We would like to establish a sewing group where people can learn skills for life and hobbies for well-being and fun. There would be no cost except to ask for a donation, if possible, for the food bank in Ardeer Community Centre.

Being part of such a group can encourage self reliance, reduce social isolation and be of benefit to all who participate.

In learning to sew and mend items of clothing, we can reduce waste and promote sustainability, in our community thereby avoiding waste.

In cold weather, we can provide a warm space. All equipment, including sewing machines, will be available for use at the classes, free of charge. Fabric and thread for projects will be provided as well as tea/coffee and biscuits.

Health & Well-being will be enhanced from social inter-action, learning new skills will build confidence and satisfaction will be achieved as we support the production of items for gifts and home use.  We will promote reducing waste by encouraging simple mending skills. 

By bringing people together to learn at Ardeer Community Centre, we hope to further promote the centre as a hub of  our community, encouraging all to engage in learning through fun.

Chatty Chalkers intend to run classes in the Argyle Centre (rent sponsored by SeaSalt Streets) to teach adults and children how to paint murals via the Oculus Quest, build and install 3D wire sculptures, create and paint moulded ornaments and how to construct sand structures and pictures. Chatty Chalkers have experience in delivering projects having successfully produced a series of pop-up events featuring pavement chalk drawing, sand art and sculptures and stone and shell painting. The pop-up events are advertised on social media two days before and the location  disclosed. They often draw up to 30 participants at their free events. 

Chatty Chalkers will offer, free and open to all, kids and adult art workshops, both indoor and outdoor. The participants will be taught mural structure and painting, basic sand art and 3D forming, simple plaster  moulding and how to form and strengthen wire figures. 

In order to facilitate the classes/workshops, Chatty Chalkers require the following equipment and materials. 

Oculus Quest & power bank £220.00. Stepladders and spray paint £80.00. Masonry paint, brushes,dust sheets, overalls, warning tape etc. £196.00. Chicken wire, foam blocks and cutter, UV resin £175.00. Expanding foam and gun, miscellaneous acrylic and water colour paints, pens and pencils etc. £175.00. TOTAL incl postage = £875.00.

Purpose of Funding:

1. Health and Wellbeing:  Organise weekly movement-based activity sessions such as baby yoga, toddler music and dance sessions and outdoor nature walks to support physical activity and mental wellbeing for both parents and children.  Provide healthy snacks and refreshments to encourage nutrition education and community mealtimes.

2.  Community Building:  Host monthly "stay and play" sessions with rotaing themes to build connections among local families.  Creating a welcoming and supportive environment that reduces isolation and strengthens community ties, particularly for new or struggling parents.

3.  Cost of Living Support:  Run a "swap shop" for clothes, toys and essentials to support sustainable living and reduce financial pressure on families.  Offer free to all group sessions, ensuring economic hardship is never a barrier to participation.

4.  Green Projects:  Launch a "Mini Gardener" initiative where toddlers and parents can grow herbs and veg learning about sustainability and food growing.  Using eco-friendly materials for crafts and encourage recycling and waste reduction during all activities.

This funding will help create a nurturing space where parents and toddlers can connect, grow and thrive together.  The activities will not only address immediate needs caused by the cost-of-living crisis but also foster long-term wellbeing, resillience and environmental responsibility.

Estimated Costs:

Facilitators (wellbeing activities)  4 sessions - yoga, music & movement, mindfullness) £200

Craft & Green project initiative - eco-friendly supplies for crafts, mini gardening (compost, seeds, pots and gardening tools) £150

Healthy snack & refreshments 48 week sessions fruit, crackers, drinks, cups and plates £480

Swap shop set up - bins, signage, clothing rails £70

Toys and sensory play resources £100

We are a yoga and support group who have been going for almost 20 years.  Many of our members and now into their 70's and 80's but  are still actively involved in yoga practice.  Yoga helps enormously with strength, balance and flexibility as well as mindfulness. This is important in our advancing years.  We have social outings such as  coffee meetups, lunch or an outing to combat the feeling of loneliness and isolation incurred when people have ailing partners or indeed become widowed. Being sensory impaired also causes much loneliness and isolation.We have one member who is registered blind and several who are registgered as hearing impaired.  We would love to arrange a theatre trip early in 2026 to help conbat winter blues.

theatre tickets 25x30 = £750

Bus home  from Ayr = £250

Total   =  £1000

Lunches £450

Tea & Coffee £50

Buscuits £50

Hall hire £450

We wish to build a community/memorial garden in a vacant area of land within the community recreation ground. The garden will include a memorial wall and will be a profound way to acknowledge and honour the life of a loved one, a historical event, or a significant achievement. These plaques will also play a crucial role in preserving history and act as a bridge between the past and the present, providing a tangible link to our heritage. By commemorating individuals or events, they help us understand our local roots and the journey taken.

The garden will also serve as a space for personal reflection and for educating the public about the person or event being commemorated whilst being a general meeting place for community members.  Our community Partners Ardrossan Community Sports Hub will add a page to their website and we will direct people to it, the page will include a bio for every plaque on the wall. The design/planning and building of the garden will involve both the Local Communtiy Shed, AWR Extra Time Crew, AWR CIC, and Ardrossan Communtiy Sports Hub. We will also partner with The Three Town Growers who will provide asisstance with planting.

We will charge an additional amount to cost of plaque and that will be used to maintain and improve the garden. It will also improve joint working as the Community Shed and AWR/ACSH Extra Time Crew will maintian the garden/

Cost:

Wood for seating/plant beds/boundary  £900, lean to wood & roof sheeting £ 450, stone base £200, plants £150, solar lighting £100, total £1,800.00

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

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.