We are applying for £1000 to cover the essential costs of musical instruments, repairs, and accessories such as replacement strings, drumsticks, reeds, and other small but vital items that ensure instruments can be played and maintained. Having reliable instruments in good condition is crucial for our members, particularly those who cannot afford to buy or repair their own.

This funding will directly benefit a wide range of people in our community, from younger adults taking their first steps into music to elderly people looking to reconnect with a passion; LMC is for those who want a positive and creative outlet. By removing barriers to participation, we make sure that everyone—regardless of experience, age, or financial means—feels empowered to take part and grow in confidence.

We believe this idea deserves to be funded because music has a powerful impact on wellbeing, community spirit, and self-expression. By supporting LMC you’ll be helping us to give more people the chance to learn, collaborate, and find joy in making music together. With this investment, we can continue building an inclusive space where creativity flourishes, friendships form, and the next generation of musicians feel encouraged and inspired.

The previous year has taught me that we will likely spend at least £500 this next year in replacement strings and reeds (which range in costs depending on the instrument, but can cost £20 per set).

Im also aware of a few individuals who are saving to buy a second hand instrument to join us, and with funding I will insist the club pay for those to assist greater inclusivity. This means that the club owns the instruments and that others can play them. A recent example of this was our purchase of a mandolin for £100, which several Regulars enjoy learning. Going forward, I aim to provide more brass instruments, including a trumpet, which a few would-be members have enquired about. A quick scan of Ebay tells me that I will likely need to commit at least £100 to this.

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.

 

 

We are normally open on Sunday afternoons from April to September from approx 1pm until 5pm.

Our Museum site known as Skelmorlie Secret Bunker as a secondary role has a vision of promoting Active Travel within North Ayrshire for the benefit of all our community. 

We can provide a toilet and refreshment facility through using our self contained Groundhog Welfare unit which provides a proper toilet facility and small kitchen for the provision of hot and cold drinks. 

In addition apart from catering for small groups such as individuals and families we can by prior arrangement cope with organised walking and cycling groups both on Sunday afternoons and outwith those times.

We are applying for £360 to get our toilet facility serviced over that six months, £150 for flyers to advertise within North Ayrshire the Active Travel Waypoint and £130 for kitchen sundries such as water, tea, coffee eco cups and milk to provide a refreshment service all at no cost to the users of our museum site.  

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

Mecoco means "Meaningful Contribution in the Community". We make beautifully hand-crafted home fragrance products-candles, wax melts, and reed diffusers-but our real purpose is about people. Our volunteers, most of whom are profoundly disabled and have complex communication and support needs, are involved in every stage of the process, creating products that are as unique, colourful, and creative as they are.

Our volunteers are not defined by what they can't do. Instead, they are recognised and celebrated for what they can. Many are non-verbal, use wheelchairs, or need full-time care-and yet at Mecoco they take on real responsibilities. They clock in, work in teams, wear uniforms, take tea breaks, and receive expenses-just like any workplace. They are proud to be part of something meaningful. And they belong.

Based in our Dalry workshop our opportunties include:

Volunteering for local disabled and non-disabled people for one half day session each week, in small groups throughout the week.

Work experience (6 week placements) for young people from local ASN school, Lockhart School

Long term highly skilled employment for our two Wax Wizards who support volunteers to maximise the range of tasks each volunteer can be involved in and allow volunteers to be involved in more complex tasks. They are also responsible for order production and packing, stock checking and ordering materials, and new product design.

Being part of Mecoco brings huge benefits to our team including:

Health and Wellbeing

In addition to the skills development, job satisfaction, personal fulfillment, and positive sense of identity from completing meaningful tasks that Mecoco work experience provides, it also offers huge social benefits for volunteers who get to experience being part of a team, being involved and contributing within their community.

All volunteers experience the health and wellbeing benefits from meeting new people, making friends, inclusion within the Mecoco team and the wider community, developing new skills, and helping others to learn new skills and fulfill their potential.

Bringing Communties Together

We're proud to say that Mecoco brings together one of the most diverse workforces in the country. Disabled and non-disabled people work side by side, learning from each other in a space that is fun, respectful, and deeply inclusive.

In addition to providing meaningful work experience, volunteering with Mecoco improves social inclusion, helping to overcome the isolation and marginalisation that people with complex needs often experience, particularly after they have left school and do not have access to the opportunities for employment, volunteering and education open to their non disabled peers.

Through the time spent working together in small teams each week, as well as an active WhatsApp chat to bring the whole group together, the volunteers have developed a lovely supportive community and engage in social activities and are also fully included within Sense Scotland events such as our Annual Ball and Staff and Violunteer Awards, with one of the volunteers shortlisted for 2024s Volunteer of the Year.

We also attend markets, fayres and events and volunteers often play a key role in these events, selling their products directly to other members of the community, changing perception of disability and demonstrating their abilities.

To support the sustainability and growth of Mecoco we have been looking at reducing our costs and one way was to move our website from the Shopify platform to WooCommerce, saving £2500 per year. We would like to invest in Facebook advertising for our new website. In particular to offer the following

We have the ability to offer customers a variety of Subscription Plans to guarantee monthly income and an increase in these product sales. We currently offer one subsciption option but would like to add the following (with every 4, 6 and 8 week options):

Surprise Subscription-Different products dependent on the price point chosen. £10/£15/£20 per month

Wax melt only subscription-Wax melts only, quantity dependent on the price point chosen. £5/£10/£15 per month

Diffuser subscription-Refills or new diffusers dependent on the price point chosen. £10/£15/£20 per month

We require to advertise these new products and would like to target customers online. We are requesting a grant of £2000 to cover the cost of the Facebook ads.

We have experience of using Facebook ads to promote our events, with recent examples including:

Abseil-£100 spent, 170 leads generated. This led to 6 participants and £640 fundraised income so far with fundraising still ongoing

Psychic Night-£250 spent, 207 leads generated. This led to 40 ticket sales and an estimated £974 in income, including ticket sales of £650

This experience gives us confidence that this approach would also be effective to boost Mecoco sales.

Supporting this request would enable us to increase our sales income and also offers regular income which allows us to plan ahead in terms of production and volunteer numbers. Most importantly increasing our income will allow us to sustain and grow Mecoco which allows us to continue to bring the benefits of being part of the Mecoco team to our current volunteers and open up the vital opportunties to other disabled young people and adults.

Your support would directly benefit some of the most marginalised individuals in our community. People for whom society often holds very low expectations. People who are seen as a burden, when in reality, they have so much to offer-if given the chance.

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)

A Film Club would provide opportunities for the commuity to come together, for cutural and educational benefits.  What was once the old cinema could once again deliver many different genres of film.  As the new building is totally accessible everybody will be able to participate.  There could be screenings individually for children, for those suffering with dementia, for those who would revel in the old stories of the Clyde and the tales of Para Handy, for families. These are just a few examples.

A consultant would research this local innovation to provide a clear strategy and guidelines to be developed for future use by those taking the project foward.

A self employed consultant at 8 hours per week for ten weeks at £15 per hour would cost £1,080 - see role profile below for further information.