<p>Throughout lockdowns&nbsp;we have saw an increase in children becoming more comfortable sitting with devices than embracing all things outdoors. We know the huge benefits outdoor learning and play has on their&nbsp;mental health and well-being and introducing this as early as possible is crucial.&nbsp;Following periods of lockdowns we found many of our children struggle to interact&nbsp;and socialise, through outdoor learning/play we have reaped the benefits of not only these barriers reducing but through this they are being shown how the outdoors is benefitting them&nbsp;physically as well as mentally,&nbsp;often giving teachers the opportunty to have informal chats around healthy eating and its importance to them as they grow.&nbsp;&nbsp;Following consultation with our young people, through the pupil focus group, they have asked if they could have some more resources for them to enjoy and learn outdoors with.&nbsp;&nbsp;Following this the parent council&nbsp;purchased some of the &quot;Operation Play Outdoors&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp;den building packages. These have had such amazing feedback from all year groups, however in order to provide more outdoor resources we must&nbsp;provide somewhere safe to store future purchases.&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;</p>

<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">S1-S6 young people have a chance to compete against mainland football teams from across the country in the Scottish Schools Cup, a great opportunity for island youngsters to play in competitive games.</span></span></span></p>

<p>We are an North Ayrshire based mental health charity that supports children and young people to rediscover hope and happiness through theraputic interventions. This Feburary we hosted a very successful &#39;self-care&#39; day&nbsp;for children and young people aged 11-26 in the North Coast Locality, with all activities designed to promote phycial and mental wellbeing. After such a great turn out and positive feeback, we are hoping to do the same again.&nbsp;The &#39;self-care sunday&#39; will be open to children and young people aged 11-26, and will be inclusive of the following activities to promote physical and mental wellbeing; therapy dogs, introduction to yoga and mindfulness, introduction to reki, havening session, art therapy, journalling and gratitude workshop.</p>

<p>The St. Bridget&#39;s Show Group provides the opportunity for pupils from Primary 4 to 7 to participate in a weekly after school club, to develop their skills in Music, Dance and Drama. This opportunity to expand their knowledge of the Expressive Arts also encourages communication and community as well as building the confidence of all pupils involved. The group will rehearse a Musical and perform this on stage for the rest of the school and local community.&nbsp;</p> <p>This experience not only provides the opportunity for our pupils to explore Drama, Music and Dance at a greater depth, but a chance to perform on stage in a full scale musical.&nbsp;</p>

<p>We are looking to secure funding which will be used to support the pupils of Whitehirst Park Primary&nbsp;school. Funding will be used for transport, which will allow pupils to attend sporting events and events involving the arts (Music, Drama and Expressive Arts). Securing this funding will ensure that we can work actively to support our children from&nbsp;the school by allowing them to experience a range of opportunites whilst enhancing&nbsp;their learning. The opportunities to&nbsp;engage them in the lessons and learning they are exposed to in school, but in an out of school environment will help them understand the importane of their learning and give them long lasting memories. Some additional funding will be used to supplement the in-school resources related to these subjects.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>As a Sports Council we would like to support young people in the Irvine Area participate in Sport and Physical Activitiy and increase the number of people who participate in sport.&nbsp; We are a group of 14-17 year old young people who have had some great experiences and opportunties in Sport of our own and we want to help others have this too.&nbsp; We have personally seen that sport can help with our&nbsp;physical, mental, social and emotional wellbeing and we&nbsp;strongly believe that all young people should have the access to physical activity to help improve their own wellbeing.&nbsp; One of the barriers for young people to take part in sport is the access to sports kit and the access to free sport sessions.&nbsp; As a Sports Council we already offer free sessions (in a variety of different activities) but the young children who we see often don&#39;t have a tshirt / shorts etc often miss out or are embarrassed that they don&#39;t have sports clothing and therefore don&#39;t come to clubs.&nbsp; By having sports kit to give out, this will hopefully remove that financial barrier and make sport more accessible for all and allow us to create a sports community with strong representation and identity. The target group for this support would be 12 &amp; 13 year olds in the Irvine area.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>