Just before Easter 2024, we conducted workshops with young people and children in West Kilbride to explain and encourage them to use photographs as a means to tell stories and impart information. The children and young people then submitted their images on the theme of "Oor Hame", telling what made their home, home. These images were then exhibited in the windows of the shops and other businesses along Main Street and Ritchie Street in the village, creating an open air gallery which residents and visitors to the village could enjoy.

We wish to repeat this project during the same Easter holidays for 2025, but this time we will be running the workshops with the cooperation of West Kilbride Primary School and other youth groups (Brownies, Boys' Brigade etc). In 2024 we held the workshops at what we later realised was not an ideal time, and did not get the level of involvement of young people we believe the project has the potential to engage; that said, we did receive nearly 50 images, and the exhibition was a success, but we believe that with more targeted workshops we could easily receive 10 times the number of images, making the open air gallery that much larger and spreading the collected images around more of West Kilbride's streets.

The project in 2024 looked at what "Hame" means, as it was triggered by Mandy Edwards' documentary project of the same name. For 2025 we have yet to identify a theme (we intend to consult with the school, groups and, most importantly the children) but believe that "Oor Hame" is a good name for the ongoing project, whatever theme is adopted, as it emphasises the community nature of the project.

Funding is required for workshop facilitation (£200), purchase of single use cameras (£250) printing and presentation of images (£150), publicity material (£100)

I moved to Largs late 2022 and created Largs Music Club soon after in response to the interest I received since floating the idea on social media. 

LMC offers an informal setting for amateur musicians to meet on a regular basis and encourage and teach one another to improve their skill-level on their preferred musical instrument.

The club is growing in popularity since word is out that we existing members offer a friendly and relaxed environment for those keen to learn at their own pace without fear of judgement or impatience. As membership is growing, so does the variety of instruments being learned and taught. 

The club relies on individuals contributing their time and equipment to teach fellow members how to play their preferred instrument. With continued funding, I would aim to purchase more equipment to make that teaching more accessible - music stands, microphones, microphone stands, amplifiers, mixing desk and some basic entry level instruments to encourage those who do not own an instrument (but who wish to learn one), to join us. The funding would also contribute to the maintenance (and if necessary, repair) of the equipment purchased in our first year. These items are expensive and realistically will require additional funding from me and some other willing members to supplement any money issued following this application. However, I am confident that your contribution will assist LMC continue to grow in membership and reputation and continue playing music for the community.       

Our club assists develop confidence as well as musical literacy, with participants encouraged to play live for friends and family and now, for larger audiences in the community shows as per my vision. 

Feedback from participants so far evidence the mental health benefits of playing and learning in our community, a benefit I will highlight as I further promote our initiative in the community. 

Members talk about how the club combats loneliness and depression. I hope to continue making this club available for some time to come.

The reason I don’t include a specific breakdown of cost is because our costs are really unpredictable. The idea of the club is that anyone can turn up and learn to play any instrument. So last year we bought, among many other things, a mandolin, a banjo and a saxophone. The demand is driven by who walks through the door and what they want to learn.

We also spend money on instrument maintenance – new strings and replacement parts. Again, we respond to what our members need – replacing guitar strings once they break, for example.

We spent more than £1000 last year (all receipts available) and expect we’ll do the same again next year. That said, I expect you’ll have more applications this year, so we will be very delighted to receive any amount of award.

We at LMC are extremely grateful for your consideration.

The Craufurd Simson Park charity will be developing a piece of land acquired from the council for an outdoor play park for use by the residents in West Kilbride.  

In order to develop the park, the children will be invited to contribute to their vision of the park at an event. The event will provide an afternoon of fun, to build community awareness about the project and to make sure that the children are able to play a role in developing the park and feel included in the development.

The event will be hosted in the space the park will be built on (subject to the relevant approvals and insurance).

The event is aimed to be fun for the children, build community spirit, and gather the input we need for the next big step.  We hope that this will build excitement give the children something to look forward to.

We will provide entertainment for the children and an area for the children to build their vision for the park and choose the equipment they would want.

The park will ultimately deliver the proven health and wellbeing benefits of an open space with play equipment for children to engage in physical activity, build social skills and feel part of a community.

Funding for the park will be sought through other funding avenues once the land is transferred through a Community Asset Transfer.

