<p>To provide growing spaces around Largs for people who live and work in Largs to grow their own&nbsp;food&nbsp;in a community environment. The project has secured land in two locations in Largs which will be transformed into much wanted and needed community growing areas. We expect to have access to at least one of the large growing areas by the New Year so the land can be made ready for the next growing season. With this is mind we want to make the gardens accessible and usable spaces for all and are seeking funding for raised beds&nbsp;requiring little or no upkeep and maintenance by their users once in place. The project&#39;s main outcomes are hoped to include supporting families grow fruit and vegetables for themselves and using surpluses to support the wider community through the food bank, a community larder or other community groups in the current cost of living crisis and for the future.</p>

<p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The newly created Skelmorlie Community Garden space is looking beautiful. We would like to install a little library for book sharing in the community, to increase use of the garden.</span></span></span></p>

<p>To replace the two temporary wooden pallets with a permanent aluminium&nbsp;non slip platform.</p>

<p>SHED is part of Community Roots in West Kilbride which also runs the Village Larder, a subsidised food with dignity project. We have a community garden in the center of West Kilbride and host a drop-in social gardening day once a week there. We have been developing this garden for fruit and vegetable growing so that we can learn how to grow food whilst recognising the mental and physical health benefits of gardening together. Most of what we produce goes to our Village Larder to be accessed for free by our customers there, and some of it is a healthy reward for our hard working volunteers. Our aims are to make healthy food more accessible and create a buzz in the area about the benefits to our health and environment by growing our own food.&nbsp; In the upcoming year we want to further develop our Community Garden and facilitate food growing in people&#39;s own gardens by providing materials, plants and practical support. We trialed offering some plants to our Village Larder customers this summer with great success and think that we can advertise and distribute well from there, with additional advertising of the project on our social media platforms and contacts. We think this will build our connections with people in WK and be the start of a rolling project over the seasons with continual support and materials offered. People will be asked when signing up f they prefer large trugs, 15litre potted veg gardens, or pop up fabric planters and what plants they want to grow from a list. We will have cards to give out with info on growing each plant, fertiliser for the season, canes and ties etc. They will be invited to sow the seeds in our polytunnel on drop in days to see where it all begins and this will introduce people to our growing community. This project will be especially useful for people who aspire to grow but don&#39;t know where to start, people who can&#39;t afford things like soil and fertiliser to sustain crops once established (which is expensive, expanding education on food and its origins, and people who are not able to access the drop in sessions that are keen to connect and grow.&nbsp;</p>

<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">LMC offers an informal setting for amateur musicians to meet on a regular basis and encourage one another to improve their skill level on their preferred musical instrument.</span></span></span></p>

<p>A group of volunteers took over the care of flower beds, signage, upkeep of paths, upgrading of fencing, the creation&nbsp;of fairy paths, bug hotel at Douglas Park in Largs.In May 2020&nbsp;no flowers or plants were visible in the park. Within a few weeks all previous flowerbeds were opened and new bulbs, plants installed. An &#39;adopt a flower bed scheme&#39; was launched and individuals, local businesses, local groups like the Foccrs, Largs Youth Theatre, Largs Flower Club and the Nazarene Church had adopted and taken over the care of the beds along with the support of&nbsp;&nbsp;a group of committee members and friends. The gardens at Douglas Park have been transformed and paving work upgraded, the firechip to all the paths was renewed and painting of fencing, benches and metal surrounds also took place. However we need to continue our upgrading and maintenance to ensure the park continues to bloom.</p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">We want to extend the paved area in Cumbrae Community Garden to make a number of raised beds more accessible to users of wheelchairs, mobility scooters and walking aids. </span></span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">West Kilbride Village Gala is an annual event that has been running for over 60 years and provides an opportunity to bring the community of West Kilbride together.&nbsp;We hire in a variety of fun equipment and rides and offer reduced cost wristbands for unlimited use to ensure that these are accessible to all regardless of financial situation.&nbsp; The Gala provides the people of West Kilbride with an opportunity to socialise and enjoy themselves, promoting community cohesion, health and wellbeing&nbsp;and tackling social isolation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">In addition to the fun equipment and rides there are a range of stalls e.g., tea room, bbq, bottle stall, cake and candy, bric-a-brac, hook a duck and lucky dip and much more.&nbsp; These activities take place in two large marquees, which require to be stored throughout the year.&nbsp; We are seeking funding to purchase storage cages&nbsp;for the marquees (which are also used by other community groups), storage boxes and ground mats.&nbsp; As the storage cages are on wheels this will allow easier transport of the marquees.</span></span></p>