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Saltcoats Mindful Makers
2024-09-18 • No comments • • Three Towns
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.

Retirement Yoga Group
2024-09-03 • No comments • • Three Towns
We are a group of retirees who enjoy yoga instruction, with a registered tutor, every Tuesday morning in Saltcoats Town Hall. We have 25 members, all over 60, most over 70 and several over 80 years of age. Our current hall cannot accommodate any more than 25 and this is a sufficient number for our tutor to oversee safely. We operate a waiting list and we are inclusive of all retirees. Our group has been going for almost 20 years. Yoga keeps us physically active and improves our strength,flexibility, stamina and balance, which is imperative as we age to keep us from falling. Yoga also helps us menally, by coping with stress, when we do our breathing exercises and relaxation at the end of each class.
Many of our members are now widowed or dealing with the illness of a partner and have consequently lost much of their social life. We have one member who is registered blind and several who are hearing impaired. This all leads to isolation and lonliness. Covid has had a massive effect on many of us but we set up a WhatsApp group to enable us to keep in touch via phone calls and messages and to offer support when we need a shoulder to lean on. We like to have coffee meet ups and/or lunches which allows us the time to talk together and find out if anyone is going through a rough time and perhaps needs some support. We also try to have a day trip and a Christmas Dinner each year. This allows us to the have the time to just enjoy a day or an evening out together to have fun. As we all know the cost of living is increasing rapidly and we live in an area of deprivation, so to be able to fund some get togethers and outings means a great deal to those who are no longer able to work.
We are all finding that technology is moving too fast for us, but as a group, we are there to offer assistance, if possible, and try to figure things out between us. We struggle sometimes with so many things having to be done online i.e. applying for funding, making bookings, accessing menus or information and even at times trying to make a GP appintment or order prescriptions. It's getting more difficult to access hard copies of forms and menus etc. Even when shopping ' It's all online' we hear them say. A laptop of our own would make things much easier .as phone screens are too small for to see and are difficult for those with arthritic fingers. We could hopefully learn together, and from one another, how to use a laptop effectively and erase the need for paper copies to be printed thereby helping the environment too.
We have included a video below.
Yoga lessons £550, Coffee/lunch £250, refurbished laptop £200 = £1000
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Three Towns Growers (3TG) - Look & Learn
2024-09-20 • No comments • • Three Towns
3TG maintain and manage the Community Allotments, Elm Park, Ardrossan. We are seeking funding to produce 'interpretative' boards to be positioned at key areas within the allotments. These will present visual and textual information. For example, the wildlife pond, and its inhabitants, why biodiversity is important for us all as well as the environment. How the pond benefits growing food. As place to chill and relax and by extension be part of resetting your wellness and mental health. A board at the community & training plot explaining, whats growing and how it is governed by the seasons etc. Three further boards (including a site map and information) at other locations on the site. The fund would buy materials to make the boards from scratch, with volunteers from the allotment’s membership, and importantly volunteers from the communities of the Three Towns working together to construct them. The project will introduce people to woodworking, digital design, desktop publishing, and get them working outside gaining an understanding of biodiversity and growing food all at local level. They will be designed so that information can be changed and updated as and when required. The boards will be part of an ongoing move to encourage people to visit the allotment for leisure and relaxation, to experience the 'outdoors' in a safe space. This project will benefit an estimated 40 participants throughout the construction and placement stages, and further 300 - 400 people using the allotment or visiting.
Costs would be as follows, Clear Acrylic Boards £200, Marine Plyboard £396, Coach Bolts £30, Yacht Varnish £40, fence posts £300, Ducks Black Matt Paint £86, post cement £80. The 3TG will contribute £200 to the project, making a total cost of £1132.

