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. 

We are founding the Arran International Festival of Chamber Music and Song and the inaugural festival will run from 22nd to 25th August 2024. The festival's aim is to celebrate Arran's rich natural and cultural heritage, to promote international cultural exchange by bringing leading international artists to the island and to include the local community in the creative process. There's a wealth of local talent, creativity and culture on Arran and a key part of the annual festival programme will be performances by both young and established local musicians alike.

The beauty of music and art is the power it has to bring people together across borders. The founding ethos of the festival is, 'getting across borders', in a world where so many lines are being drawn in the sand.

Last summer, in collaboration with the Arran Theatre and Arts Trust, the local business, Arran Active, and the island community radio station, Arran Sound, we organised a free concert on 18th August in Corrie and Sannox Village Hall, as a prelude, an introduction to the proposed launch of the festival. We wanted to gauge the reception of the local community to the idea of the festival and to invite members of the community to be involved from the outset. The concert was a great success, standing room only, and we received universal approval, warmth and support for establishing the festival. (documents relating to this initial concert are uploaded with this application)

The inaugural festival programme is currently in development and will be officially announced in early spring 2024. As of the submission of this application, events look as follows:

22.08

Event 1, opening concert, an evening with Richard Morrison & Company, featuring The Songs of Travel by Robert Louis Stevenson and Rantin Rovin Robin, a musical show celebrating the life and work of Scotland’s greatest literary figure, Robert Burns, through his own songs, verse and letters. Whiting Bay Hall, 7:30pm

23.08

Event 2, an afternoon chamber concert featuring a string ensemble of local musicians, artists tbc. Brodick Parish Church, 2:00pm

Event 3, a candlelit evening concert featuring local young musicians, artists tbc. Brodick Parish Church, 7:00pm

24.08

Event 4, outreach event, an illustrated talk by Dr. Sigrid Rieuwerts of Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, founder of the Society for Scottish Studies in Europe. Sigrid will talk about Culture and the beauty of nations, preserving the authenticity of cultures, heritage and the importance of local voices. Arran Heritage Museum, 1:00pm

Event 5, a unique concert event at Brodick Castle, International Cellists Gary Hoffman & Lydia Shelley will play Bach’s 6 Cello Suites, in three sittings, also including the UK Premiere of a work by the French Composer, Graciane Finzi. Brodick Castle Drawing Room at 3:00pm, 5:00pm & 7:00pm.

25.08

Event 6, a farewell musical get together and free-for-all featuring guest and local musicians at the Douglas Hotel, 12:00pm - 4:00pm

Budget

Artist fees: £8400; Artist & production travel: £2800; Accommodation & catering: £2400; Venue & event production costs: £1150; Festival administration costs, including management, promotion and publicity: £2000

Total budget: £16,750

The £400 would be spent on the purchase of special candles, which will adorn Brodick Parish Church for our candlelit concert on Friday 23rd August, featuring the young artists of Arran.  We are delighted to report that a World Premiere composition by the highly regarded young Arran composer, Electra Perivolaris, will be performed that night by the young local flautist, Lucy Walsh.  The candles in question are quite specific as we can't use real candles with naked flames - and once we have purchased these candles, we will be able to use them in other festival concerts and events in coming years.  

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 project is about providing an opportunity for people to meet up and enjoy an evening of company with their friends and other community members.

It’s about experiencing a live theatre event and enjoying a wee bit of lighthearted entertainment.

There’s audience participation, there’s quietly discussing your theories so nearby tables can’t hear you and there’s plenty of laughs.

And it’s about identifying the murderer!

The event will be held in a Dalry venue and costs include:

Hall Hire  - £100

Refreshments £50

Audio and light equipment £200

Promotion £50 

Hall Hire 26x24                                                                                                   £624

Purchase of Music including prescribed MOD fees                                                 £500

Fees to pianist and conductor                                                                              £750

Potential travel and accomodation costs if we go to Oban                                     (£2,500)

The descreipton of the project is formation of Arran Gaelic Choir and their projected expenses in year one. the MOD costs are indication only and we will fundraise for this.£1874.00 is out total expected budget cost this year it would be really useful to have your financial support towards the purchase of music and royalties to An Comunn.

The 400 will be used to cover the cost of entry and travel to the mod, as well as cover the prescribed music. 

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.