We would like to join the wider Inverclyde community in recognising and celebrating the end of a difficult 2 years by hosting 2 days of events in the middle of the summer of 2022. Following a consultation with staff and regular users of the hub, as well as examining survey responses from Inverclyde residents, we have decided on a Community Spirit Weekend, which will include;

• Music from DJ’s/local bands/choir.
• Food provided by our café, a BBQ organised by our staff, and snack food stalls featuring small local businesses.
• Pop up shops featuring local artists and creatives.
• A farmer’s market for local growers to sell their vegetables and fruit.
• A tour of our gardens and what we do.
• Entertainment in the form of art classes, face painting, outside yoga, group meditation, small animal interactions, competitions, exercises, film screenings, floristry demonstrations, mindful walks, painting, mascots, football, cycling, dancing, and choir singing. (This list is not exhaustive)

Our events will take place during the day, getting people out in the fresh air to get lungs and bodies moving after a long time spent indoors. Our community gardens provide an excellent space to host our activities; we are based centrally, in Greenock, and easily accessible by public transport. Our walled gardens make our space private and secure, yet are welcoming and inviting to all. Visitors can take advantage of our beautiful greenery in the 6 glasshouses and massive courtyard that we are extremely proud of. Our large halls with glass fronted walls give us the opportunity to host activities inside, and our café provides delicious, low cost, healthy snacks and beverages.  

We would like to host our event over 1 weekend (2 days) in July. This will ensure that the weather conditions are appropriate enough to hold events outdoors, and is also the ideal month to ensure the children of Inverclyde can attend, as it falls in the middle of the school holidays. We would need to coordinate with other community groups in order to agree on an exact date, but for the purposes of the application, but mid July is our goal.

On Saturday 4th June 2022, the group plan a street party at the Scout Community hub at 14/16 Bank street to mark the Queens platinum jubilee celebrations

Event Details:

Consultation has already taken place with the following: 1 Young leaders form representing 140 young people 2 HM Lord Lieutenant, Col Peter McCarthy, who has given the event the green light 3 Neighbours in Bank street, Mearns street and families in Lynedoch street We plan to hold a celebration of all things community with a focus on all ages and in particular welcome recent immigrant families who have settled in the area from Nigeria, Morocco and Sudan. We are currently working with the Head Teacher of St Patrick's primary on this. The event will comprise of a tea party, with the usual attractions of face painting, bouncy castle and hot and cold food

This event will have a sense of 'coming together' and will embrace the community in a way that has not happened for many years. Civic leaders will be present to chat casually over a 'cuppa' and cake. Doors will be open for all to wander and chat and generally feel part of something new (The newly refurbished Scout Centre). The Greenock Telegraph have agreed to cover the event, which will be attended by circa 300/400 over the day. What a way to welcome the community together, especially new families coming into the area from overseas.

We plan to tie in with Wellpark Mid Kirk at the bottom of Bank Street to ensure our event flows into theirs and also with Broomhill hub at the top of the hill. It would be terrific if all 3 venues could work together in a continuous flow, with almost half a mile of celebrations joining up, but at the same time offering something different. We have Armadale court for the elderly as neighbours as well as partners (your voice-recovery café) who use our facility during weekdays. Both groups are looking forward to taking part. Colourful, community, music, and fun are all ingredients of success of such a street party event, which provide something for all members of the community. This event will be totally inclusive. We have already started to form a small team from our users and neighbours to look at the planning.

Total Cost £1000

We would like to collaborate to run a number of events and community campaigns throughout May 2022 to “Break the Stigma” on mental health whilst raising awareness of the support available within the community. Both charities have successfully managed to combine the communities love of football and its need for mental health support and this proposal links both together to continue that journey together.  

• Event 1 would be a young person focussed mental health football tournament for 11 to 14-year-olds within the community to come together and play at Cappielow for the “Break The Stigma Cup”. There would be opportunities for young people to connect with break-off Wellbeing Sessions in the stadium and mental health awareness sessions.
• Event 2 would follow a similar pattern but would be for adults within the community who may be struggling with their wellbeing who would come together and form teams to compete for the “Break The Stigma” adult cup. There would be a number of adult-led community groups available for chats within the stadium to support the adults attending.
• Event 3 would be a week-long campaign for both charities to co-produce content with members of their services to mark mental health awareness week and the importance of breaking the stigma on mental health. This would include the distribution of campaign merchandise such as a specific Football Jersey for Breaking the Stigma and other items to raise awareness in the community,
• Event 4 would be a continuation of the young person focussed tournament into the following 6 weeks with a Friday evening “Break The Stigma” session ran within the community.

