We wish to purchase waterproof suits and footwear for all children in our Early Years as we want every child to have access to outdoors in all weathers.  Outdoor Learning enhances health and wellbeing and educational experiences.  It supports mental, emotional, physical and social development and allows children to thrive in a stimulating and natural environment.  Furthermore, accessing the outdoors supports the development of literacy and numeracy skills and enables them to be practised in a real and meaningful context.  To ensure all children have the opportunity to learn outdoors throughout the year, and that families are not impacted by the cost of wellies or waterproofs, we wish to provide these within the EYC.

West Kilbride Village Gala is an annual event that has been running for over 60 years and provides an opportunity to bring the community of West Kilbride together. We hire in a variety of fun equipment and rides and offer reduced cost wristbands for unlimited use to ensure that these are accessible to all regardless of financial situation.  The Gala provides the people of West Kilbride with an opportunity to socialise and enjoy themselves, promoting community cohesion, health and wellbeing and tackling social isolation.

In addition to the fun equipment and rides there are a range of stalls e.g., tea room, bbq, bottle stall, cake and candy, bric-a-brac, hook a duck and lucky dip and much more.  These activities take place in two large marquees, which require to be stored throughout the year.  We are seeking funding to purchase storage cages for the marquees (which are also used by other community groups), storage boxes and ground mats.  As the storage cages are on wheels this will allow easier transport of the marquees.

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. 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.

The newly created Skelmorlie Community Garden space is looking beautiful. We would like to install a little library for book sharing in the community, to increase use of the garden.

Irvine Pipe Band would like to get new equipment for training and uniforms for members of the band who are not able to afford their own equipment. The project will link people up from all walks of life including New Scots as well as others from across North Ayrshire who share a passion for Scottish music. The band provides an opportunity for people to boost their mental health and wellbeing by making new friends and taking up an instrument completely free of charge.

We are seeking a grant to support the printing and production of cookbooks which will be given to families in need within the Irvine locality as a pilot to show them ways to have healthy meals at low cost.  We are hoping to  work in partnership with local community groups offering lunches or cooking classes, and can then be given away with participants.