Festive Celebration for People Affected by Substance Use

Cafe Solace in collaboration with Fullarton Connexions

We are applying for funding to deliver a festive meal and celebration for people in our community who are affected by substance use and/or lonlieness. Many of our service users face stigma, poverty and social isolation, particularly over the festive period when most services are closed. We have facilitated an event over the past 2 years with great success. This project will provide an inclusive, welcoming space where individuals can enjoy a freshly prepared meal, participate in activities and celebrate together with dignity and respect. Ideally, the meal would be held on Christmas Day, however, due to the limitations of availability of payment on time, the event can be held anytime throughout the festive period up until 4th January.

Aims & Objectives

• To provide a safe, stigma-free environment where people affected by substance use can come together and celebrate the festive season.

• To reduce isolation and loneliness by creating opportunities for social connection and shared experience.

• To promote dignity, inclusion and wellbeing by ensuring everyone has access to a festive meal and celebration.

• To strengthen community partnerships through collaboration with Fullarton Connexions Church who are allowing us to use their facility for this event 

• We are hoping that the event will be attended by approx 40 enjoying a high-quality festive meal and activities.

• Attendees will report feeling less isolated and more connected to their community.

• The event will help challenge stigma by creating a positive, welcoming space where people can be valued and included.

• Stronger links will be built between service users, local community, our organisation and community partners.  

The event will be hosted at Fullarton Connexions, who have generously offered the use of their facilities. Our volunteers, will prepare and serve a festive meal, with entertainment, music and activities to create a celebration. Transport support will be provided for those who would otherwise struggle to attend. Each guest will also receive a small festive gift to take away.

Budget Breakdown

• Food & refreshments: £450 

• Decorations & festive items: £150

• Entertainment & activities: £150

• Small festive gifts / wellbeing packs: £100

• Venue hire: £100 

• Essential Travel Costs £50

Total funding requested: £1,000

We are applying for funding to enable our group members to plan and experience a trip to the theatre and afternoon lunch up in Glasgow in the new year.

Social activities such as this can have a positive impact of the health and wellbeing of older people.  This is especially true in the winter months when the cost of living and social isolation can have a significantly negative impact on people’s lives, especially for older members of the community.  This would be an opportunity for our group members to experience a special outing which many would not be able to access independently due challenges faced through physical health and mental wellbeing.

To enable us to do this we are applying for the following:

Theatre tickets: £560

Afternoon Tea: £440

Our group meets weekly during term time, where we enjoy a cuppa and a blether and share our stories from the previous week. We also enjoy taking part in activities such as seasonal arts and crafts, planting, colouring and painting as well as games and other activities. We have been grateful to be able to connect with organisations such as Megan's Space, NEST, Breathing Space and The Prevention and Service Support Team, giving us the tools to be able to support each other, our families and our community.

We benefited greatly from the locality PB fund this year and would be grateful for the opportunity to do so again in 2026. We would like to be able to fund activities that would bring our families together during school holiday periods. This would ease the financial starin at this time of year and would also reduce isolation by encouraging us to meet up and mix with other families.

During our sessions in the Children First Hub, we would like to be able to fund two wellbeing, therapeutic sessions provided by college students. By using students to conduct these sessions we can keep costs low and also support our local community college. These sessions would provide us with health and wellbeing support that we would not be able to fund on our own.

We enjoy arts and crafts at our sessions as these ease the everyday stresses our families experience. The increase in costs have made in more difficult to fund this. We would therefore like to purchase arts and craft supplies for our space, in particular cross stitch and painting by numbers. We have benefited from cthe therapeutic affects that arts and crafts can provide, and we would like to continue to experience this.

Again, to help combat the rise in the cost of living, we would loke to be able to fund a breakfast and lunch session for parents and carers prior to the end of school terms. We have experienced how these events can breakdown isolation  and support our mental health and in turn this gives us the tools to be able to support our families.

Finally, the skills gained by planning and managing a budget of this scale will up-skill us all and provide us with the confidence to support our local community while also improving our health and wellbeing.

Weekly Coffee and Connect Sessions

Arts and Crafts Supplies £150

Therapeutic Sessions £240

Breakfast Sessions £60

Lunch Sessions £250

Family Easter Trip

Bounce Station Trip £300

We are Lok Oi, a Hong Kong Cantonese community group – our name means bliss or happiness in English. Our project will bring elderly Cantonese speakers and the wider community together through shared lunches. These events will reduce social isolation, give people a chance to meet new friends, and celebrate Cantonese and Chinese culture with others in North Ayrshire. Each session will include traditional food, music, and karaoke to encourage fun, relaxation, and participation. We aim to create welcoming spaces where cultures are shared, connections are built, and wellbeing is improved.

• Venue hire: £300

• Food ingredients and preparation: £700

With your vote, we can make these lunches a reality and bring joy, friendship, and culture to our community.

Our trip would allow our members to socialise, meeting others, help with their wellbeing and social isolation. It would also help with their cost of living.

We would like to apply for a funding amount of £1000 and if successful we would be able to provide a bus outing for approximately 50 older people, with the remainder being used towards providing a lunch for our members. The funding would provide an opportunity for our members to enjoy a social outing and lunch that might otherwise be unattainable due to cost of living or mobility issues. 

The cost of the bus would be £550 and the remaining £450 would be used towards funding the lunch.

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

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