Some children, through no fault of their own do not go to school with a full belly and we as a parent council would like to remedy this but also provide information to the children on the topic.

The way we would plant to do this is would be to launch our 'Breakfast feeds Minds' campaign.  It would be our intention to provide the children in the school weekly breakfast hampers, available to any child who needs it, to ensure they have something healthy and nutritious before their school day begins.  This would include granola bars, cereal pots, yogurt drinks and fruit etc that the children can grab easily but will keep them full until lunchtime.

The funding we are applying for would be broken down as follows

£900 for the purchase of breakfast items (this is based on a budget of circa £35 per week)

£100 for the procurement of literature to promote the importance of breakfast and how this feeds the health and wellbeing of a child

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

Our goal is to continue providing community lunches and providing catering services, working in partnership with other local groups and  bringing all members of our local community together regularly with a focus on alleviating poverty, reducing social isolation and enhancing mental health and well-being. 

Our community group offers  free  lunches,or takes small donations, to all residents within Irvine, many of whom are affected by poverty, poor mental health, and social isolation and these lunches provide a vital lifeline, offering not only nourishment but also a sense of belonging and connection. These meals foster social interaction, breaking the cycle of isolation and helping improve their mental well-being.

In addition to the lunches, having a trained chef as a volunteer the group now offers an external catering service to partner organisations at cost which generates income, enhancing the sustainability of the group and allowing the group to continue supporting the community. Volunteers who help run the lunches and catering service will receive essential training in areas such as REHIS (food safety), hospitality, barista skills, first aid, and customer service. These skills not only equip volunteers to support the efforts but also enhance their employability and confidence, empowering them to make a meaningful difference in their community and benefiting them in other areas of their lives.

In order to achieve this the money provided would help with running costs for the lunches and provide external training for volunteers.

Breakdown:

Running Costs, including food and caretakers costs                         £500.00

Training and admin costs                                                                   £500.00

Total applied for                                                                                £1000.00

£70 hall lets

£400 catering 

£160 music 

£80 publicity 

£40 misc/cost of living increase 

The event is to inform older people in community of services and activities available in the area including networking within the community.

A great social aspect event in the community.

Christmas party for children age 0-10. 

Hire of Santa - £200

Selection boxes -  £300

Small gifts -  £300

*This is based on previous with approximately 60 in attendance. 

If successful, we will use the funding to buy a new shed for our community garden. The last shed was destroyed by vandals a number of months ago and we have been unable to undertake any work in the community garden as we don't have anywhere to store tools and other resources. 

Trindlemoss use the shed whilst working on the garden, they will learn about gardening skills and the new shed will give us space to keep tools in. They learn about how to grow vegetables, grow flowers and generally take care of a garden.

Children from Castlepark primary will come over and take part in the community garden learning the same skills. 

Volunteers from the centre take part in ad hoc garden maintenance to help tackle social isolation, improving their mental wellbeing and bringing the community together.

New shed - £880 (Keter Factor 8ft x 6ft from B&Q)