ONE STEP AHEAD this will be aimed at 13 -14 year olds rather than the 15 -16 age group,The young people, assisted by an adult mentor would volunteer in exchange for gaining sound knowledge of various subjects that would stand them in good stead to succeed at school, giving them an insight in  different subjects that would help them volunteer in groups of their choice. The subjects will be beneficial to young people and short programmes will be introduced such as working with children, equine therapy, tackling poverty, first aid, admin,  children's mental health and well being, As on line courses usually start at 16 ACES staff would give short insights into the subjects, young people would help out at Youth club, school holiday clubs, community shop, and working with our equine therapy pony all under qualified supervision , the young people would gain a portfolio with their volunteering story in it and pictures ,comments by themselves and  staff who work with them. This would be evidence to show to other groups, further education, or employment and be a step ahead to full volunteering, further education or employment. the young people would lean a suitable work ethic which will help in the future, the volunteers would train for six weeks then they could stay and volunteer with ACES and Woodwynd or move to Other groups or clubs. Costs will be required for hall hires for training evenings, £12.90 x 6 = 77.44 preparing portfolio's, portfoloi's  £,13.14 x 12 =157.68, safety equipment hire for equine therapy, £ 19.00 x 12 = 228 cost of riding instructor £ 45 ph x 2  =90 arena hire  2x 75 =£150   additional pony hire £ 25x4 =£100 cost of materials for fist aid training,£15.00 volunteers polo shirt £15.00 x12 =180

Kilbirnie and Glengarnock Community Association have gifted Cafe Solace Kilbirnie use of a section of the community garden, that Cafe Solace Kilbirnie are going to utillise as a community garden to grow our own vegetables that will be used to make our low cost, nutritious meals. As well as growing our own vegetables our hope is that volunteers who help with the growing process will benefit from learning new skills as well as maintaining their mental health and other benefits. Any excess vegetables that Cafe Solace Kilbirnie can't use we will donate to The Wee School Pantry to help with the rising food costs facing the community. As an added Security measure we are also looking to install CCTV cameras to help protect the garden from vandalism or theft as well as preventing tools etc being stolen. We are also looking to install additional parking facillities for the vaolunteers or visitors to use whilst at the centre. Below is a breakdown of the proposed works with an estimate of approximate costing.

STAGE 1

Heavy Landscaping  £300

Bark/Gravel - £350

STAGE 2

Shed for Tools - £200

Tools - £100

STAGE 3

Compost/ Top Soil - £300

Seeds/ Plants - £150

Planters - £300

GARDEN WORKS - £1700

CCTV INSTALLATION - £1800

PARKING AREA - £1500

BABCA who are a group of volunteers elected to run the Towerlands community Centre with assistance from the local authority have run family events in the area which have been very sucessful. This year BABCA wish to encourage adults and older people back into the centre for a free social event in the evening. The committee want to hold a Saturday evening event turn the centre into the wild west. We had a monkey survey and Country music won over the sixties seventies and eighties. The event date would be the 24th of February 2024 the live country band would be Stateline a local band which usually packs out local venues in the Irvine locality. The committe wish to have a free chuck wagon giving away pies and beans or mushy peas. The bar would also be run by Towerlands Bowling club who are another local club run by volunteers who are situated next to the Centre. We want people through the doors in February as we are trying to organise a Community and memorial Garden situated next to the centre and wish the Country and western evening event to promote the garden project and see if we can get volunteers to assist in the garden which we are in the process of trying to secure funding for. BABCA want to grow fruit and vegetables in the garden for their Community food larder the Farm Basket. We will also do some fund raising on the night for the larder  with raffles, cowboy bingo and a silver dollar so all the events feed into each other. The cost of our event is as follows

Stateline Country band £450   Pies Beans and peas paperplates knifes and forks tablecovers £200    Hall decoration Flags, bunting £150   hall let £94   tickets x100 flyers leaflets/posters £106

Dalry Community Sports Club have a number of key priorities which were originally based on increasing the health and wellbeing of our community through various sports and leisure activities. Prior to the pandemic we were also looking at opportunities to help address, both social isolation and food deprivation issues, aligning ourselves with some of the key priorities of North Ayrshire Council and Scottish Government. As part of these priorities we have been operating our Community Larder since Nov 2020, initially as a foodbank during the pandemic, but now aligned with NAC`s Community Larder model, where customers pay £4, for a selection of items, and also a variety of free short dated / best before items. To complement this, we opened our warm space throughout the winter period, but have actually kept this going all year now. Once people have visited the larder, they can then have a hot / cold drink and a filled roll / biscuit. Both the Community Larder and the Warm Space have allowed both individuals and families the opportunity to meet and socialise with other members of the community previously unknown to them. We operate both the Community Larder and the Warm Space on a Wednesday night and a Saturday morning. Since the cost of living crises started, we have seen the numbers of people attending our Community Larder steadily increase. We are now seeing more families attending these, and more people who are working. To support these activities, it has put a strain on the commitment of our volunteers, but also on the stress and strain of constantly looking for funding opportunities to support these. Local businesses have been great here, where we work in partnership with Tesco, ASDA, Bookers, Co-op, Irvine`s Bakery, Lidl and Reid`s Food Services, who supply us with a combination, of either free short dated / best before items, or items at discounted prices. Unfortunately over the last 12 months, we have seen how the rising costs have impacted on our funding, where it doesn`t buy as much. To help us get the best value for money, and bulk buy when the prices are good, we require the purchase of an addition upright freezer and pastries storage. We further require a labelling machine so that we can mark up items of food that we pick up free, and aprons / fleeces which would help give our volunteers a feeling of identity.

Costings

Polar G-Series Upright Display Fridge 218Ltr Black - £599.98, Lacor Countertop Ambient Food Display 554mm - £239.99, NIIMBOT B1 Label Maker Machine plus additional role - £29.99 + £8.99 = £38.98 &  Aprons / Fleece / Print – cc £120

To get the project off the ground and be gardening for all during year one of the growing season, raised beds are a solution agreed on by the committee.

Corrugated planters 320cm x 80cm x 44cm at a cost of £179.99 each

 6 planters = £1079.94

We have raised funds elsewhere which will take care of the shortfall

The group sees an average of 15-17 bereaved people attending each Friday, with new referrals being made weekly, to receive peer-support, friendship and companionship from others who have been bereaved, making them feel less alone in their grief, and reducing feelings of social isolation and loneliness, whilst promoting better mental health and wellbeing. 

There is very limited support in the community for bereaved people, with waiting lists at an all-time high, highlighting the importance of community supports, such as Healing Hearts, which has already made a significant difference to bereaved people across North Ayrshire. 

Room at Kilwinning Library at £3.70 ph x 2 hours per week = £7.40 per week x 48 weeks = £355.20 for the year. The group also require tea, coffee, milk, sugar and biscuits for each group, averaging £6 per week = £288

Total £983.20