We believe that these events will help the community come together on a subject matter that is hugely important. We know that the pandemic has exacerbated mental health for a lot of the residents in Inverclyde and that having an opportunity to connect with such vital projects throughout the month of May could be crucial to help them access support that they may need. We know that the people who come through our doors are struggling with a variety of trauma-related conditions, battling addictions, mental health conditions, or experiencing suicidal thoughts. We also know that connecting these people with others who have lived-experience can be life-saving. Our football projects in the community have been able to connect with people who wouldn’t normally present at mental health services, and we believe this month-long celebration of our work will only support more people. We have gained vital feedback from parents through pilot projects running supporting young people and know that the need is there to raise awareness for our young people on mental health to help break the stigma for future generations. We also know that connecting young people with football is a great avenue to begin these conversations and believe that this event and the follow-up sessions could contribute to a stigma-free society within the area.

We want to host these events throughout the month of May, traditionally where Mental Health Awareness Week falls within the UK. The theme for this year is Isolation and Loneliness which we know is a huge factor towards creating and fostering the stigma attached to mental health.

Young people (aged 15 – 25) from Kayos and Prominence will work together to create three performing arts workshops (musical theatre singing, dancing and acting) to be delivered free to schools and/or community groups. Community member workshop participants will then be brought together for a culmination performance to be performed for free to a community group, care home, school or nursery chosen by the participants. All rehearsals, workshops and performances will take place in the Greenock East and Central locality. The final performance will be outdoors in order to be widely accessible to the chosen community group and the local community.

This project will build on recent successes of Prominence’s ‘Elfcapades’ and ‘Deadcapades’ and Kayos’ street theatre productions (performed at Galoshans Festival and Surge Fest as part of Merchant City Festival) clowning and puppetry workshops and numerous successes of both groups in music and musical theatre. It will allow young people from both groups to put in to practice skills they have learned, work collaboratively, be supported to take leadership and assistant roles and work through the process of creating and delivering workshops and working with a group of participants to create and deliver a final performance.

Young people (aged 15 – 25) from Kayos and Prominence will work together to create three performing arts workshops (musical theatre singing, dancing and acting) to be delivered free to schools and/or community groups. Community member workshop participants will then be brought together for a culmination performance to be performed for free to a community group, care home, school or nursery chosen by the participants. All rehearsals, workshops and performances will take place in the Greenock East and Central locality. The final performance will be outdoors in order to be widely accessible to the chosen community group and the local community.

This project will build on recent successes of Prominence’s ‘Elfcapades’ and ‘Deadcapades’ and Kayos’ street theatre productions (performed at Galoshans Festival and Surge Fest as part of Merchant City Festival) clowning and puppetry workshops and numerous successes of both groups in music and musical theatre. It will allow young people from both groups to put in to practice skills they have learned, work collaboratively, be supported to take leadership and assistant roles and work through the process of creating and delivering workshops and working with a group of participants to create and deliver a final performance.

Auchmountain Halls Fun day

The fun day will be take place at the end of our 4 week play scheme, creating an opportunity to bring the whole community together. Working with other organisations in the area will help encourage as many people as possible to attend but also help plan the event.

The event will be held at Auchmountain Glen, weather permitted. If not it will be held within Auchmountain Community Centre. A Community Celebration where we will have a Children’s Entertainer, Burger Van, Face Painters & Goody Bags. This event will bring people together as the event is free of charge and open to everyone, all age groups, meeting up with old and new friends and breaking down barriers of isolation.  Connect and reunite the community and strengthen the bonds between them, this hopefully will help improve mental wellbeing and alleviate personal struggles. At the event, there will be:

• Children’s Entertainer                      
• Burger Van                                      
• Face Painter                                     
• Goody Bags
• And More........