<p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Our project is a volunteering opportunity for anyone to take part in, providing a&nbsp;rare chance to help record a long lost part of Kilwinning&rsquo;s history. The project currently has around 10 volunteers and we are always welcome to&nbsp;have more!</span></span></span></p>

<p>Our aim is to allow people from our community to access food with dignity. We are looking to support 250 households access food with dignity through our community larder, This will no doubt be a relief to many working households who are struggling with the rising cost of living and who many do not qualify for extra help. The community larder has no criteria, so anyone can use it when struggling, we help those most in need through referrals from housing associations, CHAP, money matters, social services and community link workers.&nbsp;We offer a range of food that all members can access and choose what they need the most as a top up on their weekly shop. This can make the difference of eating themselves, feeding their children or even providing the basic hygiene products. As the winter months start to creep in we also find that people are having to choose between heating and eating, This puts a huge strain on any household and we endevour to help those members by allowing them to free up money they save from accessing the larder and being able top up gas and electricity.</p>

<p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="background:#fdfdfd"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Lato&quot;,sans-serif"><span style="color:#222222">The Vennel Friends Discovery Group meet weekly in the Vennel Gardens Community Engagement Hub and helps older people come together to meet new people and try a whole host of activities.&nbsp; </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="background:#fdfdfd"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Lato&quot;,sans-serif"><span style="color:#222222">Our group is open to anyone over the age of 50. &nbsp;We participate in a wide range of activities that promote the health and wellbeing of our group members. The group provides a safe and welcoming place for older people to connect socially which helps to combat loneliness and isolation.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="background:#fdfdfd"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Lato&quot;,sans-serif"><span style="color:#222222">We are applying for funding to enable our group members to experience the positive mental health and social benefits of going to the theatre and having afternoon tea in Glasgow.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p>Applying for funds to continue to offer the Healing Hearts North Ayrshire Bereavement Support Group, based at Kilwinning Library on a Friday from 12.30pm - 2.30pm (exc public holidays).</p> <p>The group was established as part of the Connecting Communities&nbsp;Project, a partnership with Cruse, Cruse Scotland and Co-op, however with funding ending in December 2023, the group are at threat of closure. A number of the group&#39;s participants are keen to transfer the group to a constituted&nbsp;group, volunteering&nbsp;for roles in the committee.&nbsp; These participants have relevant experience in these roles and have created their constitution and are in the process of opening a bank account.&nbsp;</p>

<p>At North Ayrshire Carers Centre we provide a tailored service for unpaid young and adult carers across the locality, we support individuals and families through their caring roles and provide a listening ear, support services, advice, and peer support groups. Not only this, we aim to support all unpaid carers within each locality within North Ayrshire, through locality events and drop-in support groups for carers. Within our service, we recognise the unseen roles and responsibilities unpaid carers take on for&nbsp;a relative, friend, or neighbor. Care can be provided in more simplistic ways such as helping with the weekly shop to cooking meals. Support is not restricted to physical care but can be also emotional support ranging from just giving a listening ear or taking care of their financial affairs or their own health.&nbsp;This project aims to create a community carousel in partnership with HSCP Carers Team, Youth Services, and KA Leisure to create opportunities within each locality. This will provide a family respite opportunity for unpaid carers accessing the service, or for individuals who may require support in benefit advice, education support, funding, carer support plans or a listening ear as we understand how demanding being an unpaid carer can be. This project will initially be rolled out in seldom-heard communities such as Garnock Valley and North Coast where we aim to provide support within our capacity to unpaid carers along with a fun day out for families to access activities and information based on their needs and abilities.&nbsp;This project will provide an opportunity to tackle isolation, food poverty, and fuel poverty by giving carers a safe, warm space to use for the day where they can bring their cared for, and also access a meal and refreshments along with the company of Carers Centre staff and partners.</p>

<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="background:white"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="background:#fdfdfd"><span style="font-family:&quot;Lato&quot;,sans-serif"><span style="color:#222222">We are a community brass band with c.100 players of all ages. We wish to buy musical instruments to help us expand and a printer / scanner to help us digitise our extensive music library. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bahnschrift Light&quot;,sans-serif">Who are we?</span></span></span></b></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bahnschrift Light&quot;,sans-serif">Two local Girls from Stevenston in North Ayrshire who share a passion for recycling reclaimed items such as textiles and small household furnishings. We have set up this non-profit Social Enterprise to share our work with others.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bahnschrift Light&quot;,sans-serif">What do we do?</span></span></span></b></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bahnschrift Light&quot;,sans-serif">We create items such as bags, pouffes&rsquo;, quilts and much more using reclaimed clothes, bedding and scrap materials that are reusable.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bahnschrift Light&quot;,sans-serif">Why do we do it?</span></span></span></b></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bahnschrift Light&quot;,sans-serif">We want to share our passion for what we do with people across our communities to share the fun learning and open up new ideas to people who may have never considered using a sewing machine or recycling reclaimed items.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bahnschrift Light&quot;,sans-serif">The benefits</span></span></span></b></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bahnschrift Light&quot;,sans-serif">Learning new skills, being creative is relaxing and rewarding its helpful to the environment and its great fun!</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p>The money would fund archaeological work&nbsp;to oversee wetland creation at Ardeer Quarry LNR in Stevenston, making sure the&nbsp;project does not impact any&nbsp;undiscovered archaeological relics that might be there.</p>