This initiative is championed by the Community Roots and orgnaisation well established in the West Kilbride community. Community Roots is set up to help people live their best healthiest lives with food security and outlets that improve mental and physical well-being. Community Roots runs the Village Larder, SHED & a community garden.

This proposal will provide a fund to create professionally designed event boards, which will be displayed in the Largs Community Council Garden, adjacent to the A78. These will be in A1 size, and provide details in large font of:

• Event
• Date 
• Location
• Website 

It is clear that social media and even print media has limitations to reach, not least because we find that the older demographic do not engage social media, and the Largs and Millport News cannot provide endless free promotion. Many people do not find out about events on Social media until AFTER the event. 

The Largs Community Council successfully bid for grant funding for Tourist Information Notices boards which are now in place at the Seafront Car Park. We continue to receive feedback from the community that they 'didn't know that was on', whether for Yuletide, Community Cinema or other events and this proposal seeks to address a gap in providing information to those in the area. 

It is intended that this fund is used on a 'per event' basis, to allow non-profit groups the opportunity to promote their event to a large audience, without being burden with the cost. LCC are minded to engage with groups such as The Boys Brigade, Parent Councils, Mens Shed, Largs SWRI, Largs Community Development Trust, Dementia Friendly Largs, Food Larder, Access to Food, Largs Naz (Community events) and others to help them promote their events, increase footfall and drive success for their groups. 

LCC believe this proposal will:

Support Community Spirit - whilst larger events may have budget to publicity, smaller, voluntary organisations have limited finds, and we believe this proposal will help promote local, community based events, and bring the community together, whether through fairs, cinema screenings, workshops or speaking events. Participation in local events creates community cohesion and helps reduce Social Isolation and promotes feelings of physical & mental health wellbeing 

Health and Wellbeing - Our overall aim is to promote local events, and in doing so, we believe that we can help improve the Health And Wellbeing of the community. We know through our Community Cinema events how much people enjoy and the sense of community it bring about. Largs has a vibrant community sector and the more people engaged, the better for everyone. 

Cost of LIving - LCC Access to Food supports Community based Food Events and learning to cook projects and fundraising events ie "tea dances". This provides a sustainable way for individuals and families to prepare healthy but low cost food during the cost of living crisis. Whilst attendance has been increasing, the more people that are aware of events, the more who can benefit. Hard to reach families may not be aware of the events and this is a way they can find out without any stigma, quite the opposite. 

Green Projects -  As referenced above, amongst the groups we intend to engaged to support events are Largs Green Futures and future events to promote growing own produce. The LCC Anti Litter Campaign : plans further Seafront "litter Pick" events which can be promoted, along with other active groups in the area. 

Cost Breakdown:

Budgeted promotion of up to 9 events within 12 month period (if we can 

• A1 (594x841mm) sized print onto 5mm Foamex board £44.50 plus VAT.
• Design per event board expected 1 hour design £45+VAT
• 9 event boards £108inc VAT = £972

(Quotation provided by Largs Print Company. If 4 event boards are ordered at a time, the cost will reduce by £10 per units, which would go towards additional boards)

It should be noted that boards will be designed to be reuseable - where an event is recurring annually (for example, school fairs, Dementia Walk, Yuletide etc), the DATE section can be overlaid with this is it anticipated that the number of events that will be promoted will be at least three fold if not more. LCC will stored all boards to future reuse. 

As a small group..we are creating a garden/space for all to enjoy.

A way of giving back to our community

A year ago we took ownership of a desolate,drab and weed-filled area..a year later we have transformed it into an oasis of calm..so important for mental health. We have a spot full of insect life..all our plants are bee/butterfly/pollinator friendly so important as this will be our village legacy for the next generation of up and coming gardeners.

The environmental benefits are exponential.

The village now has a focal point,a meeting place,somewhere to chill.

Our young people have a safe place to access.

Thanks to last years PB award we have a Wee Library..and a large planter filled with pollinator-friendly plants..both built by  Clyde Coast and Cumbrae Men's Shed

Our next wee project is the area at the entrance to the CC..we've already sited a planter full of polinator-friendly plants.

Seating in this area affords views to the hills and also all the play areas too..ideal for parents to watch their kids whilst also allowing them freedom to play.

