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.

GMAS would like to host two events to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. The events will provide a safe and fun environment providing food and entertainment as part of the party celebrations.Our events will include local members of our community who are in our care, their families, friends and loved ones, and the families and friends of our staff too. We will include our executive board members and our house committee members who are all local people who give back to our community on a voluntary basis. The events will provide an opportunity for everyone to come together and reconnect, allowing us to share our experiences during the past 2 years which has been particularly difficult for our residents and their families who have felt cut off and isolated due to the pandemic.

Our events will include local members of our community who are in our care, their families, friends and loved ones, and the families and friends of our staff too. We will include our executive board members and our house committee members who are all local people who give back to our community on a voluntary basis. The events will provide an opportunity for everyone to come together and reconnect, allowing us to share our experiences during the past 2 years which has been particularly difficult for our residents and their families who have felt cut off and isolated due to the pandemic.

Our events will provide a platform for everyone to come together in a fun way. Our current intergenerational work with Inverclyde Shed, Broomhill Hub, Parklea, Battery Park and Madeira Nurseries will bring together all genders, ages, and cultures within our community. Our local partners will be invited to join in our celebrations, and we will support local businesses to provide us with our entertainment and catering requirements on the day.

Our Cultural Community Festival will provide an occasion for residents and visitors to  come together to share and celebrate the Queens platinum anniversary through cultural activities including-

• Intergenerational Community arts and crafts workshops
• Intergenerational concert  (Music in the Square)
• Community cooking workshops (Food crosses all borders)
• A range of free family fun activities

Our Cultural Community Festival will provide a range of activities which will focus around the development of the community arts, music and community cooking and sharing activities will be delivered to a variety of groupings from pre-school to older people, family sessions, creating intergenerational activities to build community and reinforce positive experiences. Mixed art sessions including Art/Drama, Storytelling, Music and Dance to engage the idea of using personal history and experience to drive the concept of Cultural Community.

Local people will, through arts and cultural activity focused workshops be involved in designing and delivering events to celebrate and share with the wider community encouraging positive social connections, which can enhance wellbeing and alleviate loneliness. The event will offer opportunities for people to come together as we transition to a post covid period and celebrate with friends, family and the wider community.

The Community Cultural Festival will add value to other local services working in partnership with Youth Connections, Larkfield Housing Association and Larkfield Children’s Centre will encourage more effective joint initiatives. This will enable hard to reach participants to engage with the wider community reducing isolation, to making new friends and having fun. Networking with other local services to enhance arts/cultural provision and ensuring that organisations come together to support the local community whilst tackling social exclusion and poverty whilst having access to free family fun activities. The ‘WISHES Group’ who provide opportunities to older people aged over 55, Youth Connections youth advisory group and Venture out Volunteers have been directly involved in developing our proposal.

An intergenerational mini arts festival, celebrating the new use of a previously prohibited green space. An all-day inclusive event for the surrounding community featuring:

• Mindfulness/meditation walks                      
• Street Food
• Poetry and creative writing workshop          
• Live music from local artists
• Teddy Bears' picnic and Storytelling time   
• Children's activities

An opportunity for connection after Covid, conversation, hospitality, art therapy and fun, as a chance to reimagine the possibilities of this new space together as a community.

This festival will encourage the local community to visit this previously prohibited space, particularly those who have no private garden and those who have had little access to this site and contribute their ideas and vision for the future use of the site. We are hoping that this will be interactive on the day, with an 'ideas tree' where folk can discuss, write and display their ideas. We will encourage our multi-cultural neighbours and friends to participate in planning the event to include cross cultural exchange and friendship.

The festival will seek to foster interaction, promote good mental heath through community, and nurture confidence and inclusion in the local area by providing time and space to celebrate together in a safe and fun environment. We will be directly supporting local musicians and artists as well as reaching out to 'sister' green spaces, (eg Broomhill Hub), local schools,(eg Ardgowan),  churches, (eg Hope Church) We will encourage partnerships with local businesses and charities (eg Mindfulness Warrior, Man On, Foodshare, Spar, Porchlight, artist Nicola Young, Yvonne Lyon Music, Reely Jiggered, Urban Folkers, BEP signs and Inverclyde Shed), most of these being in our neighbourhood, or having strong links with.

We recently have taken on the management via long term lease of Kirn Drive Community Centre and have re-launched it as Coppermine Community Centre. The centre is now busy throughout the week through groups that meet regularly however we are looking to hold more open community events. As part of jubilee celebrations we would like to hold a "street party" which we can do indoors also and utilise the kitchen to provide food. The other thing we would like to do as part of these celebrations/launching as a community hub would be to offer regular community/family cinema days with pop up cafe. We have invested a significant amount of money in the property since moving in back in November with new kitchen, hi tech meeting room and new flooring throughout. We are now ready to open our doors and welcome people in for community events. To cover the one off set up required to deliver this is quoted as £3000 which includes ceiling mounted projector, 5 meter electric retractable screen, sound system and lighting. Jubilee party costs we estimate at £800.

We are already delivering community benefit by the variety of activities meeting monday through to saturday. Evenings are at full capacity and our day time slots are now filling with activities for baby/toddler groups and the elderly. We want to offer more at Coppermine where those who dont attend a group can tap into. The jubilee party and cinema events are perfect for this and an opportunity to come in, grab a chat, a snack or enjoy a movie in the company of others. Our aim is to create a modern community hub where local people feel a connection. We are running this entirely on a voluntary basis with no paid staff.

