Castlepark Sewing Group
2024-09-18 • No comments • • Irvine
When we started out, we found out that the fidget muffs were expensive for the nursing homes and hospitals to buy. After consulting with nurses on the wards at Woodland View and local nursing homes, we decided there was a need for a group to make these for the nursing home and hospitals. We make the fidget aprons/ muffs/ blankets for Woodland View and local nursing homes and donate them free of charge.
The sewing group provides a place for volunteers to work together on a project, reducing social isolation, improving skills and bringing people together to help others in the community.
Wool (various) - £400 100g ball, £3.58 200g ball, £9.99 300g ball, £11.60
Material (various) - £600 £34.18 per metre £6.99 per metre £25.36 per metre
Chest, Heart and Stroke Group (Saltcoats Library)
2024-09-09 • No comments • • Three Towns
The group is vital to help each other and build community spirit. Helping each other through living with the day-to-day effects of living with said conditions. The group helps build confidence in each other and helps with each other's health and wellbeing. Creates a positive situation for everyone. While increasing skills and resilience. Group is open to everyone in the three towns locality.
The funding we're applying for would be spent as follows:
Mobility Assistance - travel costs for group participants to attend the fortnightly group and for day outings - as some group members have impaired mobility
Refreshment costs - teas, coffee, milk, sugar, biscuits
Room Hire costs - every fortnight over a year
The Saltcoats Men's Group
2024-09-12 • No comments • • Three Towns
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
Hayocks Tenants and Residents Group (HTAR) - Community Garden Project
2024-09-10 • No comments • • Three Towns
The HTAR are a group of volunteers who help promote the interests of residents in the area on matters concerning housing, the environment and the social and communication. We meet up monthly based within Hayocks Community Centre
We are planning revamping our existing garden area at the Hayocks Community Centre, which the HTAR hold the lease for into a safe and welcoming community space. This will include a seating area where hall users, or members of the community can sit and rest or socialise. The space will also include a growing area with raised beds built and installed, where members of the community can come and work together to grow and harvest their own fruit and vegetables. These vegetables can then be taken home by members of the community or be donated to the larder within the community centre or used within the existing cafe within the centre. Our existing outdoor area has ramped access therefore this would be accessible for all members of the community
This would build on community spirit and help towards peoples health and wellbeing such as social isolation and promote healthier eating. We are an area of high deprivation and this would allow members of the public a free space to meet up with friends with no additional costs.
Costs
Raised Planters - £510
Compost - £200
Garden Tools - £150
Plants and seedlings - £75
Water Butt - £65
Kilwinning community shed
2024-09-04 • No comments • • Kilwinning
Initially formed in May 2024, we are in the process on gaining more members to form a much-needed Community Shed in Kilwinning. Currently we have 21 members. We are currently trying to establish a Shed where community members can meet up with others, work on projects, and share creative skills and interests. This can be to work on a projects that may include woodworking, gardening, art, computing, or whatever our members would like. It will be a member led organisation aiming to provide whatever tools we can in order to help maintain community spirit, overcome social isolation, and improve the health and wellbeing of our members. Some of our members are retired and may experience loneliness. Even if they can visit the Community Shed just for a cup of tea it could help them greatly. We currently have the offer of the temporary use of a hall until we move to a permanent location. In order to get us started, we are keen to start working on small projects such as wooden planters and bird boxes, hence the need for some tools and materials. We have some members that interested in model making, therefore some model making kits would be great to get our members started. We would also like to provide the opportunity for socialising, therefore the board games would be a vital part in that. We are also keen to organise a visit to another well established Shed such as Dalbeattie Mens Shed, in order to research the potential for the development of our own Shed. We are looking for funding to cover the costs of a Minibus hire and fuel costs for the visit. As we are a new organisation, we have limited funds to get started, therefore we need some assistance in getting us off the ground. The funding would assist us in the purchase of the following:
Woodwork Tools (Hammers/Saws/Screwdrivers, etc): £330 Materials/Wood: £300 Model making kits: £100
Board Games: £70 Minibus Hire/Fuel: £200 Total: £1000
Castlepark Primary School Parent Council - After School Family Hub
2024-09-13 • No comments • • Irvine
Our aim is to ensure every family in our school community has a safe place to meet for support and to provide a healthy meal or snack to combat the cost of living crisis.
