The aims over the next 12 months are to encourage more interest in our association and to promote environmental projects within the grounds of Lochshore Park.
Description
Our group provides a crucial role in reducing social isolation by providing a friendly welcome to those who enjoy physical exercise in an outdoor environment. We attract members from Kilbirnie, Beith and as far afield as Saltcoats. We are proud of our contribution to the regeneration of the park which is located on the site of the Glengarnock Iron and Steel Works, remnants of which can be seen to this day. Our weekly workdays are opportunities for volunteers who share a love of the outdoors to connect with one another and strengthen community bonds; tasks have included planting trees, coppicing, creating paths and wildlife projects.
Lochshore Park is a newly created country park with a 5-kilometre tarred and hard-core path, designed for eventual use as a Saturday morning park run venue. Our current project is to create a woodland trail through our “Enchanted Forest”. To attract greater numbers to the park we would like to make this a magical experience for younger children with models and sculptures en route to a woodland glade with tree stump seats.
Over the winter months we intend to build bird and bat boxes and craft willow sculptures. This will require the services of a willow weaving artist. These activities will be open to the public with anything created by them free to be taken away.
We have secured funding to build a habitat for ground nesting bees, which will be a labour-intensive exercise. However, many of the other projects we would like to tackle require expertise which none of us possess. If awarded a Proportional Budgeting grant we would like to buy in support and training for our members.
Estimated Costs
Creation of Enchanted Forest £197
Timber for bird boxes £236
Free Public Classes £325
Advertising £240
Location: The park surrounds 3 sides of Kilbirnie Loch. The park is very popular with dog walkers, the loch is used by a local angling club, and the local rugby club have two pitches in the park. We hope our projects will attract a greater variety of visitors with different interests and different age range.
Proposed on behalf of: We are a constituted association of volunteers working on conservation and environmental projects. Weekly reports of our work are published on Facebook: Friends of Lochshore Park
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