SeaSalt Streets SMOOTHIE SPECTACULAR
2024-09-12 • No comments • • Three Towns
SeaSalt Streets are seeking funding to continue its successful run of events in and around Saltcoats Town Centre. These pop-up events have included a "kerbie" competition, a basketball challenge, a bird box building day and more recently, the Betsy Miller Awareness Day.
These occasions are intended to create a talking point, a feel good factor, a want to get involved, inspiring others to create their own events, thereby starting a Ripple Effect !!!
If successful, SeaSalt Streets intend to use the funding to hire 2 smoothie bikes and a life size interactive cow. The 2 smoothie bikes, 1 adult and 1 child's, each have a built-in blender which, when peddled by the individual, mixes the milk, fruit/syrup of their choice, into a healthy smoothie drink.
The interactive cow has milking teats, which, when "milked" dispenses water giving the milker the opportunity of a lifetime to "milk a cow" A unique, one-off experience which will create a lasting memory to the participants.
Estimated costs :
Smoothie bikes + insurance £350.00 Interactive Milking Cow £185.00 Smoothie Supplies 60lt milk, fruit, syrups, 250 cups £150.00 2 x Operators @ 4 hrs each £180.00 Delivery & set up costs £70.00 Promotional materials £50.00
TOTAL £985.00
The group will use this event as an opportunity to promote the Health and Well-being benefits of eating well, and by introducing regular physical activity, the individual can bring about personal change.
By involving families, SeaSalt Streets, by way of these interactive events, hope to continue to build up community spirit and create positive changes both to to individuals and the wider community.

Feed our Community
2024-09-19 • No comments • • Three Towns
IMC Community Fridge is applying for £1000 for the purchase of amibient and chilled foods to ensure good stock levels during the depths of winter. Many people on prepayment meters have to choose whether to heat or eat and we want to enusre that our community can do both where possible.
£1000 will allow for £100 to be spent per week for a 10 week period to provide soups, ready meals and other tinned produce.
We anticipate that approx 30 household will benefit per week from this provision.

The David White Hub (Sheltered Housing)
2024-09-11 • No comments • • Three Towns
We would like to apply for funding to provide a Christmas Lunch and Party for residents, and fund a bus trip to a local shopping centre. We would also like to bring residents together for social events by providing some live entertainment afternoons.
Christmas Lunch and Party £500
Bus Trip to Shopping Centre £340
Entertainer Fees £160

Community Hub of Hope
2024-08-26 • No comments • • Three Towns
At our get togethers every second Sunday we do crafts along with providing refreshments for everyone who attends and this is free of charge. We also have a planned activity for everyone to take part in if they wish too, these range from mini pamper treatments, to meditation and even a starter class in hypnosis. we are looking to get some funding to help towards the events that we have planned for the rest of this year these are taking families to pantomime, hold Christmas/Halloween/Family nights with games, food n movies, stocking up our food bank, buying Christmas gifts for families or offering a respite day for parents who need it and all this without the financial burden.

Environmental survey to support community purchase of Kerelaw
2024-09-20 • No comments • • Three Towns
Later this year, we hope to buy Kerelaw - a former country estate in Stevenston – which is a well-loved, well-used, biodiverse greenspace. As part of the supporting documents for the land purchase, we need to submit an environmental survey of the site to the landowner and funder. The survey and resulting report – an ‘extended Phase 1 Habitat survey’ – would map the site’s habitats, note important ecological features, flag the presence of protected species, and provide management advice for the site.
Once we acquire the land, we will improve it for both the local community and biodiversity and seek Local Nature Reserve status from the Council.
The funding we’re applying for (£1000) would part-fund the environmental survey and report, which in total would cost £4626.
Art ventures at Flying Start Toddler group
2024-09-11 • No comments • • Three Towns
The project is Art Venturers it is a programme designed fo babies and children under three years. The aim is to develop a childs creativity by providing experiences and opportunities for creative play in a relaxed environment. Children explore and create at their own pace and develop a sense of well being . the programme promotes bonding and attachments between the babies and their caregivers. A professional early years worker leads the sessions and the sessions are planned to support childrns development.
The costs of the project is 20 sessions at £50 per session £1000
Scuba Diving for all
2024-08-27 • No comments • • Three Towns
To teach Scuba Diving we need a pool to provide a safe and contained area for try dives and training future divers. Each year in The Three Towns we aim to support residents from all social economical demographics with the opportunity of learning to dive with North Ayrshire Divers. In 2022 KA Lesure introduced a fee to clubs of £50.00 per night for 1 hours pool hire every Thursday Evening. As a club we are forced to pass this cost on to the people who desperately want to experience this opportunity. As a consequence we had to reduce our sessions from October to April which we originally had, down to January to April. This halved the number of people we could reach within the Three Towns. Getting funding to support these costs would hugely support the physical and mental benefits to new members learning to Scuba Dive.
For each 1 hour session use of the pool at Aucherharvie Swimming Pool we are charged £50.00 - Our pool use runs from October to April we use the pool a total of 6 months this equates total of 26 weeks thus our expenditure is £1300.00 for pool hire.