The explorer unit is based in the three towns and is made up of young people aged between 14 and 18 years of age. The unit leaders are unable to supply the adventurous activities that the young persons wish to take part in. These activities are available at the nation Scout Outdoor Activity centre at Lochgoilhead. They would be able to take part in activities like abseiling, climbing, mountain biking, burn run, sailing and kayaking . We plan to attend there in March 2025 which would allow us time to raise sufficient funds to attend. The total cost for this project is £2050. The cost includes accommodation, food, all activities and safety equipment. We plan to take a party of 12 persons to this event. Booking for the centre is £167 per head. Total of £2004. Transport by private cars is estimated at £46 to cover fuel costs.

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

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. 

Expansion of the facilities of the Community Corner - £200

Provision of hot beverages, soup, sandwiches and biscuits- £800

Building on the tree planting work we have undertaken in Holm Plantation over the past two years, we plan to plant several hundred Bluebell bulbs in the woodland areas at the site and plant an additional 20 apple trees in the community orchard we recently planted there. This would be the latest part of our ongoing attempts to make this greenspace more diverse, interesting and attractive.

The funding we are applying for would be spent as follows:

- £250 for Bluebell bulbs.

- £706 for 20 apple trees, inlcuding delivery.

We are applying for funding to allow us to promote and increase group membership and to help increase ways for participants to share their art. The art of photography is a skill that can be learned and  applied by nearly everyone. The group has already undertaken a successful exhibition, and produced postcards to raise funds. We want to have a further exhibition, to produce more postcards of members photography and sell these to raise funds for local charities.  We feel that participants sharing their photography will raise their confidence and promote wellness and postive mental health. The postcard and exhibition aspect of the project will showcase what is good about the Three Towns rather than 'buy into' negative views and opinions, thereby promoting community spirit and appreciation. costs will be as follows, print cartridges - £200, Mounting Boards - £80, Postcard printing £100, Banner/flag £200, Craft knifes/tape/backing card £100, travel costs £200.

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 Pantomime with Livingstone Players has really grown this year and we have doubled the number of young people involved since we reopened after Covid shutdown. The microphones will ensure that actors and singers are heard by everyone in the audience. We have the technology to control the feedback and audio interference but ideally the more microphones we have the less are shared and it avoids errors that can happen when one is shared with a few people as may have different functions for each user which puts stress on sound team so ideally we need more so that we can be as professional as possible. 

We have added another performance to offering so 6 shows this year rather than 5 so equipment used more and we want to be the first choice of Pantomime for local people.

Microphones are called Sennheiser XSW 2-ME2 GB Band lapel set at £333 including VAT. We want to have 3