Group type: Charity

Category: Energy, Transport, Engagement

Project Description: We will replace gas boilers with air source heat pumps and add to our PV panel installation.

This will reduce carbon emissions and lead the way in providing a building open to the public which is no longer dependent on fossil fuels.

We will build on previous Council and Government funding where we installed solar panels, battery storage and replaced diesel vehicles with electric vehicles. This will be a development from last year's funding. The air source heat pumps will replace the gas boilers and we will change our not for profit Cafe kitchen to being all electric too. With additional solar panels much of the year we will be self-sufficient in our energy consumption.

We will share any learning experiences with other charities, organisations and community buildings.

In increasing the number of solar panels we reduce costs thereby freeing funds to return services to the community: through providing affordable sport and exercise activity, through free support groups (such as our dementia friendly support group), through free or affordable social opportunities for those most affected by cost of living or rural location and by providing free food through various food share projects.

Community Impact: Beneficiaries: 2000+ - services received
Volunteers: 8 volunteers
Indirect benefits through sustainable services for the future which impact on health and well-being, reduce isolation, provide support with range of issues, allow people to improve community connections, signpost to other services, reduce impact of cost of living pressures through food sharing and warm spaces.

Climate Change Impact: High impact through reducing carbon emissions directly and modelling for other community buildings what is possible.

Group type: Charity

Category: Waste and Circular Economy, Engagement

Project Description: School Uniform Bank
We are looking to secure funding to run our School Uniform Bank throughout the year and our Back to School and Nursery project over the summer.
School Uniform can cost families between £150-£200 per child whereas it only costs us £27.60 per pack to provide nearly everything a child needs. Our project would save our community over £225,000 in school uniform costs which then allows families to redistribute these savings into other household bills, keeping houses warm, children fed and our community thriving.
We have run our Back to School project for the last three years offering free applications to everyone living in Perth and Kinross and attending a school.
2023 – 300 2024 – 647 2025 - 1,034
We have seen a dramatic increase in applications each year, which not only indicates the need for free uniform support, but also our community’s commitment to reducing their fast fashion purchases.
Social Flock has been collecting pre-loved donations from our community across Perth and Kinross for three years. We would like to be able to open applications throughout the year for school uniform to support the ongoing need of growing children and families. Despite receiving 1,003 Back to School pack applications over summer, we continue to receive multiple requests for uniform from individuals, PKC service providers, charities and other community support networks.
In our Back to School packs we provide three days of school uniform, two days of PE kit, a school bag, a pair of school shoes and an additional extra each applicant can select for themselves ranging from school socks to a water bottle.
In our Back to Nursery Packs we provide 5 days of mix and match outfits: 5 bottoms, 5 tops, 5 jumpers and a pair of shoes. We offer 2 additional extras such as sun hats, hair ties, socks, vests and pants.
What else do we offer as part of this service?
Personalised Packs – to reduce waste and ensure the clothing we are redistributing will be used fully we don’t just ask for clothing and footwear sizes. We ask for sensory requirements, a style guide, colour choices and characters that children would love to have on their school bag. Each pack is catered to exactly what each child would like not just what they need.
Free doorstep delivery to each applicant to remove barriers to access across Perth and Kinross including access to travel in rural areas, disability and mental health issues which would limit access to our central Perth Hub.
Community Pop-Up Shops allow people to visit our event and ‘Pick Their Own Pack’ which increases dignity for everyone whilst also promoting wearing preloved, thus reducing the stigma around this within the community.
Community-based Collections – working in collaboration with other community groups, businesses and charities we have run collection points across Perthshire to enable our community to pick up their packs in their local area. Removing emissions from delivery and building community-based action.

Community Impact: Over 3,000 people will be positively impacted by our School Uniform Bank throughout 2026, covering benefits to cost-of-living, mental health and wellbeing, community activism and environmental awareness. Not only do pupils benefit from our packs, but everyone in their home. Households can redistribute uniform savings to other essential household bills like food, heating and fuel costs. Our applicants have told us our packs reduce stress in the household, support positive mental health and wellbeing for adults, excitement for returning to school & nursery for the children, alongside providing items they would otherwise not be able to afford. We work with a team of around 50 volunteers. We have regular volunteers coming into our Hub to organise donations, make up packs, and deliver packs to families across Perth and Kinross. We have volunteers who offer other essential roles for delivering all our projects such as washing and mending. We make sure any volunteering role is free for our volunteers, because we know we couldn’t run Social Flock without their contribution of time and energy. We offer travel costs, provide sustenance throughout their volunteer time. Our Delivery Drivers are provided with fuel reimbursement for their journeys. Our menders and washers are provided with specific supplies anything else they would need to support their volunteering. Keeping volunteering free to our community allows more people to support our services in a way that is accessible to them.

Climate Change Impact: Social Flock perfectly combines anti-poverty and pro-climate action for our Perth and Kinross Community. On a monthly basis Social Flock receives around 1 ton of clothing donations coming directly from our community across the 12 Perth and Kinross wards. We are redistributing between 1 – 1.5 tons of clothing to families across Perth and Kinross. We have also worked with different groups to run workshops to increase engagement with the aim to reuse and recycle clothing and build skills. We partner with AK Bell’s Lend and Mend hub to repair and redesign clothing ensuring we keep items in circulation for as long as possible. We are committed increasing our community’s knowledge on the environmental impact that fast fashion has. In 2025 we launched our Rural School Uniform Climate Challenge. Schools collected donation of preloved clothing and circulated our Back to School application, contributing to their Eco-School Status. In 2026 we would like to expand this into more schools across Perth and Kinross, offering complimentary workshops to further educate pupils on the environmental impact of wearing preloved clothing, embracing changes in their clothing and shopping habits and becoming Clothing Climate Activists. We see an increase in families returning their clothing to us building a cyclical clothing economy. By ensuring our Donation Stations are open and accessible to families across Perth and Kinross we can reduce re-useable clothing being put into our landfills.