Our karate club is based in Irvine is well established and open to all. We practice in the Redburn and Castlepark community centres on Mondays, Wednesday and Saturdays. We have c. 150 members that benefit from our classes and we support physical and mental health. Our members are in all age groups and many are from deprived areas and challenged by the cost of living. Many of our members attend competitions all over the UK and we try to keep our costs low and support people so that everyone can take part. For example we already subsidise karate suits, competition entry fees etc. We’d be grateful for any funding and money would go towards equipment and suit subsidies, subsidising entry costs and occasional travel to competitions.

Estimated breakdown would be:

-        Equipment (mats, punchbags, T-shirts, etc) - £400

-        Suit subsidies – 40 suits x £10 subsidy = £400

-        Entrance fees subsidies, we pay £1600 roughly in entrance fees  – £200 

With the funding, we hope to host 2 networking events to attract members to join the community council. The community council works in partnership with several other voluntary organisations across Irvine such as Friends of Redburn, Fullarton Community Association, Marymass Festival Committee and others to run events in the locality and generally foster good relations between groups. By hosting these network meetings, we hope to attract new committee members who can increase our capacity to put on events and build community spirit between voluntary organisations.

The community council previously hosted the Irvine Yuletide event in 2023 which attracted around 10,000 people to Irvine moor. This gave families a chance to take part in free festive activities at a time of year when the cost of living hits hardest. If we can attract new volunteers to the community council, we will be able to put on more events similar to this, bringing people together and creating positive change in the community.

Costing as follows: 2 events 6 months apart

Rent of venue - £200

Promotion, including paid for advertising social media £100

Catering £700 (2 events, 70 people, £5 a head.)

TOTAL - £1000

Our group comes together once per week during term time where we enjoy each other’s company over a cuppa and blether. We also often take part in activities like flower planting, walking outdoors, being creative with arts and crafts. We have also previously connected with different organisations and partners such as Megan Space, NEST and Breathing Space, this has giving us tools to support each other and our families.

We would like the opportunity to bring our families together during the holiday periods, to help reduce any financial strain during this time. It also reduces isolation as it encourages us to get out and mix with other families. If we were successful in getting the funds, we would use the money for 1 family trip to heads of Ayr farm park and 1 family fun day at the Children 1st space. While it’s important to spend time together as families, we are also looking for money to support our weekly coffee and chat meet ups to help us to sustain and build on the group. We would spend the remaining money on 1 therapeutic experience and 2 breakfast morning.  This financial support will build our confidence within our local community, support our emotional health and wellbeing, and reduce the impact of the cost-of-living crisis has on us.

Weekly Coffee and Connect

£120 – x1 Therapeutic Experience (like a sound bath, meditation etc)

£67.50 – x2 food provisions for a breakfast morning

Family Easter Day in Boutreehill x1

£240 – Artist fees for crafts and resources

£80 – Lunch

Family Summer Heads of Ayr Farm Park x1

£212.50 – 17 children’s tickets

£80 – Adult tickets (carers go free)

£200 – Transport 

All our group members take part in volunteering opportunities throughout the local community and help foster community spirit. Most of the group have now completed the bronze level of the award and are now working towards their silver award.

Through the Hobbies and Interests aspect of the award participants are encouraged to engage in and develop new skills, hobbies and to remain socially active. This social activity helps to reduce social isolation and improves the physical and mental wellbeing of participants.  We would like to apply for support to help us provide opportunities for our group to experience a series of new and exciting workshop activities that would contribute to lifelong learning and promote positive wellbeing. These workshops would meet the needs and interests of group members and include arts and crafts, mindfulness and meditation, relaxation techniques, outdoor learning activities and other wellbeing tools.

 Honey Bee Cottage Wellbeing Workshops @ £160 per session x 6 sessions = £1000 

The PTA/PC have worked with the school and the parents/carers of the Glebe community to raise funds for a school trip each year. However due to the increased costs associated with this we may not be able to commit to this come the summer time.   

School trips are such a wonderful experience for the children. The whole school attends on the same day and makes each pupil feel valued. These trips outside of school are important for the children's Health and wellbeing. They have huge benefits in supporting their friendships and relationship building with their peers. 

Last school term we managed to fully fund various activities through the support of our parents/carers and we appreciate all of the support we have received to date. Some of these includes; playground markings around the whole school, Halloween party, Spring disco and a P7 leavers disco and year books.   

Coach travel estimated for June 2025 is £2,500

In March our cricket square and cricket wickets are fully refurbished after our end of season repairs and regrowing and replenishment project. In April we cut and manicure them to allow cricket matches to take place for both juniors and seniors. The area is also used for training and game development. As the season progresses we are maintaining, reparing every wicket used through the methods mentioned above. After the work is complete we use our cricket covers to help speed up the process of germination, keep it dry and free of wind. After this has happenned we then start the same process on the next cricket wiicket, that has been used for games, to allow us to constantly maintain and repair and cause as less damage to the land as possbile. This process lasts until the end of August. In September we then do an overall deep scarify, re-dress the whole area reseed and fertilise the whole area in preperation for the next season.

The members of the club are heavily involved in this project with us, regenerating, regrowing and maximising the area we have, doing as much as we can by hand, labour and to be as green as we possibly can. The cricket wicket covers are in 3 sections that cost £2000 brand new. These last the club 10+ years. These covers are a key part of the work we are able to do on the ground and allow us to continue to play the sport and keep the area workable, renewable and fit for purpose. These covers have been badly damaged in recent high winds, the wheels are buckled and broken, the tops have become ripped, perished and the waterproof tops are no longer doing their job. These covers can be split into 3 areas for growth and regeneration or together as one to protect cricket wickets for matches. We currently have £1100 towards this project and the £900 would allow us to replace in February 2025 for the new season.