We aim to promote health and wellbeing by running after school workshops for our families. The workshops will run over a 6 month period from January 2025 - June 2025. Each workshop will run for around an hour and a healthy snack or light meal will also be provided.
We have collated responses from our parents and children which highlighted the following:
- parents want to feel more included in the school environment and with their child's learning
- children would like their parent/caregiver to have more involvement with their learning and for the learning to be ‘more fun’
- families would like to meet for support (from each other and from professionals)
- families would like to be more active
- children would like to learn how to cook healthy meals
- parents and children expressed an interest in attending a regular after-school club
We feel our plan for an after-school family hub would help meet the needs highlighted, we would be able to support family learning in a fun and engaging way. As well as providing a healthy snack or light meal, to help families during the current cost of living crisis.
We would work with the local community builder, the NHS, Local charities and Parent Council Volunteers to ensure a wide range of needs are met. Each ‘workshop’ at our new Family hub would have a theme, such as:
- Homework Help/ Supported Study (supporting family learning)
- Health and Wellbeing (promoting physical and mental wellbeing)
- Equality and Equity (outside agency delivering a workshop on this, with fun family games)
- Health and Fitness (physical games and activities for all ages and abilities)
- Cooking Healthy meals on a budget (community cook-a-long)
- Caring for our Community (community litter picks)
We would use the money secured from the bid to get our ‘Family Hub’ up and running. Our predicted expenditure is £40 to buy equipment such as plates, cutlery and cooking utensils. Then a further £40 per session (for 24 sessions) to purchase the ingredients for the included healthy meal/snack.
Winter Wellbeing Christmas Fair
2024-09-19 • No comments • • North Coast
St. Mary's Parent Council actively collaborates with all other centres in Largs Campus to provide activities that engage with our local community. We have successfully run projects to support intergenerational working as well as developing excellent relationships with families across both primary schools. Everyone in our local commuity is welcome to participate in the life and activities of St. Mary's Primary School and the Parent Council understands that Christmas can be a very difficult time for an increasing number of people. Last year, we successfully hosted a Winter Wellbeing Christmas Fair where everyone in the local community was invited to attend. All attendees enjoyed a free hot meal and drink as well as treats provided by the Parent Council. The event was incredibly well-attended and a fantastic success, which would not have been possible without the generous donation of £300 from the Locality Participatory Budget. We have listened closely to feedback from all who attended last year and there is a great deal of interest in inviting local groups who can provide advice, support and befriending opportunities for vulnerable families and individuals locally. We know that the impact of last year's event was incredibly positive and anecdotal evidence shows that the event was, for some, the highlight of the Christmas period. As a Parent Council, we have a strong desire to reach as many people as possible in our local community to offer an event with a free hot meal and drink. We will also provide activities, entertainment, and opportunities to make, maintain, and rekindle links with local support opportunities. The cost of the food for this event will be £450 and we will provide Christmas Gift Bags for our more vulnerable families and individuals. These will include a small food treat, alcohol-free mulled wine, a Christmas card( made by our pupils), a hot chocolate pack (made by our pupils), reindeer food (made by pupils), and hand-crocheted wrist warmers (made by pupils and parents). Our Crochet Club begins soon and through this, we hope to provide ongoing opportunities for intergenerational working where older members of our community pass on their skills to our youngsters who will enjoy spending time and having fun with their older mentors. The cost of materials to make Christmas Gift Bags is £450. This brings the total cost of our project to £900. This expenditure will be the catalyst for generating a wide range of collaborative support opportunities throughout our local community.
Light up our Toon - Kilbirnie
2024-09-12 • No comments • • Garnock Valley
KTCMI is a voluntary community group comprising of local residents, businesses, and representatives from various organisations in Kilbirnie. We organise and fund our annual Christmas Lights Switch On which takes place on the last Saturday in November. This event is open to all members of the community and enjoyed by all ages.
