Last year, Everyone an Artist allowed a group of adults from across North Ayrshire to take part in a free six week art workshop where we used clay, learned how to cut and print lino blocks, and drawing techniques. Alongside the practical skills they gained, this opportunity offered the artists to build upon their self confidence, boosted their mental wellbeing and allowed them to meet new people. We would like to run this workshop again this year, but offer new techniques to learn with more materials. The project will run from the North Ayrshire Foodbank's new space on Glasgow Street, for six weeks (once a week) at evening time, to allow people time to come in from work.

proposed project breakdown: Lead artist - £168 hall rent and materials - £232 

Writing for Well-Being is a 6-week, in-person course hosted by So in Flow with Molly Murray in Ardrossan, UK.

£180 - Teaching costs, £30 x 2 hour session x 6 weeks.

£20 - Coffee & Tea Costs, x 6 weeks.

= £200 per 6 week session x 2 times per year  = £400.

SeaSalt Streets intend to use the events to highlight awareness of Betsy Miller, Britain's 1st Female Sea Captain. born in Saltcoats. 

The project will be presented in two formats and will be run on two separate days.

(A) A pop-up exhibition / workshop, using the gazebo purchased with our successful PB award. The gallery will contain information and photographs of Betsy Miller and her life. It is hoped to include a video presentation to enhance the experience. 

(B) A short talking / guided tour, starting in Quay Street, Saltcoats, the place of Betsy's birth with display plaque. The walk will then proceed to Canal Place to the pier gates where the waggonway led to Saltcoats harbour. From there, the tour will head to Saltcoats Harbour itself and the Harbourmasters' House and a meeting with "Betsy Miller" herself. The short tour will conclude at The Heritage Centre graveyard where Betsy Miller is buried.

Breakdown of costs 

Tour guide - 2 days @ £75.00 per day =          £150 

Betsy Lookalike - 2 days @ £60.00 per day = £120 

Advertising and promotional material          = £100

This project is intended to break down barriers with people who might not normally engage with history, culture or the arts, and try to ensure their future involvement. Our target audience will be anyone visiting, working or passing through Saltcoats Town Centre at the duration of the events. Anagram quizes and  colouring in sheets will encourage intergenerational working between children, parents/carers and grandparents. All participation is at no cost. 

The project runs along with term time, with lessons after school in half hour blocks for groups of up to five.

The tutors are paid at a rate of £40.50 per hour, and work a combined three hours each week.

40.50x3 = £121 per week.

This fund will provide tuition fees for our tutors. The feedback we have had from this project so far has been fantastic, and is only possible with continued funding & fundraising efforts.

I will upload a file documenting the feedback we have had from the first few months of the project.

This funding would be put towards our North Ayrshire sculpture competition which we host annually. This competition is free to enter and is aimed at young artists and schoolchildren across North Ayrshire, who are asked to create unique sculptures from recycled and natural materials based on the brief which changes each year. In previous years our themes have been "Our natural heritage; coasts and waters" and "Climate change; what it means to us" and we plan for this year's theme to be "From seeds to trees" to raise awareness on how to plant and grow our own foods and improve the greenery in our local community. To engage the schools and artists we will provide a prize for the winning entry, which is typically a paid-for day out provided by Beith Trust, which will be voted for by the general public via QR codes throughout the summer. To get people to vote and visit the sculpture trail, we will be hosting various free events over the summer for children and families to attend. The funding would be used to purchase materials to allow the events to be free to attend, ensuring families of all income levels can attend. These workshops would be two crafting workshops, one making clay plant pots to grow plants in and another to make bird feeders from old bottles and recycled materials. Another workshop we'd like to run would be led by a local artist and we would ask them to host a workshop teaching the children how to use nature to make art (leaf printing, flower dying, daisy chains, etc). Finally, we would like to host a stall at our National Playday event, which we run every year around our sculpture trail, allowing attendees to create their own seed bombs to take home and plant in their gardens. 

Our sculpture trail has consistently gathered numerous visitors throughout the years that we have run it, with National Playday being our biggest success with over 750 attendees last year. We would love to make these events as green as possible and use our space to teach the children how to have fun outdoors and away from screens. With a captive audience, we would like to teach green techniques and invite groups such as RSPB Lochwinnoch and Hessil Head to come along and host their own fun, nature-based stalls or activities. A breakdown on how we would use the funding is below.

