Everyone an Artist has been running from the North Ayrshire Foodbank in Ardrossan for two years. Our group aims to offer a safe, judgment free space to be creative, learn new skills and combat social isolation by offering community. Facilitated by a local participatory artist and the Trussell Trust's North Ayrshire Community Campaigner, participants will unlock and develop new skills, such as printmaking, textiles, sculpture, drawing etc alongside having the opportunity to use these skills to address local issues that matter to them. We know from research that taking part in arts based activities has numerous benefits including that on mental and physical health and wellbeing. This funding would allow our group to continue running that little bit longer. 

costs: £540 artist fee (3hrs a week for 12 weeks , £360 materials, £100 food and drinks budget)

The Three Towns Discovery Award Group is aimed at all people over 50 years of age, to help promote an active and healthy lifestyle by offering challenges to both stimulate and motivate.

The Discovery Award is a personal challenge, through a programme of your chosen leisure activities with no exam at the end. You need no special qualifications, just a willingness to have a go and the determination to do the very best that you personally achieve. 

As part of this, we bring in other services to educate and draw awareness to local and national topics that impact us and the wider community. We aim to help combat social isloation and lonliness in the community by hosting open events like coffee mornings for those who are not able to join the group for various reasons. 

We are applying for money to help towards the cost of a group trip, buy resources to continue making crafts that we sell to help generate a small income and  donate monies to local charities and host an Easter coffee morning for all Discovery Award Groups (Irvine, GV, Kilwinning & Ukranian Group) and the wider community. 

We are asking for the following costs to be considered:

1. Edinburgh Bus Trip Tour (x10) = £ 230

2. Lunch on Trip (x10) = £200

3. Resin Kit = £70

4. Multicoloured Felt Fabric Rolls (x3) = £30

5. 3D Printer = £230

6. Coffee Morning Supplies (Including, coffee, tea, milk, sandwiches, cakes & decorations) = £240

The group was set up after 3 men in their 40s got back into their teenage hobby of painting warhammer miniatures during the Covid Lockdown and reconnected on social media.  Each of them suffered from social anxiety and found reintegrating extremely difficult. Now in our 2nd year we have gone from 9 members in our first week to 40 regular members, with an average of 20 attending each week. Our fortnightly group quickly became weekly due to demand and has become a very busy and lively social gathering. Our members build miniature models, paint them at our painting station, and play games including Warhammer 40k, Age of Sigmar, Killteam and Warcry.

Many of our members are new to the games when they first begin attending and do not have their own equipment and we have been extremely pleased to be able to provide all of the required equipment to allow people to play and attend who may not have the financial means to purchase their own equipment. However as the group continues to grow so does the demand for equipment.  At our AGM our members expressed an interest in trying new games alongside the regular Warhammer games and we now have a list of requests which we would love to be able to provide for our members to play.

The Games we would like to provide include: Humblewood Tales, Pathfinder adventure, Dungeons & Dragons, Magic The Gathering, Azul, Everdell, Destinies, Cascadia, Ticket to Ride, Mysterium, Arkham Horror, Masters of the Universe, Dominion, Star Realms, Hero Realms, Fallout, Aliens, Catan, Bristol 1350, Salem 1692, Deadwood 1876 Total Cost £849

Providing these games would open the group up to more people who may not enjoy Wargames but would love a social group to sit and relax while playing a fun game. We also provide free refreshments so would like to apply for £150 towards drinks and snacks for our members to help ensure nobody goes home hungry.

£500 Colour Laser Printer 

£430 Pin Badges

£70 Sundries 

Baby sensory classes promote communication and language skills in babies.  The sessions are lead by a person qualified in childcare and specialising in Baby sensory activities.

The cost is £100 per session 

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 organisers (no cost) and comprises weekly Crafting Sessions and a Book Group. Sessions are open to all and are mainly free of charge to users although a £1 charge applies for tutored sessions. 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 2026 programme. We use WhatsApp group to share and communicate between meetings, and a new Instagram account will raise awareness.

Our bid for £900 will allow for increasing costs expanding membership, and will (a) continue the provision of free / minimally priced 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 - £350 towards transport. We need to keep our activities as minimally priced as possible as it becomes harder to budget for activities to help us thrive.

In 2025 we arranged a very successful group visit to the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock which we would love to do again in future.  However transport costs are prohibitive (costing £300 for a small minibus to take the group) and therefore funding is necessary to allow for future trips.

We respect sustainability, recycling items wherever possible, and augment our funds through craft sales and donations. We support an average of 15-20 members at any time - an optimum number given the donated time and effort for organisation.

The project involves planting 15 new fruit trees at the community orchard we've been creating over the past few years at Holm Plantation in Ardrossan, and 26 new fruit trees in the two community orchards we've been creating at Ardeer Quarry in Stevenston. The ground is compacted at one of the Ardeer Quarry orchard sites and so it very challenging for volunteers to dig into to plant trees. So we plan to hire a mini digger and driver to dig large holes there to bypass the need for volunteers to dig there and to provide the trees with the best chance of establishing. All of these orchards will provide the local community with free fresh fruit during late summer and autumn.

Fruit trees - c.£1327

Mini digger and driver to dig holes - c.£708

Our project aims to reduce loneliness and improve mental health by bringing older people together in a supportive and fun environment. Our current 52 members benefit from regular activities such as bingo, quizzes, and day trips.

To make our club inclusive and affordable, we are seeking funding to cover:

• £500 for bus hire to enable members to attend day trips and outings.
• £500 for seasonal community events (Valentine's and Easter celebrations), which provide opportunities for members to socialise, build friendships, and feel part of their community. 

By helping with these costs, we can remove financial barriers, encourage more people to get involved, and ensure our members feel valued, connected, and supported.