Garnock Valley Allotment Association Bee Colony and Honey Production.

Bees are pollinators. Pollinators are vital for life on earth as we know it, without them we wouldnt have potatoes, strawberries, tomatoes, coffee,chocolate, cotton or honey. However Bee populations are in danger of extinction due to a number of factors such as disease, habitat loss and the impact of pesticides. Organic food production, which is practiced at the Garnock Valley Allotment Associiation is ideal for a Bee colony as it creates a safe haven for the Bees to survive. Please Bee kind and vote for the GVAA Bee Colony Project.

Costs

New Bee Hive - £250-00

Bee Suits- £250.00

New Equipment to extract and distribute Honey- £300

Training and Education eg Ayr Beekeeping Course- £200

The idea for this group is that they will meet regularly to talk it out, to make things, or bake things and to carve out a space for themselves to do things that they would like to do. Often socialising as adults involves alcohol and costs money. After recently running an arts and crafts course, It was clear within the feedback I received that people want and need something to look forward to, something regular and reliable that allows them to do something for themselves - to meet new people and just have a chat, about anything and everything. 

At the first session I would like everyone to come together, to generate ideas of things they would like to do within the group, any activities, conversations or new skills they'd like to learn. This could be anything from crotcheing to baking, from arts and crafts to having guest speakers in, games nights or simply just a cup of tea and a chat. 

This group aims to build a sense of community spirit, to reduce social isolation and promote positive mental health and wellbeing through the simple act of socialising. the group would be open to any adults who would like to come along, from any background and any walk of life. 

Proposed breakdown of costs:

This project will run in partnership with the North Ayrshire Foodbank, they have offered to match the funding requested by this application, in order to allow the group to run for as long as possible. 

• £1000 - materials/ ingredients/ equipment for activities 

We are applying for £1000.

Rough guide costs per large container which will house a couple of Mini Munch cucumber plants, 2 tumbling tom tomato plants, or a courgette plant/2 kales/1 broccoli plant/mixed salad with radishes and spring onions, etc For a 35litre trug with compost and pearlite for £15 per filled pot

or 15litre pots/trugs with 1 tumbling tom tomato plant/1 mini-munch cucumber/several lettuces/1kale/ with compost and pearlite around £5 per filled pot

+Seaweed (organic) concentrate fertiliser filled from plastic drinks bottles that people can bring to us around £8 per filled pot

+Seeds between £1-3 per person (some are specialist varieties we have tried out this year to check for size, yield and taste)

Participants will be able to choose several plants and a start up kit that suits them and their gardens best. 

If the average take up was a 3 trug start-up per person then we estimate that we would have enough funds to secure £55 per household for 18 households. We anticipate people taking up a mixture of pots/trugs and some only taking 1 of either. We think around half of participants  will be Village Larder customers. 

Dalry Community Sports Club, will be working in partnership with both, Dalry Community Development Hub and Dalry Action Group to reintroduce a proposed yearly gala event, to be held in Dalry Public Park. All groups have within them, the previous experience and knowledge required to progress this, where we will pull our resources together to ensure this is successfully progressed. Dalry Community Sports Club currently has a temporary occupational licence for the sports pavilion within the park, and is in the final stages of an asset transfer of these premises – this pavilion is an excellent focal point from which to stage this event, where we have recently refurbished welfare and toilet facilities for use on the day. This year`s King`s Coronation event was a great success and was managed by Dalry Action Group with a number of local groups in support including DCSC. We see these events as an extension of some of the work that we are involved in, where we are looking to help address some of the key issues in our community, including, social isolation, food deprivation, mental health & wellbeing and the impact of the current cost of living crisis. We would look for this event to encourage people to come out, and make use of this great outdoor space that the park offers, minimise the cost of participation, especially for families where we would look to have as many free / low cost activities as possible, and also offer free food, previously this has been burgers / hot dogs. Dalry Community Development Hub will also be promoting the Community Garden.  Their stall will also have supplies and tools to enable people to come and try to “grow their own” eg compost, pots, plants, Hints & Tips etc.  Dalry Community Sports Club will also have a stall promoting their latest project - the creation of Community Allotments, which will include, Community gardens, Educational Area and Allotment Letting opportunities.  They will take this opportunity to consult those present as to what else they would like to see adjacent to the allotment area and use the event to promote their continuing projects – Sports Pavilion,  Parklives, Community Larder, Warm Space  etc.  Hopefully this will lead to some volunteers.  Volunteers from the Sports Club will also be circulating on the day asking people to complete surveys for upcoming events and projects.  This could also include, initiatives by Partner groups, including,  Christmas Lights, which is run in partnership with Dalry Action Group. These have all worked very well in previous events where we have seen generous donations by those in attendance. We do see this type of event, as a key driver to help bring people together and help to build a better, more inclusive and stronger community for us all to live in.

Costing Notes

Insurance – already covered by DCSC Insurance policy

Gala Tents x 2 = £1470

DJ / Compere –  £400

Bouncy Castles – £550

Burgers / Hotdogs / rolls / sauces /napkins –  £600

BBQ Gas ( re-fills ) x 3 –  £72

Face Painting – £100

Gardening / Allotments Community awareness & participation stall - £200

Traditional stalls ( including equipment for, eg wet sponge, coconut shy, prize hoopla, beat the goalie, knock the cans, hook a duck, prizes etc )  - £700

Advertising / posters etc - £150

Misc -£758 ( this will be determined more if funding agreed and groups coming together will help generate further activities and requirements )

Our volunteers and members regularly attend other events promoting the Community Garden and we would like to provide warm fleeces/ waterproof jackets with our logo. Also advertising material to help promote the amazing work our volunteers do. 

We have two bee hives which are now producing honey. Two of our trustees self fundeed a bee keeping course and bought their own suits. We would like to purchase two additional suits to allow members of the community who would like to learn about bee keeping and see first hand what happens within the hive.

We would like to trial soup packs made up with the produce from the garden . These would include everything to take home to make soup including a recipe. Two of our volunteers recently attended a beginners cooking class at a Radio City initiative and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, gaining so much confidence in preparing and cooking simple wholesome meals.

Fleeces/ jackets £470, Bee Suits £110, Advertising banners and leaflets £200, Soup packs £150,  various gardening gloves £70

We are a clothes and toy bank and run event in and around ayrshire and put on different things like summer bags, Halloween party, Christmas bags and day out. 

We meet every Monday in the Hayocks Hall, Stevenston. The aim for the funds raised will go towards local senior citizens having activities within their local community, this will prevent loneliness and will also benefit physical and mental health, we play bingo and have quizzes, this funding will also help contribute towards prizes to keep members motivated.   

The funding we're applying for will go towards:

• £580 for bus trips, having this funding means members from all financial situations can be involved. 
• £420 for yearly events such as Christmas Dinner, Burns Night and Easter.