Abbey Parent Council is organising a fun day for all pupils within school to celebrate the end of the school year. The event will include inflatable activities and other engaging attractions designed to encourage physical activity and bring the school community together in a positive, memorable way.

Last year, the event cost £1,050, primarily for inflatable rentals and staff to ensure the saftey of our children. This funding will help cover similar costs for this year’s event, ensuring it remains accessible and enjoyable for all children within the school day.

The project was started in 2018 with over 100 children being taught prior to Covid. Unfortunately following Covid, our numbers dropped significantly and we are now on a journey to rebuild. We are now based at Geilsland Estate with Beith Trust, reaching out to over 60 plus children within and the Garnock Valley. During the summer we held our Wee Pipers in the Park where 28 children learned to play the chanters and drums over 4 days. This was a combination of fun activities and learning through our tutors, volunteer tutors, volunteers and helpers. At the end the week they put on small showcase which was truly amazing considering the short time they had been learning (short video attached) .

Thanks to Creative Scotland we have after school tuition delivered by two tutors and two apprentice tutors from 4 to 6 pm on a Monday afternoon. We also teach children in the primary schools in Dalry thanks to funding from Dalry Parish Boundary Trust. Scottish Schools Pipes and Drums Trust have also helped with funding with in school tution. Last school session, we ran 4 week taster block sessions at most of the Primary Schools within the Garnock Valley which was very well recieved and created much interest in learning the bagpipes and drums. As we continue our journey, we are starting weekend tuition which will bring many of the children together to start forming a band.

Our project brings children together helping their confidence, improve their self esteem, improved mental health , giving them a sense of belonging, building friendships, working as a team and most of all, enjoying the experince of learning the drums and bagpipes. At a recent event in Dalry three of our youngsters, one P7 and two from S1, played together in front of the public which they throroughly enjoyed

After school sessions we have three skill groups, beginners, intermediates and more advanced. This is very rewarding, have received much praise from the CEO of the SSPDT and the Scottish Children's Lottery for the way we ensure children have the opportunity to develop new musical skills.

 If we were fortunate to secure funding it would be used to purchase new equipment . Some of our drummers are nearly ready to move from drum pads to snare drums. If we were able to purchase small harnesses for our snare drums it would be a great step forward for our new drummers. Being able to play the snare drum would be a huge uplift for them .  If we could purchase two harnesses that they could share, would help the development of the program hugely. A small harness would cost £333 each. If we could purchase 2 would be £666.

To meet the demand for new learners we also need drum pads and drum sticks and also chanters. Drum pads and sticks cost £40.99 and would like to apply for 5 which would be £204.95 while chanters cost £43 and would like to apply for 5 which would cost £215. Total cost for drum pads, sticks and chanters £419.95

As our numbers increase new equipment ensures that we can continue to enhance the program for as many young people within the Garnock Valley.  

Starlight Productions has been a dream of mine for a few years now. We are a very new group but are now ready to begin opening the group up by advertising and meeting weekly in a local space. We have been supported to create a committee and have written our constitution. 

I am very passionate about drama and dance and have already created the script for our first production. I already have other young people excited to start but I would like to open this out to others. Our first production will ayouth friendly version of the show the HEATHERS. 

We are a very new group and have started to look a fundraising for other shows to help buy materials and props but are looking for help with this fund to help get us started and known in the community. 

I really want to give young people like myself a space to come together, have fun and express themselves. I do not want to charge people to come to this group as I know this can be expensive for families and I dont want to stop people from coming. That is why we are applying for funding and will start fundraising events at the start of 2026.  To get started we are looking for £1000 to: 

1. help with hall costs in a local community centre for our first year. £10 per week for 52 weeks. - £520

2. Printing costs to advertise our group. - £50

3. Art materials to create a back drop & props & costumes. - £430

Thank you for considering my application. 

