This initiative promotes gender equality by encouraging participation and building confidence, resilience, teamwork, and leadership in girls. We’ve recently launched a new U16s Girls Team with 12 regular players, currently wearing the Irvine Ladies’ old men’s kit. By providing gender-specific rugby kits, we aim to ensure our players feel comfortable, confident, and ready to perform at their best.

We’re also focused on developing more female coaches to serve as role models and to support the unique needs of female athletes across all age groups. Their presence will help foster a more inclusive and empowering environment at the club.

To celebrate and grow the female game, we plan to host an all-female rugby festival, inviting youth and senior women’s teams from across the region. This event will offer a safe, inspiring space where girls can thrive without comparison to boys, and where our Ladies team can motivate the next generation.

Through our development plan, we aim to increase female participation in rugby over the coming years. Introducing a dedicated kit is a key step in boosting visibility, encouraging engagement, and reinforcing our commitment to gender equality in sport.

Proposed Costs:

Rugby Kit -  £700

Coaching development - £200

Festival Referees - £100

The waste incineartor  currently being built at Oldhall West is due to begin operations  around the turn  of the year. It will only be allowed operate once Scottish Environment Protection  Agency (SEPA) have  issued a permit. Once the permit is issued the company operating the incinerator is responisible for controlling emmisions , monitoring them, and self reporting.

Waste incinerators are associated with a rise in  air pollution, including to Nitrous dioxide, which is considered to cause 'significant' harm to humans, even at levels lower than those permitted in the UK.( see photo for quote) As there will be no other independent monitoring of emmissions our group is seeking funds to by the equipment to monitor Nitorous Dioxide emmisions ourselves. Currently the only public air quality monitoring station is in the centre of Irvine, at the cross. We understand there will be two points for monitoring at the waste incinerator, one on the back-up diesel generator ( checked every 5 years) and the other on the stack. None of these existing monitoring arrangements wil give a real idea of air quality changes inthe wider area around the incerator once it begins operations.

If our results, are as , we hope ,that there is no rise in  air pollution in the Irvine area we can publicise this reassuring information. In the unfortunate event that we find  that emissions are dangerous to health we can alert SEPA and the appropriate action can be taken to protect locals.

One of the reasons why locals are so concerned about this  possible threat is that they were alarmed by the 2 battery fires in Kilwinning, which caused significant changes to our air quality. The plant in Kilwinning had all it SEPA permits. Many locals feel that the permits were not adequate to provide real proection and they wish further reassurance about potential threats from  this  larger plant, closer to Irvine. 

The cost of a hand held monitor suitable for the job is around £500. This is the only equipment we are seeking funding for. Our group has a bank account.

I attach a document which explains the dangers of emmissions from  waste incineratros, with partuiclar reference to the gas we wish to monitor.

The club has provided a platform for Irvines first competitive basketball team and inspiring the next generation. 

We are applying for approximatley 50% of the cost of hall hire (£690 based on 2024-25 costs) for the upcoming season and referees costs (£310 based on 2024-25). 

This would really help support our members by decreasing our membership fees during the current financial climate and support them to continue to take part in their sport and continue to increase their physical health and mental well-being and aim to hopefully bring another trophy home to Irvine.

More info on the last season Irvine Sharks win second consecutive unbeaten league title | Irvine Times

We are applying for £1000.

We have an immediate need for the following items:

A large, lockable cupboard which will act as our storage for the food bank, cost: £200 (approx)

4 x large sturdy boxes on wheels to store and move uniform, cost £160 (approx)

100 x large parcel bags to make up uniform 'bundles', cost £20

Items of underwear, tights, socks and polo shirts in ages 4- 9 as we currently have none in stock, cost £150

250 x bags for making up food 'parcels' for families, cost £50

Going forward we will need to fully stock and maintain the new mini 'food bank':

Fully stock food bank with food and hygiene products, and maintain this throughout the year, cost: £400 (approx.)

Cleaning products, gloves, aprons and misc, cost £20

Our Uniform exchange, which allows families from Castlepark Primary school to ask for items of uniform/clothing/jackets has proven popular, with us handing out over 300 items of clothing in the last year. We sustain the Exchange mostly through donations, however for hygiene reasons underwear must be purchased brand new and we are currently running low on polo shirts of all sizes. Our uniform exchange helps families in our community with the ever-rising cost of living. Families can use our uniform exchange as often as they need.

Through after- school clubs and with feedback from families within our community, a food bank is something that has been suggested on numerus occasions. With the Family Hub up and running, we felt this was something we could launch and facilitate within the hub, with families being able to take home food parcels after each ‘after school club’ or if there is a specific need, then this could be accommodated, where possible. This will help with the cost of living as well as help promote healthy eating with fresh fruit and vegetables being made available where possible. We also plan to incorporate ‘healthy eating on a budget’ workshops as part of the after-school family hub program.

