Clacks' Women in Sport and Health group to close its doors

After many years offering support in the Wee County, the organisation will come to an end on Tuesday 31 March due to problems obtaining core funding.

Although it is a disappointing decision for all involved, there is a desire to celebrate what it has achieved.

Wish managing director, Carol Robertson, explained: “We’re closing because we weren’t successful in attracting other funding.

"We put in a big bid to work in partnership and to develop what we were doing in our approach but we weren’t successful with it, which is disappointing.

“We were going right up until the final bid in January and when that was unsuccessful that was our tipping edge.

"That was when we realised and the board were saying they were actually going to stand down.

“We’ll have our EGM on the thirty-first, but what we want it to be is a celebration of Wish and some of our successes.

"It’s not a decision that’s been taken lightly and with the best will in the world it would have been lovely [to continue].” Wish started as a one-year initiative funded by the Scottish Government before being launched as a social enterprise by Carol in 2010.

At the heart was its aim to promote and support positive change for women in Clacks through enabling access to social, physical and cultural activities that improve health and restore a sense of belonging.

Carol said: “The reason for starting Wish was to engage with a wide range of women who were isolated for a multitude of reasons and bring them together, through physical, social and recreational activity.

“It was about recognising that a range of these women didn’t work, were single parents, were unemployed, had health issues and were struggling with getting out and meeting other people.

“So we started to build on a lot of the strengths of our women and, we have got a management group as well, from the management group and the board.

"We utilised a lot of their skills in the work that we were doing and we looked at what the strengths were and offered a wide range of opportunities.” Around 173 women are involved in Wish and participate in different ways, through taking part in the organised activities, embracing the opportunities for physical exercise, getting their hair done at the college or by running classes themselves.

They have enjoyed social outings, family events, residential trips, workshops and organising a Christmas Day lunch for others.

WISH has also offered help on a wider scale throughout the county and was responsible for initiating the foodbank in Sauchie, before handing it over to the community.

Carol said there have been many memorable moments, such as putting on an exhibition at the Macrobert Arts Centre.

She added: “For me the highlights are the range of women we have engaged with and how a lot of them have moved forward from where they were when we met them.

"We get lots of referrals from different agencies – from doctors, from social work, from mental health – we have an awful lot of referrals.

“Over 45 per cent are referrals and when you see the difference it makes for many of these women and when some of them are leading our workshops, that for me is a massive shift, and it’s really great to see their confidence growing as they go into the wider community.” The EGM will be held in Alloa Baptist Church Hall on Tuesday at 10.30am, where there will be a celebration of WISH with refreshments.

Thanks is given to all who have been involved in the social enterprise over the years.

Carol said: “A huge thanks to everybody – especially the women that were part of WISH, the core of it – but also to all the services that believed in us and supported us, gave us the strength and commitment over the years to deliver, and all the volunteers, management group and board who made it a huge success as well through their commitment.”