The Dalry Katsumushi Karate Club is a non-profit making Karate club where proceeds are put back into the club itself for the benefit and training of its students with instructors giving their time freely to teach Karate. We are looking for funding for new equipment such as kick pads and mats. Along with helping with Hall rent and providing hoodies or T-shirts for our members.

We are applying for £1,000

Estimated breakdown would be:

-        Equipment (mats, kick pads, etc) - £500

-        Hall Rent- £250

-        Clothing (Hoodies, Tshirts + printing) - £250

Beith Trust is seeking £1,000 to support two vital community projects: Free Food Friday and the Chit Chat Club. Free Food Friday provides essential fresh supermarket food to over 40 Beith residents each week, reducing food waste and preventing good food from going to landfill. Furthermore, fresh vegetables grown by our dedicated volunteer gardeners are also given away through Free Food Friday, providing nutritious, locally grown food to our community. This service offers a lifeline to residents facing food insecurity, helping alleviate the strain on household budgets while fostering a sense of community.

Alongside this, the Chit Chat Club addresses social isolation by bringing together local residents for coffee, cakes, and conversation. The club offers a welcoming, supportive space where individuals can build meaningful connections. Both projects are volunteer-led, with one staff member overseeing their smooth operation. The volunteers not only contribute to the success of these projects but also gain valuable skills, confidence, and a deep sense of fulfilment through their involvement.

The benefits of these projects extend beyond service users, providing volunteers with a rewarding sense of purpose and community engagement, while contributing to the overall well-being of the Beith community. This funding will enable Beith Trust to continue providing vital services that address both food insecurity and social isolation, ensuring that local residents and volunteers alike benefit from a more connected, supported community.

Breakdown of Costs:

• Christmas Lunch for Service Users (35 people): £300
• Staff Costs (4 hours per week at £12.00 p/h for 12 weeks): £576
• Volunteer Gifts: £100
• Volunteer Travel Expenses: £50
• Miscellaneous Costs (supplies, refreshments, activities): £76

Total: £1,102

Dalry Community Garden has been established for four years, providing a safe and welcoming space for visitors and volunteers.

We host various, accessible to all events throughout the year supporting local groups and organisations helping to bring our community together. As we have no permanent facilities we need to provide a toiilet for our volunteers and visitors.

Funding will allow us to provide a serviced portable toilet unit for a further year.

Cost for a serviced toilet unit for one year is £1560

Following the reduction in Streetscene's budget, there are a number of maintenance issues that need to be addressed by the community.  This application will give us a budget to arrange these works in conjunction with other local groups.  A few months ago, the Dalry Community Development Hub organised responsibility for maintaining planters in Dalry with various local groups.  They received funding and were able to purchase plants, both annual and perennial, from Gateside nursery.  We would like to do something similar in Kilbirnie.  Whilst Dalry had only 9 planters to arrange, there are more areas in Kilbirnie needing work:

9x planters in car park beside Salvation Army

5x planters outside old folks houses in Main Street at the Cross

5x planters between BBQ Hut and Easties on Bridge Street

1x flowerbed at foot of the path outside Kilbirnie Library

1x flowerbed at the top of Bank Street / Glasgow Street

As well as these flowerbeds, other works needing done includes weeding along kerbs and property boundaries on pavement side; clearing vegetation from public paths, such as the Cat's Lane

Beith and District Community Council want to make it a night to remember and not just for the award winners but also for the nominees and their families. To be given recognition by the community for the many hours of dedication, loyalty and hard work by volunteers is worth its weight in gold. For volunteers to be appreciated publicly gives them a sense of great positive wellbeing by knowing their skills and resilience are valued and making a positive change to themselves, others and their community. Our event will bring a sense of pride and community cohesion through the discovery of sharing their experiences with other winners and nominees and of course the whole community. We want to provide free travel to support attendees access the event to reduce isolation.  Delivering Citizen of the Year event is an important milestone for BDCC in bringing people together to celebrate, reduce isolation and to make new connections and friendships. In the absence of Beith and District Community Council from 2012 until 2017 this activity was delivered by Beith Community Association from 2015 until 2022 however Beith Community Association have now requested that it be returned to BDCC. We are delighted to take this opportunity to  reinstate such an important event for our volunteers.

For our event to be successful we require funding for the following:

Venue costs - £250

Catering costs - £700

Table decorations - £100

Entertainment costs - £400

Bus hire costs - £400

Award Purchases - £300

Printing – Forms, Promotional material & Certificates - £180

Total costs £2330

As well as GVAA members the association encourages community participation with many young people who are engaged in projects in the allotment.  Some of the projects currently running are growing and harvesting produce for the Wee Pantry and Solace Cafe and young people involved in learning how to prepare areas for growing, how to sow, care and harvest produce. A primary and indispensable piece of equipment would be the installation of portable power stations in the allotment which would be used to energise various tools essential for gardening tasks. Portable power stations would ensure we have have the necessary electricity on demand. The members currently take the rechargeable batteries home to re-energise which often means that communial tools required by the members and young people are not always available to complete the task.  A portable power station capability would not only enhance efficiency but also provide the flexibility to maneuver and operate equipment throughout the plot without being tethered to fixed power sources.  The portable power stations would be charged from two solar panels thus reducing the carbon footprint of members travelling to and from the allotment to collect and deliver charged batteries and the personal costs to members associated with fuel and energy.

2 x portable power stations = Ecoflow River 2 Max + 110W portable solar panel =£1000 (GVAA will meet the costs beyond this amount)