Annual Report 2025
CAYAG – Coupar Angus Youth Activities Group - SCO41760
1. Introduction
Over the past year, CAYAG has continued to provide a safe, positive and enriching environment for young people in Coupar Angus and its environs. Our youth work focuses on building trusted relationships, supporting wellbeing, creating opportunities for personal development, and ensuring that every young person in our community feels welcomed, valued and heard.
2. Participation & Reach
This year we have engaged 87 individual young people, with an average attendance of 15 young people per session. This demonstrates strong and consistent involvement, with young people regularly returning to participate in sessions, activities and opportunities offered by CAYAG.
3. Key Sessions & Activities
Across the year, CAYAG delivered a range of youth opportunities, including:
Open youth drop-in sessions
Creative, social and recreational activities
Seasonal community events
Supportive spaces for young people to connect, talk and be themselves
Opportunities for youth voice and participation in decision-making in association with other youth groups in the area
These sessions are designed not only for fun and socialisation, but also to encourage life skills, friendships, confidence, independence and emotional wellbeing.
CAYAG has continued to have performing arts group; the young people put on a performance at the Primary school assembly that they had been working on in sessions; it continues to take a pivotal role in transition activity days where young people from local youth organisations come together at Belmont outdoor activity Centre and have a day of team building, and adventurous activities, to support relationships between P7s before going up to high school. CAYAG continues to be committed to helping young
people develop communication, leadership, teamwork, and decision-making skills, and encourage engagement with local services, councils, schools, and organisations.
4. Impact on Young People
Feedback and observation show that there is:
Increased social confidence in a range of situations both within the youth groups, and also in other community activities
Reduced isolation and loneliness, which has been an major issue for many young people in the post-pandemic world
Supportive peer relationships have encouraged participants to help each other in a changing world
Greater engagement in community activities, particularly those which are not specifically geared for young people
Access to trusted adults for advice, guidance and listening which has meant that young people feel much more able to share any concerns they have.
A sense that many young people in the town consider CAYAG to be one of the few regular, safe social spaces available locally.
5. Community Engagement
CAYAG continues to play an active role in the wider Coupar Angus community. Our events and activities help bring families and young people together, strengthen local connections, and help ensure that young people are seen as active and positive contributors to community life. Through the activities of our youth work team, CAYAG has been pivotal in new community developments in the town and beyond; for example improvements in community transport.
6. Safeguarding & Good Practice
All youth work is delivered with safeguarding as a top priority. Staff and volunteers hold appropriate PVG checks, and follow established procedures to ensure young people’s safety, privacy and wellbeing.
7. Challenges
As with many community-based youth services, we face challenges including maintaining resources, transport access for some young people, and meeting the growing demand for support. However, our commitment remains strong, and challenges are approached as opportunities to evolve, partner and improve.
The old Y building is almost two hundred years old, and the Board and youth work team are exploring ways to improve this crucial facility for young people and the wider community. This has certainly taken a lot of time and effort, but hopefully we are making inroads which will result in serious improvement to the fabric of the building in the next year.
We also continue to face the challenges of encouraging involvement from the wider community in the organisation, and this year we have gained a new trustee as well as retaining the more experienced trustees. We did lose our young leader from the Board as, after three years as a trusty volunteer, they were given a part-time paid post on the youth team and stepped down from the Board. Gel’s performance has been exceptional, and they continue to be a crucial part of CAYAG, albeit in a different role.
CAYAG did have an issue with a water bill from Business Stream which had been pursued for a couple of years. We should not have been liable to water bills, but exemption could not be accepted in retrospect, so we decided to take funding that we had earmarked for other purposes and clear the bill. We are now exempt from water bill as long as we apply annually.
8. Looking Ahead
In the coming year, CAYAG plans to:
Strengthen youth leadership and involvement in planning activities – our youth work team has built wonderful relationships with young people among the user-groups, and we aim to continue to develop that, hopefully enabled by a growing team of committed staff
Develop targeted support where needed (e.g., wellbeing, life skills), as certain funding streams have enabled CAYAG to apply for funding to run activities that young people have asked about, e.g. dance, music, outdoor activities
Reach more young people across Coupar Angus and surrounding areas, and build a wider relationship with other community groups in the neighbourhood
Continue building community partnerships and visibility through involvement in activities that target the wider community
Pursue sustainable funding to ensure long-term provision – in these challenging times we have to work hard to retain our funding streams for the benefit of the young people of Coupar Angus and its environs
- Appreciation & Thanks
We express sincere thanks to:
The young people who participate and bring life to our sessions
Parents, carers and families for their ongoing trust and support
Our volunteers and staff for their dedication
Community partners within Coupar Angus and beyond including youth organisations across the area
The local authority, Perth and Kinross Council, for its continuing support especially from the Communities Team
Funders and supporters who make our work possible
The CAYAG Board and committee for their time and leadership
The Board currently comprises :
The Board are all volunteers and no trustee of CAYAG has received any payment for their activities in relation to the organisation.
Independent Examlnorfs Report to the Tn of CAYAG {Cow Angus
Youth Activitiès Group) - SC041760
I report on the Accounts of the Charity CAYAG AThws YcAth AthTtEs
Group) for the year ended 3191 Marth 2025.
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Act 2005 and the Charities A(x
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