As previously mentioned we run Coppermine Community Centre voluntarily on behalf of the community. Our aspirations as scouts is to embed ourselves in the community and get involved in initiatives that support health, mental wellbeing, community involvement and social inclusion. We will run these activities as open events to bring people together. We trialled this at the hall after remembrance parade where we had 100+ people back to the centre for some warm food, drinks and a chance to chat. We are ready to do this more regularly. We have a team of 45+ volunteers with a range of skills from catering to project management that can deliver these events and give up their time free of charge.

We shall be organising a Heritage exhibition in the Watt Hall which will comprise exhibitor stalls showcasing heritage related photos, tours, trails, memorabilia, pamphlets and books. This will also be supported with access to online local heritage resources. We shall be offering a schedule of short presentations from various groups who will give information about the rich heritage of our community. Various topics will include such as Wemyss Bay Station, researching family history, shipbuilding, architecture of the Municipal Buildings, and Greenock’s historic quarter.

Visitors at the event will be able to engage with heritage enthusiasts on a one-to-one basis and learn from their comprehensive knowledge of Inverclyde fascinating social history. The exhibition will be an informal and relaxed environment and information will be provided which gives access to follow up information online.

Our Heritage Fair in the Watt Institution aims to celebrate the many ways local people are researching, recording and passing on aspects of their culture which has significance to the way they are living their lives. We shall also visit community groups throughout the summer to introduce them to our group and to engage with more residents. IHN hopes to inspire others to share and celebrate their life stories specifically through oral histories to enable us to preserve the cultural heritage of the current generation for the generations of the future.

The children at Gourock Primary have not had any large scale activity that encompasses the whole school together since COVID. This would be a fabulous way of not only teaching the children the significance of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee but also bringing all the children together to celebrate as one after being segregated for so long. The plan is to hold a fun day consisting of a Disco, decorate the school and playground with bunting, party games, a visit from the "Queen" herself - an elected one from Primary 7. This would be a fabulous opportunity to thank the children for their resilience during the Pandemic and also alleviate any fears some of the children may have with regards to large scale social gatherings.The children at Gourock Primary have not had any large scale activity that encompasses the whole school together since COVID. This would be a fabulous way of not only teaching the children the significance of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee but also bringing all the children together to celebrate as one after being segregated for so long. The plan is to hold a fun day consisting of a Disco, decorate the school and playground with bunting, party games, a visit from the "Queen" herself - an elected one from Primary 7. This would be a fabulous opportunity to thank the children for their resilience during the Pandemic and also alleviate any fears some of the children may have with regards to large scale social gatherings.

Gourock Primary School are open to partnering with Binnie Street Early Years Centre & also plan to invite the Minister of the Parish attached to the school which is Old Gourock & Ashton Church. There is also scope to invite the Greenock Telegraph to document the event. Local businesses will be engaged to provide services to run this event such as live music (DJ), food, drink and games to entertain the children. Other potential ideas are to invite the local Fire Brigade to show/tell the children one of their Fire Engines thus promoting fire safety.

The School would schedule the event to run in accordance with the Jubilee date in early June

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

Kerrs Journey & Branchton Community Centre would like to facilitate a large community fun day to serve the wider South West Inverclyde Area. This event will be held in a local high school to ensure it is in a central location.  Kerrs Journey will be in the centre of the planning stages of this event to ensure it is inclusive to all and accommodates families with Children with Additional support needs and sensory requirements. It is important for Kerrs Journey to be part of this event as we feel that many community events do not cater for many support requirements such as a quiet area, no que system , appropriate games and space.   Regular Activities will include: Inflatables, Carnival Games, Arts & Crafts , Food

This Fun Day will benefit the wider community by bringing together various groups and residents in South West Inverclyde and allowing them participate together. It will also allow groups and organisations to showcase their services.

We have partnered with several community groups and organisations to ensure we are reaching all members of the wider south west Inverclyde community. Our application is in conjunction with the following partners.

Constituted Groups                                    

• Larkfield Tenants Hall                                 
• Branchton Community Centre                   
• South West Community Council               
• St. Andrews Parent Council                     
• Aileymill Parent Council                           

Other Organisations & Groups

•  Bluebird Family Centre
•  Aileymill Nursery 
•  Lady Alice Primary 
•  Aileymill Primary
•  Aileymill Nurture Room

Meliora funding would enable PBO to host a range of inclusive events throughout late Spring & Summer. This   would start with a community Spring Fair in April followed by a series of monthly ‘Community Get Togethers’ with different themes for each, with a focus on creativity, gardening and environmental activities. The ‘Community Get Togethers’ will be enhanced by being held in the surroundings of our therapeutic horticultural environment and gardens on the banks of the Clyde within Port Glasgow. Some of the activities planned for the monthly events include:

• Tai Chi in the Garden with sessions outside in the Parklea grounds (gazebos and covered areas would  be available in inclement weather to ensure the sessions can go ahead as planned)
• Therapeutic crafts such as Willow Weaving & Macrame.
• Herbalist Session – learning about the varied uses of herbs, how they grow and planting up your own herb planter to take home.
• Grow and Learn Together – we will provide a variety of educational and productive food growing activities within our fully accessible community growing area, learning a bit about how to “grow your own” and giving tips & ideas of how this can be achieved on a small scale at home.
• “One Planet Picnic” – in conjunction with Keep Scotland Beautiful and local partners. A chance for the community to come together for an inclusive cultural community picnic! This will promote locally grown and seasonal foods as well as encouraging people to think about reducing packaging and food waste.
• We will provide growing resource and activity boxes.

 All of the monthly events will have fully inclusive activities as well as the opportunity for people to come together to eat and share food experiences.  We will offer wider support and engagement to our community by having local partners and agencies present at these events i.e. Community Learning and Development, Health Improvement,  Environmental Services, Carers Centre, The Trust, etc who would provide a range of information/advice and will be able to signpost people to local services.