Our Christmas Lights Switch On has been a tradition for many years, bringing festive joy and cheer to our town and the people and visitors passing through. The day starts with Santa and his grotto, culminating at the Cross with the big switch on of the Christmas lights. This event is possible thanks to constant community fund-raising activities by KTCMI throughout the year. The Christmas lights themselves are owned by KTCMI, however North Ayrshire Council (NAC) have previously erected, tested and stored the lights from the Council budget. Sadly, this is not the case for 2024 as budget constraints within NAC have resulted in this vital funding being unavailable. NAC has agreed to carry out all of the above actions to ensure the lights are safe and in place for our Switch On, but this is going to result in an additional cost of £7,000 for KTCMI on top of the ongoing running costs for example electricty charges, santa gifts etc.
We are seeking additional funding for the following:
Santa presents for the children £450
Cost towards of hiring a hall for Santa's grotto £300
Cost towards upgrading the grotto by means of new decorations, art work, lights etc. £350
KTCMI are determined that our Toon will be lit up this Christmas and we are seeking help in raising the desired amount - our toon is arranging numerous fundraising events and hopefully these events will contribute towards the cost of the Christmas light switch on.
Improving our children and staff's wellbeing outdoors
2024-09-12 • No comments • • North Coast
We spend a significant amount of the nursery day in our outdoor garden and forest area. We are focussed on giving our children the best experience at our nursery and so the skill sets the children develop outside and the opportunities for different ways to play here are a large part of their learning at WKEYC. Being able to use our outdoor space so well, builds the children's confidence and resilience to playing outside in all weathers. In order to provide this we always consider both the children and staff's well being and how best to cater for their comfort.
Therefore we are asking for some smaller items that will make a big difference to their time in the garden. We are hoping for mobile hand wash stations for warm handwashing outside which is key to children's health and wellbeing; tarpaulins for shelter and ground cover with a tougher tarpolin required as this needs to be robust enough in the stormier weather; facilities for hot drinks for staff and children to allow them to cintinue for longer outside and feel happier doing so; hand and feet warmers for staff (children are catered for already) and portable seating for staff to take five minutes whilst out in the garden - the children have these facilities in their log chairs.
Although small these items will have a direct impact on everyone's mental and physical health. Staff will feel valued and appreciated in their workplace as we try our best to keep them warm and dry and everyone will benefit from being outdoors, learning in a different environment. This is proven to aid in their overall health and promote other ways to learn. In some cases, this will also provide an element of play they may not receive at home promoting equal opportunites for our children.
Below are the items we would love to be able to provide for our children and staff.
Insulated Mobile Hand wash station x 3 (£204) = £612
Tarpaulin (3m x 4m) for groundsheet = £11.99
Tarpaulin (waterproof and storm proof) for shelter = £75.36
Travel Chairs x 4 (£10) = £40
Hot drink dispenser x 3 (£24.99) = £74.97
Travel mugs for staff x 8 (£9.88) = £79.04
Warm insoles for wellies ( £5.98 for 2 pairs) = £23.92
Hand warmers (40 pk) = £26.49
Total £943.77
There is a document attached with the links to the products we are looking at. As these are live links prices may have varied (especially on Amazon) from when we have looked at these - we will endeavour to purchase as close to these prices as possible.
Dalry Community Larder - Fresh Produce
2024-09-06 • No comments • • Garnock Valley
We have been operating our Community Larder since Nov 2020, initially as a foodbank during the pandemic, but now aligned with NAC`s Community Larder model, where customers pay £4, for a selection of items and a variety of free short dated/best before items. Unfortunately, over the last 12 months, we have seen how the rising costs have impacted on our funding, where money doesn’t stretch as far as it once did and since the cost of living crisis started, we have seen the numbers of people attending our Community Larder steadily increase. We are now seeing more families attending, as well as more people who are working. Local businesses have been great here, where we work in partnership with ASDA, Bookers, Co-op and Irvine`s Bakery, who supply us with a combination, of either free short dated/best before items, or items at discounted prices, but during the winter months the donations of fruit and vegetables falls off quite sharply.
Evidence shows that there are significant health benefits to eating at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables daily, particularly in the case of young people and the elderly.
Estimated Costs:
Provision of fruit and vegetables for 26 weeks - 52 larder sessions @ £25 - Total £1,300.