sauce, Tinned Veg • Household Essentials - Laundry Detergent, Cleaning Products, Toilet Roll • Personal Essentials - Soap, Shampoo, Toothpaste • Period Packs • Pet Food How Do We Do It? We are 100% volunteer run and there are no monies paid to any of our trustees or managers. This brings its challenges and we rely purely on the goodwill of our 50+ volunteers – but we always need more drivers as it’s this part of our service that is most in demand. Our financial support is by no means consistent and we rely on donations from our community. We currently work month to month (and sometimes week to week) to make our bank balance go as far as possible. Financial funding is vital to allow us to continue to purchase and distribute fresh food to compliment the food cupboard essentials.</p>
Gorebridge Men's Shed
Joined SCVO on 1 September
<p>Gorebridge Men's Shed provides a safe place for men over 18 to share, learn new skills, give back to the community by carrying out projects that they feel meets their skill sets.</p>
Thrive and Belong CIC
Joined SCVO on 1 September
<p>Thrive and Belong CIC is a social enterprise with the mission of ensuring that everyone has equal access to tools and practices to regulate their nervous system. Inclusion, accessibility and empowerment are the core of our work.We achieve this by creating free, accessible and inclusive wellbeing opportunities to support individuals who feel excluded from traditional wellness spaces due to financial, psychological and systemic barriers. </p>
Information and Learning for All Project
Joined SCVO on 28 August
<p>Our Vision Our vision is a Scotland where excluded communities’ efforts to participation are recognised and rewarded by all sectors of the economy and society.</p> <p>Our Mission To develop the capacity and skills of excluded communities in Scotland in such a way that they are better able to identify and develop the skills required to negotiate within a system that does not always enable them to participate fully and equally.</p> <p>Our Objectives Our main objective is to provide vital information and learning activities that empower excluded communities to negotiate within a system that does not always enable them to access the labour market and to participate equally and fully in their communities. Our activities include: • Repackaging vital information into formats that can be used by target groups • Organizing seminars, workshops, talks and meetings aimed at solving community problems • Organizing employability skills training including literacy and ICT skills training • Providing reading material, including newspapers, materials on formal education, income generation, adult literacy and entertainment. • Promoting appropriate technologies • Documentation of local events • Organizing recreational activities such as games and cultural activities</p> <p>• Promoting publishing and book writing activities Facilitating the formation of support groups/associations and other activities that promote the provision of information and learning for the target groups to enable their full participation in society.</p>
Lauder Christmas Lights Festival
Joined SCVO on 27 August
<p>We are a voluntary group who are responsible for organising lighting up our Royal and Ancient Burgh of Lauder for the Christmas Season.</p>
Strathlachlan Community Centre
Joined SCVO on 27 August
<p>Support in the community. Provides space for community activities</p>
Broughty Bowling Club
Joined SCVO on 26 August
<p>Lawn green bowling club providing sport, recreation and social opportunities for members and the local community.</p>
Nith Catchment Fishery Trust
Joined SCVO on 26 August
<p>The Nith Catchment Fishery Trust is a Scottish charity formed to conserve and enhance native freshwater fish and their habitats across the River Nith catchment, from New Cumnock to Glencaple and along the coast to Sandyhills. </p> <p>Working closely with the Nith District Salmon Fishery Board, the Trust undertakes a wide range of conservation work to protect salmon, sea trout, eel and lamprey, including juvenile salmonid surveys, invertebrate surveys, habitat enhancement, and the control of invasive non-native species. </p> <p>As part of its remit, the Trust also delivers educational programmes to increase public awareness and understanding of the aquatic environment.</p>