The Canny Crafters Group is a local sewing and craft group open to all, offering support in crochet, sewing and the art of repurposing old materials into new, creative projects. Based at the Redburn Centre, the group works in partnership with the friends f redburn community group and has been active for around a year. What began with just 4 members has grown to a ful group of 12 participants and two dedicated volunteers. Together htey have created a variety of handmade items, including Christmas wreaths, hand knitted goods and crochet crats and they plan to hot stalls at local events selling their handmade goods to help sustain the group and ensure its continued success.

The group fosters creativity and skill deelopment while offering a warm, commujnity focused atmosphere and for the members attending it has many benefits, including learning new skills, making new friends, and promoting mental well being. It provides a creative outlet, cost free access and a supportive environment where the members can recieve guidance on personal or group projects, enhancing a sense of belonging.

The group would like to apply for the cost of tickets to be able to attend 2 Creative Craft shows at the SECC to see differnt types of crafting and get ide4as for thier own group and also to buy resources such as wool and fbric for future projects.

Breakdown of Costs

Creative Craft Show Tickets March 2025 x 14 £168

Creative Craft Show Tickets Xmas 2025 x 14 £168

Resources such as wool, fabric, patterns etc £350

Total 686

The Marymass Flower Show, including the garden and community garden competitions, is held yearly in the Irvine Volunteer Rooms to promote the showing of horticulturally arts and crafts exhibits.

The funding will help us cover the costs associated with the flower show which are increasing every year, this includes hall lets, insurance, judges’ fees and awards. To make the follower show more accessible, we will also be running some talks and demonstrations giving an introduction to horticulture, with a view to getting more people involved with the flower show. The flower show itself is a well-attended event that helps build community spirit with those who take part and have a shared interest.

If we are successful in getting the funding, we hope that the flower show and surrounding interest creates a better knowledge of the natural environment and how to protect it. Growing flowers, having a knowledge of invasive species and community growing initiatives are at the heart of what the horticultural society does, and the funding will help increase public awareness of this.

Hall lets - £500

Insurance £90

Medals for school members and school children - £75

Teas for judges, queens Marys and chaperones - £140

Payment to speakers i.e Talks to all age groups RE. horticulture - £200

TOTAL - £1000

Bourtreehill and Broomlands Community Association (BABCA) would like to get some new decorations for Santa's home at their annual Christmas Fayre the Grotto needs a makeover and this year they would like to make it a free grotto so every boy and girl who has been good gets a gift if they visit Santa at the Christmas Fayre. Santa loves to see all the children and this event is always popular at the Christmas Fayre.

Holding the Christmas Fayre yearly brings the community together the fayre attracts a lot of local craft people as well as it brings all the organisations who use the centre on a weekly basis like So Lovely, Veterans, Brownies, pipe band, Children's First etc an opportunity to fund raise for their individual groups it brings them all together to create a positive change in their local community. The Christmas Fayre also allows BABCA the opportunity to enlist new committee members and volunteers for the food larder (Farm Basket) whilst engaging with the general public.

BABCA would also like to organise a Valentine sixties and seventies night held in the Towerlands Community Centre with a live band to encourage people into Towerlands Community Centre to see what is happening in the centre. The Adults would have the option to come in fancy dress. A wee trip back in time with hits from musical artists from the sixties and seventies like the Beatles, Elvis, Buddy Holly, Diana Ross to name a few.

We also want to use this opportunity to see what community events the community want to see happen in the centre throughout the year. Holding a yearly social engagement helps us as a committee gauge what the community want to see happening in the centre when we organise events.

The criteria we hit are health and wellbeing that address social isolation, social wellbeing of people with learning disabilities, build confidence as people from the Community farm basket shop attend social events it brings people from an intergenerational groups together with social events such as the Christmas Fayre and social event.

We also hit building Community Spirit as the projects and both events will bring people from all walks of life together, old and young. BABCA are all volunteers on the committee who run the centre and look forward to holding events for the community. We would like the following if possible

Entertainment £400

Food pies  times 80 = £80

Hall Hire - £115.50

Santa's decorations £50

presents for Santa  -£300

Total funding    £945.50

We would use the funding to take all the Pegasus group members on a 2 trips over the next year to bowling and a summer fun day. This would be a real boost to the mental health and wellbeing of all the group members and provide an opportunity that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford. Going away on trips allows the group to bond closer together and link up with each other.

The outing will help improve the mental health and wellbeing of the group members and we will have a higher bus cost due to needing one which is accessible for wheelchairs. Having this outing will improve the lives of people in the local area who have additional support needs and support them to do an activity which would be very expensive otherwise. Going away on trips like this allow group members to form closer relationships and get to know each other better. It also improves the mental health and wellbeing of participants and volunteers who run the group by going away on trips like this.

Breakdown;

£500 bus hire per trip x 2 bus trips

TOTAL - £1000

In conjunction with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) and North Ayrshire Council Music Services, Music@Wellwood would organise a Vocal Masterclass with staff from the RCS who can provide guidance, technical advice and possible progression pathways into music for the young people taking part which may include encouragement to join local choirs. 

Opportunities such as this have proven to strengthen access to music within North Ayrshire with young musicians supporting community groups and continuing to work within the community and schools promoting music as a career path and as an important educational tool which can continue to be a lifetime benefit. 

In addition to an afternoon Masterclass in the Wellwood Burns Centre & Museum, the young people would be invited to attend an evening performance in Wellwood. 

Provision of the afternoon Masterclass would cost £350.    Attendance of 10 young people (approx. number) at the evening performance in Wellwood would be £100.

Afternoon refreshments for the young people attending the afternoon Masterclass £25.  Any costs associated with the use of the Wellwood Burns Centre & Music would be met by Music@Wellwood.

When we started out, we found out that the fidget muffs were expensive for the nursing homes and hospitals to buy. After consulting with nurses on the wards at Woodland View and local nursing homes, we decided there was a need for a group to make these for the nursing home and hospitals. We make the fidget aprons/ muffs/ blankets for Woodland View and local nursing homes and donate them free of charge.

The sewing group provides a place for volunteers to work together on a project, reducing social isolation, improving skills and bringing people together to help others in the community. 

Wool (various) - £400 100g ball, £3.58 200g ball, £9.99 300g ball, £11.60

Material (various) - £600 £34.18 per metre £6.99 per metre £25.36 per metre