<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>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:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">Installation of replacement electrical system&nbsp;for Yuletide lights in&nbsp;Ritchie Street and Main Street West Kilbride Ayrshire. Work is required&nbsp;because the existing&nbsp;electrical system which has been in place for many years no longer complies with current electrical regulations as recently intimated by NAC Building Services.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">New/replacement connections need to be provided from a number of premises in the village and the external wall cabling needs to be replaced as it is over 25&nbsp;years old. Without this work taking place there will no longer be street lighting motifs for Yuletide activities in West Kilbride much to the detriment of community wellbeing.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">If this project doesn&#39;t go ahead there will be no Yuletide street lights this year in West Kilbride for the first time in over 25 years.</span></span></p>

<p>We would like to continue to offer Tai-Chi classes to people living with Dementia in our local Community. Funding a qualified Tai-Chi Instructor and hiring an appropriate Hall, to undertake the classes for the local Community. Research Studies showed that in people with mild cognitive impairment Tai-Chi slowed the progression to Dementia more than other types of exercise and improved cognitive function in a comparable fashion to other types of exercise or cognitive training. Tai-chi is a safe effective activity that improves physical balance and emotional wellbeing in older adults.</p>