If sucessfull we would like to purchase new dart boards and dart board surrounds. Over the years of playing and the amount of players the boards and surrounds have became wornout. This would allow us to continue with the group and young people can build on their skills. Due to the sucess of the academy we host Scottish ranking competitions throughout the year. New boards and surrounds will allow us to continue to host these games. Hosting these games create a great sense of achievement for the young people in the academey. It builds confidence, pride and accomplishment. Please see breakdown of costings below:

10 New Winmau triple core dartboards -  £79.95 x 10 = 799.50 10 New heavy duty dart board surrounds - £21.99 x9 = £197.91

Total - £997.41

We want to support more of our peers to attend our FREE after school extra-curricular sport clubs however not a lot of people at our school have access to sports kit to attend, we done a consultation with our year groups and they identified kit as a barrier as a reason they cannot attend our clubs. We want to provide a kit box with sports wear they can access if they want to attend an after school club but can't because lack of kit, our kit box would include t-shirts with our school logo as well as leggings and shorts, this will also give our young people a sense of belonging at our clubs so they don't feel isolated, bringing our community together, we will also get our logo printed on the tops to give our peers some pride that they belong at our clubs. Without approrpitate kit, students do not get to access the free sports opportunity which could impact mental wellbeing, with the cost of living crisis, this will hopfully remove that barrier and give every young person the chance to participate. If we are buying uniformed sports wear, then it means no one is feeling left out as they can match their peirs and take pride in their participation. 

Price Breakdown -

x30 T-Shirts (Sizes S, M and L) = £328.50

x30 Printing - (£6.24 per top) = £187.20

x30 Shorts (Sizes S, M and L) = £298.50

x20 Leggings (One-Size) = £339.80

TOTAL COSTS - £1004.75

We started up our team with a small group of kids and a few parent volunteers who agreed to become novice football coaches. 

Since then, our team has expanded in popularity and we now have a small army of 21 boys and girls who train twice a week and play games in the local Ayrshire Youth Football League at weekends. Our team promotes health, wellbeing and fitness for all players- they practice hard and this gives them the chance to lead healthy and active lives, encourage friendships and alleviate social isolation.

Our team is ably assisted by a band of volunteer parents who help out in all weathers whether coaching, providing transport to games, setting up equipment, cheering loudly, chasing balls, administering first aid, manning a coffee and tea stall at games, or anything else required!

As with many such local groups, funding is always a significant issue. We have always tried to keep the fees for parents as low as possible and we have been grateful so far to have the support of some kind local business owners who have helped out with the costs of match-day and training kits as well as equipment such as footballs. We have had to increase our fees for parents recently due to increases in our costs.

A large part of the income from fees is spent on training and match day facilities as well as replacing balls etc.  which doesn’t leave much extra to spend on gear for the kids. 

We are hoping to get funding to cover the cost of waterproof duffel bags for all of our players to transport their jackets, boots and gear to training and games. The west coast of Scotland isn’t known for being the most forgiving places for wet weather especially in winter.  At the moment, players' gear is kept at the side of the pitch and can get muddy and wet in the rain. 

The ideal bag we have identified is the Nike Academy Team Duffel Bag (black/red), which is durable and good quality. We would be looking to get 21 large sizes @ £29.99 (£629.79).  With added player initials and team badge stitching, the total cost will be £761. 

Any help you were able to offer with this would be hugely appreciated by all of the kids and our volunteers. 

Our team have managed our kits well especially when the kids continually grow out of them. When we move on to the 9 a side season we would like to be able to kit out the kids in the same home team kit and provide rain jackets so that all of the kids are the same no matter their circumstances. We would pass on our smaller kits to the youth academy teams below us, in order to recycle the kits that are still in good condition, but just too small now. Instead of passing on the cost to parents to fund a new kit for their child, this grant would allow us to make sure the whole team go to games and festivals all in the same home kit, ensuring they all feel part of the team.

Full kit for 20 kids = 20 x 59 = £1180

Garnock Community Campus Parent Council provides a uniform hub which is free and accessible to all.   Providing freshly laundered, pre-loved and new items of school uniform  to pupils across the campus, our Hub provides privacy and discretion when needed.  By providing an outlet for pre-loved clothes we also reduce the amount of clothing which goes to landfill thus supporting the environment.  Our Uniform Hub also provides toiletries, tights, stationary and school bags thus reducing the cost of the school day - something we are passionate about.

The Uniform Hub is used regulalry by many of our school community.  Be it parents looking for items of clothing to help reduce the strain on the household budget, those looking for an environmentally kinder way of providing uniform to pupils or providing a fresh pair of tights in an emergency, we striive to provide what the school community needs, no questions asked.

Should we be successful in gaining any funds from the Participatory Budget, the Parent Council will purchase new items for the Uniform Hub.  This will  include everything that a pupil would need for the school day.  There are pupil representatives who attend Parent Councill meetings, supported by a member of the Senior Leadership team, who provide requests to the Parent Council as to how the Parent Council can support the pupil community.   They also provide feedback on projects supported by the Parent Council including the Uniform Hub.  

Amount requested to purchase items for Uniform Hub £1000.