<p>West Kilbride Yuletide is an annual event that brings members of the local Community together to celebrate the Christmas.&nbsp; <font color="#00000a" face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Yuletide 2022 was a great success and brought back a sense of Community togetherness following COVID.</span></font></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="line-height:103%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:#00000a">All activities are free therefore everyone can participate and feel included.&nbsp;&nbsp;By providing free activities, it addresses poverty and inequality by making it accessible for everyone, which is important as we are going through a Cost of Living Crisis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-indent:0cm; margin-bottom:7px"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="line-height:103%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:#00000a">The activities in this event will help to bring back the joy and happiness it brought to all members of the Community.&nbsp; The knock-on effect of this will enhance the Health and Wellbeing of all generations.</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-indent:0cm; margin-bottom:7px"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="line-height:103%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:#00000a">West Kilbride Yuletide is an excellent example of inter-generational working and breaks down several barriers that exist between generations and brings a sense of Community Cohesion and Community Spirit.</span></span></span></span></p>

<p><meta charset="UTF-8" /></p> <p>&#39;Coffee Cadenzas&#39; is a community project with the aim to bring members of the community together through the joy of art and music.<br /> We are proposing an 8-week coffee concert series, starting on the 21st of October 2023 and ending on the 16th of December 2023.<br /> The concerts will be held in the main gallery of the Barony Centre, West Kilbride. This is an opportunity for audience members to connect with others, support local venues such as the Barony Centre and experience arts and culture in the local community. All concerts will be every Saturday from 10:15am - 12:15pm, commencing in October.</p> <p>What will it look like:<br /> Members of the public will have free access to the Barony Centre and will enjoy the immersive experience of sound and visual arts work harmoniously together. All whilst networking with other members of the community of all ages over a cup of coffee from the Barony Cafe.<br /> We want to break the restrictions of classical traditions and offer members of the public the choice of how they want to experience the event. This will be freedom of movement, providing areas where participants can talk, solely listen to the music or find a quiet corner to reflect.</p> <p>Supporting this project will allow members of the public to access arts and culture for free, breaking down the barriers often experienced for those accessing the arts. The overall project will offer health and wellbeing benefits to the communty, by providing a hub for socialisation and connection in the local area.&nbsp;</p>

<p>We need a lap top to ensure face to face meetings can be accessed by our community and local councillors through zoom</p>

<p>After confirming a demand we would like to create a community facility to help combat loneliness and isolation which is most prevalent in our older community. We would like to improve social interaction through an informal drop-in venue hosted in our Community Centre and run by volunteers in conjunction with the Community Association. The desire is to provide a weekly meeting place with soup and refreshments. The availability of such a facility becomes known quickly and encorages those more isolated to participate and develop new friendships.It also gives people the opportunity to better understand and hopefully participate in the other activities available in the centre, library and community. Also to help create any new and needed facilities. In a rural community people can become isolated because often travel is needed to participate in many activities in other facilities. Our aim is to tackle this inhibition by at least providing a local basic meeting facility that can be tailored to increase participation as demand is understood. Using this Village Hub approach we will try to encourage participation with the hope of providing other social, recreational, well-being and educational opportunities. This will provide the Community Association with a better understanding of the needs of the community to be used in our ongoing interaction with the North Ayrshire Council Officers.</p>