Workshop materials:

10KG Air dry children's clay: £40

Variety of plant seeds: £35

Compost: £20

Materials to make recycled birdfeeders: £30 (Sticks, string, bird seeds, paints)

Materials for seed bombs: £30 (Flour, compost, water, plant seeds)

Wood-based materials for sign and box crafting: £45

Nursery plants from Gateside Garden Center: £50

Marketing and tutors:

Tutor fees: £100

Marketing materials: £50

Total: £400

 Livingstone Players are looking to improve lighting in order to enhance production and enable a wider array of special effects. More professional lighting can make a huge difference to the audience experience. The plan is to have another person helping behind the scenes and ideally give a younger person this experience. The would learn to create a chase effect and the illusion of movement across the stage. The equipment also has a blinder effect that can be used between scenes to disorientate the audience. The third technigue would be to use wash lights to fill a scene with colour.

The project would last the duration of equipment and we would intend to try and replace if it brokedown. 

The cost £199 each including postage so 2 are required to cover whole stage totalling £398

I moved to Largs late 2022 and created Largs Music Club soon after in response to the interest I received since floating the idea on social media.

LMC offers an informal setting for amateur musicians to meet on a regular basis and encourage and teach one another to improve their skill-level on their preferred musical instrument.

The club is growing in popularity since word is out that we existing members offer a friendly and relaxed environment for those keen to learn at their own pace without fear of judgement or impatience. As membership is growing, so does the variety of instruments being learned and taught.

The club relies on individuals contributing their time and equipment to teach fellow members how to play their preferred instrument. With funding, I would aim to purchase equipment to make that teaching more accessible – music stands, microphones, microphone stands, a Public Address system, amplifiers, mixing desk and some basic entry level instruments to encourage those who do not own an instrument (but who wish to learn one), to join us. These items are expensive and realistically will require additional funding from me and some other willing members to supplement any money issued following this application. However, I am confident that your contribution will assist LMC continue to grow in membership and reputation and eventually lead to the club playing music for the community.

The Public Address system is approximately £500. A couple of small amplifiers will cost an additional £500.

Our club assists develop confidence as well as musical literacy, with participants being encouraged to play live for friends and family and in time, for larger audiences, once the club starts playing local live shows as per my vision.

Feedback from participants so far evidence the mental health benefits of playing and learning in our community, a benefit I will highlight as I further promote our initiative in the community. Our regular attendee told me that since moving to Largs very recently, she was delighted when, a chance encounter with a then stranger in the park led to her learning about our club. Nervous but curious, she came along with her new friend and has made many more new friends through our practice. That she is also getting better at playing her guitar, almost now seems like a bonus.

We at LMC are extremely grateful for your consideration.

Kind Regards

Tom

In order to develop this project, the Parent Council aims to assist the Art Department with provision of cameras.  Existing photography equipment is in short supply within the school, so in order to ensure that each pupil has access to a high quality, specialist camera, we aim to purchase two bridge cameras.  This will allow pupils to develop and demonstrate skills in photography beyond that of a mobile phone camera.

The cost of an entry level bridge camera is around £200.  We would like to ask for funding to purchase two, costing £400 in total.

The exhibtion costs will be minimal, as it will take place on screen within the school and the Parent Council meeting any additional expenses such as refreshments.

In conjunction with North Ayrshire Council Music Services, Music@Wellwood would organise a Strings Masterclass with Head of Strings at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Andrea Gajic.  Andrea Gajic can provide guidance, technical advice and possible progression pathways into music for the young people taking part.  

Opportunities such as this have proven to strengthen access to music within North Ayrshire with young musicians supporting community groups and continuing to work within the community and schools promoting music as a career path and as an important educational tool which can continue to be a lifetime benefit. 

In addition to an afternoon Masterclass in the Wellwood Burns Centre & Music, the young people would be invited to attend an evening performance by Andrea Gajic in Wellwood. 

Provision of the afternoon Masterclass would cost £275.    Attendance of 10 young people (approx. number) at the evening performance in Wellwood would be £100.

Afternoon refreshments for the young people attending the afternoon Masterclass £25.  Any costs associated with the use of the Wellwood Burns Centre & Music would be met by Music@Wellwood.