The project will see 60 apple, pear and plum trees planted in Holm Green. The public will be free to pick the fruit each year for their own use. This project is part of a wider movement of planting community orchards across the local area. The trees will cost approximately £2300. We are seeking £1000 from the Participatory Budgeting fund.

The members of the Kilwinning Community Shed would like to embark on a pilot project to create a 'buddy bench' for use in a locally identified primary school, and if successful, to roll this project out to other primary schools in the Kilwinning area. Alongside a buddy bench we would also aim to offer an outdoor chalkboard with the option to include an indoor 'postbox' whose function is determined by the school themselves.

As a Community Shed whose aim is to reduce social isolation and combat loneliness by offering a place to meet new friends and be creative, we see the value in conversation in aiding good mental health and wellbeing. We know poor mental health and loneliness spans all generations, as well as the negative impact loneliness has on a person. We aim to help combat loneliness regardless of age.

We have a creative group of talented members who enjoy being part of the Shed and giving back to the wider community. Understanding the advantages of being together and having a place to come and sit, chat and interact with others has given our members great enjoyment and has improved their mental health through simply being together.

As an organisation have experienced the generosity of our local population in the donations we have received to enable us to establish a successful and creative space where we can meet, socialise and be creative.  In return, we want to give something back to our community and help aid the future generation of children in talking to each other or a trusted adult through the use of a buddy bench, where they can go and sit and other children can join them and gather around to help foster new friendships. When we explored the idea of equipment such as a buddy bench, chalkboard and postbox and the advantages it could bring to the children, we acknowledged how important this is regardless of age. We have members in the Shed who have recently moved into Kilwinning from other cities and towns and the Shed has been a lifeline because they know no-one. Children who have perhaps moved to a new school have the exact same experience, and a buddy bench, placed in the right space within the school grounds would be an indication to the other children that this person sitting on this bench is looking for a friend and wants to chat. This would enable other children to gather round and support their fellow pupil. We are hopeful the addition of an outdoor chalkboard would continue that new friendship by giving the children a place to play games, or express themselves, again bringing children together to have fun. The idea of a postbox will simply be a tool to be used for whatever the school and pupils determine, whether it’s a suggestion box, nomination box or whatever is decided. Our aim is to create the physical equipment on behalf of the school, we would aim to liaise with the head teacher once the school children have contributed their thoughts and input to the style and design of the project, we will not be interacting directly with the pupils.

As Shed members we are excited to embark on a project which will not only give us great satisfaction in the actual building of the equipment, it creates a hub of energy and creativity within the Shed itself, from sharing ideas by talking about style, design and 'who can do what'.   We utilise the skills of our members, and in doing so, they feel valued and energised in creating projects that are beneficial for the local community. 

This community spirit, fun and banter bonds us across our 'woodmen' and 'lady shedders'. When we share ideas for projects it involves all of us. Sometimes the woodmen will build our ideas and the lady shedders get to work refining the output, whether it's painting or decorating it or arming ourselves with a hot glue gun - the end result is always admired - then we make more!

Our costs for the project include:

• Dressed wood and marine plywood - £400
• Router and templates (to enable the chosen designs and text on the equipment to be routed into the wooden projects) - £300
• Paint (chalkboard & decoration), screws, hinges - £100
• Branding iron - £50 
• Vices and clamps for chalkboard and post boxes - £50
• Materials to secure the bench in place (this will be determined as the project progresses and likely to include metal/wood/concrete fixings or a combination) - £100

We believe these costs are indicative to enable us to complete the project and provide the tools to enable us to extend the pilot to other schools in our community.

 

 

 

 

We're looking for funding to continue the Skills development of the membership, as they progress their skills their increasing the types of items they are making, are more complex & the Quality is improving all the time. Which gives the members a great sense of achievement. The funding will help to purchase more Materials form the local Builders Merchant.