We would like to purchase two sturdy benches..for the enjoyment of the village of Skelmorlie.

The benches in mind cost £75 pounds each.

They are made locally by a woodcrafter in Dalry.

Total cost would be £150

We would like to run a banded table tennis tournament at Inverclyde Sports Centre this season. A banded tournament would bring to Largs approximately 60–70 players from across Ayrshire and Glasgow for an afternoon's competitive table tennis. Hall hire for 5 hours would be £440. This would be a once-a-year annual event, and as such the cost of the hall hire does not constitute rent for the normal week-to-week running of our club.

 We also need some equipment for our club for the new season. First off, we would like to purchase a training robot to help elevate the skill levels of our existing members. A training robot is also a big draw for younger players. Secondly, we would also like to purchase some new bats, as the ones we currently have are poor and not suited to developing players.

Breakdown of costs:

Hall hire for banded tournament: £440

Entry-level training robot: £200

Starter bats x 8: £80

Intermediate bats and rubbers x 5: £200

Balls (2x120): £75

Total: £995

We currently have £550 in our club account and are able to put £300 towards costs, so we are applying for a total of £695.

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Largs Table Tennis Club attracts people from across the North Coast, including Fairlie, West Kilbride, Skelmorlie and Inverkip. Almost two years ago we took advantage of the fact that our town enjoys a state-of-the-art sports facility and a wide array of table tennis equipment by opening our own club in the town. Largs is fast becoming a hotspot of Scottish table tennis; in March, the centre hosted the Scottish Nationals, and in July, Inverclyde hosted the Scottish Parkinson’s International for the second year running. One of our coaches, Paul Carson, attended a supplementary course at the Scottish Parkinson’s International designed to better prepare coaches for people with Parkinson’s attending the club. We have members with Parkinson’s and members with MS. Table tennis is renowned in sports circles for its benefits to people with degenerative and neurological conditions. We aim to embrace all people at our weekly sessions; it is an open group, and you can regularly find a ten-year-old playing with a sixty-year-old, and young and old mixing with people with various disabilities. We are very proud of this fact.

Our club is open to all ages and to encourage everyone we only charge £5 for the two hours session and we have made it FREE for under 18s.

Barrfield Community Garden is a new space located in Largs. Though only created in the winter of 2023, already volunteers have brought in raised beds, planted a large varity of vegetables, fruits, and flowers, and harvested vegetables which were  donated to the Largs Food Bank. We have served as a site for local small projects as well as a well-being space allowing local people with varying levels of ability to work with plants. We hope to expand this site in the coming years to grow more food and create a space for local people of all ages and ability to engage with, as well as of course continue to grow tasty food and beautiful flowers to share with Largs and those who presently do not have access to healthy, locally-grown food.

At present, the site has water but no electricity. We'd love to keep a few plants growing well into the autumn and need to procure solar-powered grow lights to do so. This involves the purchase of two sets of grow lights with attached solar panels to keep our melon, pepper, lettuce and tomato harvests going into the late autumn.

Our water pipes are at present not protected from the colder temperatures that come with Scottish winter. We are seeking to insulate the water pipes and employ a local plumber to install this insulation. 

In the interest of increasing the environmental sustainability of the Barrfield Community Garden space, we would like to install drain pipes and water butts. This will allow the garden to collect and utilise rainwater for watering the garden's beds and indoor plants.

People in Largs may be aware we recently experienced vandalism to the garden. After this event, we would like to  install a motion-activated camera, as well as solar- powered, motion-activated lights for the main path into the garden.

Adequate amounts of compost will be needed for planting over the winter, including but not limited to the growing of garlic and seed potatoes.

We would in future hope to create a tiered garden on the hilly portion at the east side of the garden. The area is at present covered with thistles and weeds, so we would to cover this area with weed-killing membrane as the first step of this project.

10 Meter weed membrane roll (x10) @ £6.95 = £69.50

10w led Solar grow light (x2) @ 68.50 = £137.00

Motion sensor lights for pathway lighting (x6) @ £6.99 = £41.94

SolarCam Kit with night vision and SDCard = £85

Builders bag Compost  = £52 

Insulation for water pipes, materials and labor = £200

Water butts and guttering for rainwater collection = £400