The Saltcoats Christmas Carnival was started many years ago to provide Christmas lights in Saltcoats – this evolved over the years and has become a full carnival.  This provides a much needed free day out for families in the local community, when everything else related to Christmas is so expensive this event gives some relief from that.  The day includes, entertainment all through the town with a staged area with local and up and coming artists performing, including dance schools and primary schools, we will have 3 santas grottos including an ASN grotto (and disco) that will be fully accessible, activities in Saltcoats Town Hall, Santa abseiling from the clock tower and a large fairground. There will also be a mobile cinema street entertainers and a few other surprises!

Main costs:

Fairground £8k

Independent H&S £800

Donations to local groups for support/assisting on day £500

First Aid: £330

Santas Grotto set up, selection boxes and books = £1500

Entertainement  - Starlite (staging, PA,) £500

Road Closures, licences, & venue (town hall)  £1500

Mobile cinema £200

Abseiling Santa/street entertainment £500

Miscellaneous £1000

Marketing and advertising materials for the event donated by Clyde studios

 

 

 

 

 

The event is planned and organised by a small group of volunteers who have skills and experience in different areas.  External professionals are brought in for things like Health and Safety, Insurance etc.

 

On the day we have many groups that help including; ATC, Sea Cadets, Guiding, Scouts, and NAC community officers. 

A £1000 donation would help make this event magical and give families memories that will last a long time.  In the age we are living in people are struggling more and an event like this not only gives experience and fun but takes some pressure off of parents and caregivers.

The group is about being supportive and encouraging to each other.  Building camaraderie and helping participants to reconnect with others and themselves.

• Reducing loneliness and isolation
• Reducing low mood and depression
• Increasing a sense of purpose, community and belonging
• Increasing a sense of routine, structure and self-worth  
• Promoting health and wellbeing - time together and a safe and trusting space to open up to peers 
• Providing peer support for mental health - checking in with each other - "anyone struggling today?"

The funding we're applying for would be spent as follows:

• Cost of weekly room hire for a year (£350)
• Cost of weekly refreshments/food provision per group – teas, coffees, juice and fruit
• Cost of additional monthly or quarterly healthy activities and travel out with the community centre (e.g archery, bowling)
• Cost of promoting the group and recruiting more group participants - to reach more men in the community who have poor mental health

Mindful Makers brings together Three Towns adults to combat the adverse effects of loneliness and social isolation with mindfulness. This community group is run by four volunteers (no cost) and comprises weekly Crafting Sessions and a Book Group. Sessions are open to all and free of charge to users. Friday meetings are held in Saltcoats Library where the welcoming environment encourages regular attendance. Week 1: Crafting - a new skill tutored by an organiser; Week 3: Book Group; Weeks 2 and 4: crafting together. Crafting and mindfulness are beneficial and can alleviate the symptoms of anxiety, stress, depression, loneliness and even dementia (craftscouncil.org.uk and verywellmind.com). Sharing experiences can counter depression through a feeling of belonging. Feedback from participants will guide our work and shape our 2025 programme. We use WhatsApp group to share and communicate between meetings, and a new Instagram account will raise awareness.

Our bid for £800 will allow for increasing costs and will (a) continue the provision of free crafting resources so no one is excluded for economic reasons - £500 (b) enable us to continue to provide community and outreach work - £50 promotion, and (c) increase equality of access for disabled members - £250 towards transport. We need to keep our activities free of charge as it becomes harder to budget for activities to help us thrive. Our 2025 development plan calls for an occasional outside maker to lead a session for a reasonable fee. A 2023 field trip was successful, but transport costs suitable for disabled participants are prohibitive, yet because of the weather we need to plan to visit indoor venues relevant to our selected crafts.

We respect sustainability, recycling items wherever possible, and augment our funds through craft sales. We support an average of 14 members at any time - an optimum number given the donated time and effort for organisation.