Building upon the foundation of our longstanding Adult Drama group, which has been a source of empowerment for individuals, aged 18+, in the Three Towns and North Ayrshire since 2015, we are excited to offer immersive classes led by industry professionals. Our goal is to inspire both our current attendees and newcomers to refine their acting abilities, delve into the art of scriptwriting, and showcase their own creative performances. Our vision for this current group entails the creation of a unique performance that will unfurl as participants embark on this artistic journey, rekindling a captivating local Scottish legend, ‘The Flannan Isle mystery’.  Under the guidance of a professional Theatre director and theatre maker, participants will cultivate skills in devising, improvisation, script interpretation, and enhancing their vocal and physical performance prowess. Our mission goes beyond just creative growth. In the aftermath of the COVID-19, many people have struggled with isolation, loneliness and lacking confidence in social situations, our Adult Drama group offers individuals a chance to join a group of likeminded people and reduce social isolation. We believe in promoting enhanced mental well-being and fostering adaptable skills that extend beyond our sessions, including, contributing to securing employment prospects and educational opportunities. Our classes are be situated within local venues, which are easily accessible by public transport or within walking distance, which also promotes exercise and physical health. We prioritize marginalized communities in our initiatives, striving for equity. Our Adult Drama class is offered at an affordable price and to make sure participants are given the chance to attend and are not hindered by financial barriers. Over the years, we've nurtured a vibrant community of passionate Arts enthusiasts, nurturing camaraderie, and enthusiasm among our members. Our aspiration is to nurture and expand this Adult Drama group, ultimately creating a performance that instils a sense of local pride within the Three Towns, forging partnerships with local businesses and venues, and fostering connections that contribute to the physical and mental well-being of our participants and the community at large.

Project Costings:

Theatre Facilitator: - £400

Performance/Venue Space - £150

Set/Props/Costume - £200

Marketing - £100

Administration Costs - £150

Total - £1000

The project is in two parts. 

A. Recabling of internal power sources from the consumer unit in each of 6 premises (4 studios, 1 commercial business and the Village Hall) with armoured cabling to an external waterproof junction box. All work to be carried out by certified electrician including testing.

B. Replacement of external wall cabling, installation of weatherproof sockets and connection to newly installed weatherproof junction boxes for 34 motif positions in Ritchie Street and Main Street. All work to be carried out by NAC Buliding Services.

Breakdown of costs (including VAT) 

A. £2400

B. £2000

Total £4400

Note: This application is for £1000 which is a proportion of the total above, we are trying to find the remainder from other sources.

The Skelmorlie Community Garden Group took over the running and maintenance of the space outside Skelmorlie Library from North Ayrshire Council in Spring of 2023. The local community have put a lot of work and love into making the space beautiful and relaxing, and would like to add a little lending library to further enhance the garden's aims to promote wellbeing, sustainability and community spirit.

We think that this speaks to the goals of this round of participatory budgeting; building community, looking after the environment (re-using books), cost of living and health and wellbeing. The garden has been set up to be a contemplative space and a little library would foster this.

We have spoken with the staff of Skelmorlie Library, who fully support the project.

We have spoken with the North Coast and Cumbraes Men's Shed who could build this for us for around £100. We have uploaded a picture to show you the type of little library we are intending to install.

New communal instruments i.e. drums - £500 Hall let hire - £100 Uniforms for young people - £250 Tutoring from professionals - £150 Total - £1000

Having new equipment would allow the band to take on more beginners and give more young people the opportunity to take part in the band. We have some New Scots in the band and would love to be able to take on more to share the culture of Scottish music. People from all over North Ayrshire come to the band and its an opportunity for people to link up and get to know new people and make friends. In terms of mental health and wellbeing, we have some people in the band who suffer from PTSD, elderly people and some who are socially isolated.

The pipe band is really beneficial for the volunteers who build their confidence running the band and getting this funding would mean a lot to us in terms of increasing capacity and learning how to do more things with the band. We work with other voluntary organisations across Irvine to provide pipers for special events at a discounted rate and also refer people to the band who want to learn a new instrument.

Cancer has touched every family wether its someone we know, or one of our own loved ones.

To show a little kindness and let them know we are thinking of them, we would like to involve the community in sewing Christmas Cushions and stockings for donations to The Ayrshire Hospice and The Beatson Hospital.

We will host 3 half day sewing sessions for local people to come along and volunteer their time to create christmas cushions and stocking for the christmas project.

We dont have a laptop or internet access in our workspace and use our own mobile data. To show tutorials at workshops and communicate information of the workshops and the achivements would help us promote what we do.

To help us achieve this project we ask for:

Laptop-£ 339.00

Christmas Fabric -£200.00

Cushion inserts-£150.00 

We’re planning to pave round 4 raised beds in Cumbrae Community Garden to make access easier for people with restricted mobility, such as wheelchair/mobility scooter users or those needing walking aids. The Community Garden has a positive impact on health and well-being, not only for plot-holders but for the wider community who can access the peaceful outdoor environment of the Garden and take part in organised social events. This project will encourage more participation and improve community cohesion by improving access for people with a range of mobility needs and will help us promote community growing within a more vulnerable group.

The project costs exceed the PB grant limit but we have funding in place from the National Lottery which will meet the balance.

Costs:

Slabs £1300

Additional materials, delivery costs, labour: £1500

Total project cost £2800

Funding already in place: £1800

Funding requested from PB: £1000

Within the Garnock Valley there is a substantial amount of families and individuals who live in poverty.  A few years ago, as a charity-based organization, we felt that this is something that we should address and started to look at what we could do to help in our community. The statistics at that time found that 1 in 3 children in the Garnock Valley go to bed without a meal at dinner time. We introduced a community meal where families can get a three course meal for  £2.50 and children can eat free, we also accept referrals through the local authority and other organisations which allows families, and or individuals who are strugling with the cost of living, to eat for free. This has become very popular over the last few years with orders ranging from 55 – 125 individuals. This usually varies depending on what is on the menu that night. As well as a collection service we offer a delivery to those who are unable to get to the building, which gives an apportunity for our trained staff to check in with those who live in isolation. Currently our vegetables for our meals are purchased through a local supplier. We have discussed for some time that it would be more cost effective if we could grow our own vegetables and use these as part of the meal we provide.

Within the Community Hub we support adults with learning disabilities and as part of their daily programme, we could implement a grow your own food activity. This is something that the service users would really enjoy and are currently doing this on a much smaller scale within our garden. The ingredients could be used both for the community meals and when the service user's are making food within the training kitchen, which is where they prepare a meal from scratch to take home to eat.  The positive aspect being the reward for the time spent growing the vegetables/fruit, so that they can enjoy this as well as the most vulnerable people in our community.

We are looking to do more to help the vulnerable in Garnock Valley, by proposing to implement cooking classes for the impoverished. This venture is still in its infancy; however we are keen to develop this.  The food grown within the Polly tunnel could also be used for this project once we have the service up and running.

Polly tunnel - £500

Groundwork -£500