150 Fence Boards x 60 145 Planed Pine x 30 47x50 Fence Rail x 30 45x45 Planed Pine x 20 PVA Glue x 2

Our club decided last year to give our youngsters a free permit to encourage them into the great outdoors,to get them away from a computer screen or a smartphone,fishing is well versed for people's wellbeing and to see the young ones having a big smile on their face when they land a fish is heartwarming.We also give free permits to mental health organisations plus Woodlands View at Irvine central hospital and the Richmond fellowship 

This year has been a tremendous success with the sale of approximately 700 members around half of these members have received a free permit.We would like to apply for £1,000 to help in the price of printing permits at a cost of £0.65 per unit plus help in fuel and running costs of our grass cutting equipment for next year 2026

The club income is permit sales only,we don't have any other way to generate money

We would really appreciate any help to continue encouraging our juveniles into the sport as they are our clubs future 

Costings- 

Permit printing - £455

Fuel bills/ maintenance - £300

Servicing - £245

Thank you

We are a voluntary group with a parent run committee.  We support 3-5 year olds in early learning and childcare, and our aim is to provide a warm, welcoming environment where all families feel valued and supported.  We try to keep the costs down for families of the children attending the nursery.  

We are applying for funding to purchase outdoor clothing and equipment for the children.  Outdoor learning plays a large role in early years now and it has many benefits.  Some of these benefits include physical activity, promotes mental health and emotional wellbeing as reduces stress and boosts confidence, improves focus, social skills and relationships are developed and also a connection to nature and sustainability.  Outdoor learning supports childrens health and wellbeing in many powerful ways.

Funding for clothing and equipment to encourage outdoor learning would ensure: 

• equal access to clothing for all children 
• every child can participate in outdoor learning and play, regardless of family ability to afford appropriate clothing 
• promotes inclusion and fairness 
• encourages outdoor play in all weather - can go outside safely and comfortable in the great Scottish weather! 
• enhances learning opportunities 
• supports mental and physical health 
• protects childs own clothes

Costs

£850 - Outdoor clothing such as waterproof trousers, jackets, gloves, hats and wellies

£150 Cable Drum play equipment 

£500 Colour Laser Printer 

£430 Pin Badges

£70 Sundries 

We have organised various free events for the public, including community litter picks, habitat creation for ground-nesting bees, spring bulb planting and willow weaving courses.  These events provide opportunities for like-minded individuals to socialise while improving the ecology of the park and facilities for park visitors. Our Wellbeing in Nature Day in June, supported by local organisations, featured nature walks, guided meditation, and mindfulness activities, promoting the potential of Lochshore Park to positively impact individual and community health. Since our last application, we have experienced significant growth, doubled our membership and increased our Facebook following ten-fold to over three hundred. Over the past year, we have established productive partnerships with the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Ayrshire Nectar Network, and TCV. In each case we have relied on their expertise to support our projects. 

With a Proportional Budgeting grant, we would invest in support for our members and part fund projects which further attract the public to participate in outdoor activities. We have already completed a woodland walk with picnic area, a yoga/meditation area overlooking the loch and we aspire to install a bird hide. Funding would allow our group would visit the Loch Lomond Faerie Trail in Luss, with the aim of drawing inspiration for the development of our own fairy trail within our Enchanted Forest; enhance our Wellbeing in Nature Day next year with the inclusion of musical groups, and help acquire a small trailer and hire a quad bike to help with transport of bulky material round the park.

Group visit (hire of minibus, entry and snack) £400

Wellbeing in Nature Day Music £200

Hire of quad bike with tow bar (£50 per day) £100

Second hand trailer (£400)

The specialist Print maker would spend time servicing our printer and preparing and delivering two or three teaching sessions. Arran Visual Arts pay all tutors the Scottish Artist Union Rate of pay which is £44.90 per hour.   10 hours would therefore be £449.

We have a lot of art materials in both venues. But the starage space is a shared space, so improving the shelving would allow beetr use of all materials we have.We would either use ready made storage units or a local joiner to fit shelves in a cupboard. Ready made units are approximately £200 each and we would need 2. 

 

“We are awaiting a quotation from a joiner for fitted shelving, but we expect it to be in the region of £250.

The total costs will be £999”

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