Following COVID, there has been population movement away from Arran resulting in Think About Plastic losing some of their volunteers and supporters and an influx of new people who may not be fully aware of the work of TAP. Think About Plastic-Arran (Charity No. SCO48987) is a steering group, set up in response to community concern, which works by involving community groups, businesses and individuals to think about their plastic use at source, in use and in disposal (reduce, re-use, re-purpose, recycle),  This project seeks to engage or re-engage people to work together (thus reducing social isolation and loneliness) to reduce the amount of plastic in use on Arran and subsequently reduce plastic litter in our environment (benefitting our seas and marine life and our countryside) and promoting the health and well-being  by maintaining and improving our beautiful island. Every single person can truly make a difference.

1. The project aims to raise awareness of the services of TAP and encourage people to become actively involved in reducing the amount of plastic entering the seas around Arran through the launch of a new @friends' scheme. To support this we would like to purchase materials to engage/ re-engage individuals and groups including a supply of metal pin badges for members and friends and generally raise awareness of issues with the general population and visitors to Arran.  500 badges @31p each  £155    Total £195 and to produce and stckers to raise awareness about the disadvantages of wet wipes being flushed down the toilet. (the incidence of plastic-containing wet-wipes has increased on Arran's beaches and constitues a health hazard. as well as being unpleasant). These two actions will form the basis of a 'Don't Flush' campaign in Spring/Summer '24. Initial set-up costs for badges £40, 500 badges'@31p each £155  Design fee for 'don't flush' stickers £150  80x 75x110mm vinyl stickers £89.76  Postage £3.90   Total   £438.66                                       

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

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

To prepare ground/beds by tidying, clearing of weeds and leaves before adding own mulch and compost to area, then planting of bulbs - tulips and daffodils throughout the park but especially to the front of park near railings in order to have a beautiful 'harvest' in the spring.

 multi combined top soil =                                                      £150.00

40kgs of daffodil bulbs (varied) £40.00 x 2                              £80.00     

Tulips - 200 bulbs                                                                    £60.00

Delivery                                                                                   £10.00                = £300.00

Our project will be to purchase a new defibrillator which our community volunteers will use to provide lifesaving treatment to anyone who needs it on Irvine beach and as part of our community outreach projects. Volunteers will be trained how to use the defibrillator, increasing their existing skillset around first aid, increasing resilience and building their confidence to use the lifesaving piece of equipment.

Our volunteers benefit from reduced social isolation by volunteering at Coastwatch through the day and at weekends, benefiting their health and wellbeing. Having equipment such as the defibrillator is essential to providing that service for volunteers and the public. All our volunteers learn from each other’s varying experience and Coastwatch has a sense of community spirit among the volunteers, building positive relationships within the community.

Breakdown of costs:

Mindray C1A Semi-Automatic defibrillator - £1100

Coastwatch will subsidise the additional £100 from our own funds.

Irvine Burns Club are seeking funding to provide trophies and book prizes for those pupils nominated to represent their schools at a “Champion of Champion” event held in Wellwood Burns Centre and Museum and demonstrate their skill in presenting their chosen poem. It is intended that there will be three categories, Primaries 1-2; Primaries 3-4 and Primaries 5-7.

Those nominated by their schools are also eligible to compete in the Ayrshire Association of Burns Clubs Schools’ Competition held later in the year.

If successful there they can go forward to perform at the Robert Burns World Federation National Festival. In the recent past several of our young people have been successful at this stage.

There are 11 Primary Schools in the Irvine Area and it is hoped that all would participate.

We seek funding to purchase 36 trophies at a cost of £20 each (£720) and 36 book prizes at a cost of £7.50 each (£270) a total of £990.

Any unused trophies and book prizes purchased would be held for use in following years.

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

West Kilbride Village Gala is seeking funding for storage cages, storage boxes and ground mats.

Large storage cage on wheels with shelving x 1 - £369.59

Tall storage cage on wheels x 2 @ £210.72  -      £421.44

Storage boxes with lids  Pk of 10                  -       £  56.40

Ground Mats (Pk of 4) @£17.99 x 8             -       £143.92

                                              TOTAL             -       £991.35