Kilmacolm & Port Glasgow Agricultural Society Ltd in collaboration with The Ark on the Clyde CIC

We are running an Educational/Heritage Area at our Annual Show at the Knapps, Kilmacolm on May 14th. This is a completely new event and if it is successful, we hope to do it again each year at the Show. This will feature animal/agricultural exhibits, heritage information/displays, environmental/community groups, and local producers/handlers - we would like our visitors to experience a wider range of animals than is normally at the show so we would like to introduce speciality farm animals and heritage breeds in the tent. We will install educational/info signage at tents, rings and pens. We will hand out educational/heritage treasure hunt maps to kids as they arrive at the show. To complement this launch, we will also install directional/health and safety signage to make the show more accessible and help guide visitors to points of interest/health and safety areas.We are running an Educational/Heritage Area at our Annual Show at the Knapps, Kilmacolm on May 14th. This is a completely new event and if it is successful, we hope to do it again each year at the Show.  

This will feature animal/agricultural exhibits, heritage information/displays, environmental/community groups, and local producers/handlers - we would like our visitors to experience a wider range of animals than is normally at the show so we would like to introduce speciality farm animals and heritage breeds in the tent. We will install educational/info signage at tents, rings and pens. We will hand out educational/heritage treasure hunt maps to kids as they arrive at the show. To complement this launch, we will also install directional/health and safety signage to make the show more accessible and help guide visitors to points of interest/health and safety areas.

We want to help our visitors learn more about the countryside, farming, plants, gardening, environment, and animal care, this in turn will educate them on the impact they have on the planet and the local environment. We also want to educate visitors about local heritage - farming, the show and the impact on the local community in the past and in the future. Given the decline of the local farming industry, we want the show to provide a vital link between the public and the agricultural industry (field-to-plate journey). We would like to establish this event as a learning experience which will encourage people to support the farming community and respect and enjoy the outdoors – this will hopefully have a positive impact on local issues such as fly tipping, anti-social behaviour, littering, dog fouling. We would particularly like to target young children so that they grow up with an understanding of their impact on their environment and how farming and the countryside shape their lives. We intend to demonstrate and give away longer lasting items such as seed bombs, planting kits, litter pickers and informative literature - this will keep the ethos alive within the community longer than just at the event.

We intend to create areas within the event for local suppliers/producers, community groups and local companies who can demonstrate, educate and facilitate the learning experiences noted above. We also want to give local producers the opportunity to sell items that are related to the experience. Our give-aways and demonstrations will hopefully create long lasting enthusiasm and initiative within the community, especially kids, for our key themes. We hope to be able to build upon this event and offer more community involvement with schools and groups using some of the people, tools and equipment we will pull together for May 2022.

The Kilmacolm Community Council would like to hold a Jubilee village fete event, the remit being a family friendly engaging and inclusive event for all of the community. Running alongside the fete we plan to have a week long community art trail displaying artworks created by various community groups using recycled materials around the village, along with heritage photos of the village from days gone by displayed in the windows of local businesses. The fete would take place on one day over the Queens Jubilee weekend, held in Birkmyre park we would provide toilets and marquees to ensure ease of participation no matter what the weather. There will be a range of traditional games and stalls, children's entertainment including face painting and crafts along with a fancy dress parade for young people dressed as Kings and Queens. There would be a barbeque and space to encourage families to picnic at the event. We also plan to invite local groups to preform such as School Choirs, Pipe Bands and local dance and drama groups. The day will be organised by the Kilmacolm Community Council but involve participation from other local youth organisations such as schools, The Scouts and The Girl Guides. The art trail will follow a similar format to a previous spring art trail organised by the Kilmacolm Community Council, we provide a wooden board and a theme to local groups, for this event the theme will be related to decades in Britain/Scotland the groups then decorate the board with recycled materials and we coordinate the display in public areas throughout the village providing a map for people to follow. The art trail will remain up for around 1 week before being removed and distributed back to the groups or donated for display at suitable locations. Along side this we will be encouraging members of the community to submit historic images of the village which will be reproduced in large format and displayed in local premises.

Following Covid there has been limited opportunities for community led events, the Kilmacolm Community Council are confident that the fete will provide a family friendly event which will act as an opportunity for all parts of the community to participate and socialise. We believe it will attract those living in the village of Kilmacolm, as well as their family, friends and those from surrounding communities. We have sought to include activities which are suitable for the widest demographic in a central location in Kilmacolm and will promote the event on a variety of channels including social media, printed press and local posters to ensure wide coverage. It will give the opportunity for other village groups particularly those which are youth based such as schools, The Guides and Scouts to participate positively and interact with the wider community in a fun and proactive way.

At Campbell Snowdon House we used to hold regular large garden parties during the summer months. During these we would welcome family, friends and members of the community to join our residents during a fun family friendly event. During covid we have been unable to hold such an event, even the visiting of family members has been severely restricted. On talking to our residents they have said that they would all love to start this tradition again to welcome everyone back and celebrate the (hopeful) end of covid.

Our event would be open to anyone locally who wished to come. We often found that being able to come and see Campbell Snowdon in an informal setting like this was good not only for our residents who love to see new faces but also for local people who are maybe interested in Campbell Snowdon but wouldn't normally have the opportunity to visit. We would love to also invite our local nursery friends who our resident's have greatly missed during covid.

We would invite the local nursery children who we are partnered with and have fun and family friendly events and games. Our resident's have been incredibly isolated during the past 2 years which has been detrimental to them, particularly those with dementia. An event such as this to look forward to and to help plan would be greatly beneficial for them and an exciting start back to 'normal'.