Choices Community Shop is a community food project set up by volunteers in the community to provide food with dignity to those in need. The funding will be used to help reduce the impact of poverty within the community based on individual needs. Our Community Shop has capacity to support approximately 100 households per week but with over 400 registered, many have to wait. This grant will allow for more households to be able to get support when they need it by getting access as required.

Irvine Clean Up Crew are an established environmentally focussed community group. We want to raise our engagement with schools and community groups to help with our group’s goal of a litter free Irvine.

1. Annually, during January and February Irvine Burns Club invites local primary school Primary 6 pupils (450 in 2024) to Wellwood Burns Centre & Museum to learn about the life of Burns and the pivotal role Irvine played encouraging him to develop as a poet. 2. By entering a “Champion of Champion” event, Primary Schools demonstrate their pupils’ reading and speaking skills, boosting their self-confidence and fostering an appreciation of the Scots language.

The Vennel Friends Irvine Discovery Group are based at the Vennel Gardens Engagement Hub. The group has been active since May 2023 and has 15 registered members. The group offers a social setting with the opportunity for participants to complete the Discovery Award, comprising of the bronze, silver and gold levels. The Group aims to enhance the lives of all those over 50 years of age and to provide an incentive, through personal challenges, to lead a happy, healthy, and active life.

We have looked at ways to increase relaxation spaces across our school community and are looking to add more Rainbow bench table & chairs to our infant area. This has been a successful community shared space area for the senior end. We  would like to mirror this for the infant pupils so they can also have this opportunity for an outdoor community space to promote their relaxation & wellness. We would also be looking to add some umbrellas to the tables for both the senior & infant areas.

Irvine Camera Club will host public photography walks in North Ayrshire, providing photographic help and advice (artistic and practical) to anyone who attends. We will follow this up with a Photography Competition open to enter to anyone residing in North Ayrshire. We will judge the competition and award prizes to the winners. As a result of this work, we propose to curate an exhibition of the best images at the Harbour Arts Centre (HAC)

Castlepark Primary Parent Council are planning to run an after-school 'Family Hub'. We will run workshops with different themes each week, including ‘help with homework’ and ‘family fun’. A healthy meal or snack will also be provided. Our aim is to support family learning, engage with the local community and promote health and wellbeing. This will be free of charge to those who attend.