We will bring in external agencies to help promote health and wellbeing and to help with things such as money management and supporting families with additional support needs. This will run alongside a program of activities for the families such as arts and crafts, sports, music, dance, and cooking.

Our long-term intentions for the after-school family hub is to create a welcoming, safe and inclusive place for the families in our local area to gather and enjoy themselves. Running a thriving family hub that supports our community in any way we can.

The weekly bingo sessions in Redburn Community Hub help to build community spirit and improve the health and wellbeing of local community members.  The sessions are inclusive and welcoming and are regularly attended by a large number of people from the local community. The bingo sessions provide a safe and friendly social space for people to have fun and meet new people.

We are seeking PB funding to enable us to purchase items that will enhance the experience of community members taking part in the weekly bingo sessions.  We want to buy a new bingo machine that is more efficient and has a large digital display to help make the bingo numbers called accessible to all participants.  We also want to buy bingo dabber pens and bingo books to enable up to 100 community members to take part in the weekly bingo sessions.  We also require an electrical extension for the bingo machine.  In addition, we are seeking funding to purchase vouchers to enable us to provide a wide variety of quality bingo prizes for the weekly sessions. 

Bingo Machine- £300

Extension- £30

Bingo Dabbers £70

Bingo Books- £100

Vouchers to buy bingo prizes- £500

Total £1000

Our Festival of Light parade is a fantastic community event, aimed at bringing light & sound to the streets of Irvine ahead of our fireworks display. We would like to give free light up merchansie for all of the community. Previously we have had external trader  turning up and selling ligiht ups at a much higher rate ( £10 per light up). We would like all of the community and young people to take part of the festival of light and make this an inclusive event.  We aim to have a station to give out our light ups at the towns house where the parade departs. We will continue to give the light ups and merchansie through the parade and at the moor. This means we will be able to cover as many young people and families within the community. This will save community members a cost if they'd like a light up and they are able to join in on the festivities.

Foam light ups - £0.50 x 1904 individual light ups = £952

Light up lanterns -  £4 x 12 lantens for parade = £48

We are seeking £1,000 in grant funding to support our 50th anniversary celebrations, which will include a commemorative concert and a social gathering. The events will honour our long-standing contribution to the community and provide an inclusive opportunity for members and audience past and present to reconnect and celebrate.

Funding will help cover key costs such as venue hire, conductor/tutor fees, new music, refreshments, and entertainment.

Total costs will well exceed £1,000, so grant support would enable us to subsidise suggested ticket prices/donation and ensure broad participation.

This milestone offers a unique moment to reflect on our legacy and invest in our future, and we would be deeply grateful for your support.

We have provided key facts about our organisation as an attached document. But as an overview, Irvine and Dreghorn Brass is North Ayrshire’s only community brass band organisation and was established in 1975/76. We gained charitable status in 1994. We offer inclusive access to music-making and learning. We operate four distinct programmes: Competition Band; Community Band; Youth Brass Programme and Percussion Programme.

We estimate total costs of £1800.

Estimated Concert Costs: £1050 

Concert venue hire  £250

Conductor/ Tutor fees across all 4 streams (concert + rehearsal) £600

Music, equipment, transport £200

Estimated Social Event Costs: £750

Social venue hire £250

Band / disco  £300

Refreshments / equipment £200

We are looking to hire the Volunteer rooms on 2 occassions, approx February and August to provide information on the February event and Health and Wellbeing on the August event, costs below are based on 2025 costs and anything over the £1,000.00 applied for will be paid by the forum.

                                February                                                                          August

Hall Hire                  £171.20                                                                           £85.60

Food                       £350.00                                                                           £200.00

Promotion               £228.00                                                                           £150.00

Total                       £750.00                                                                           £435.60

Amount Seniors Forum will put towards projects approx £185.60

We are applying for funding to enable the Friendship Group to participate in a series of 5 health and wellbeing sessions delivered by a local community partner Honeybee Cottage.   These sessions would be planned in partnership with our group members to meet the needs and interests of the group while providing a range of experiences that will benefit health and wellbeing.  These sessions would bring the group members together to enjoy new activities, develop skills, confidence and have fun.  

Our group plays a vital role in combatting loneliness and encourages members to come along weekly to connect with others and share enjoyable experiences.  The group means so much to its members and has a real impact on people's lives in a positive way.

5 workshops delivered by Honeybee Cottage- 5 X £200 = £1000