Lesley Keenan, chairperson of Cunninghame Housing Association, presented a cheque to Kaileigh Brown, executive director of The Ayrshire Community Trust (TACT).

TACT is a small charity based in Saltcoats offering services to the community and voluntary sector across North Ayrshire. These services include promoting volunteering, supporting the community and voluntary sector, developing social enterprises and being the channel for improved connection with Community Planning Partners.

It aims to deliver programmes and projects that make a difference to people’s lives by encouraging, supporting and promoting community action.

TACT organised a Volunteers Celebration event to highlight how pivotal volunteers have been, particularly over the last 3 years. Volunteers have spoke to and interacted with many who have been struggling. The Annual Volunteers Celebration event is rewarding to all of the volunteers, recognising the hard work they do daily.

The funding by Cunninghame Housing Association helped with the financial costs of running this year’s Volunteers Celebration event. They gave out ‘goody bags’ to the volunteers who work tirelessly and use their own time to help others.

Lesley Keenan, chairperson at CHA, said: “We are delighted to be able to provide financial assistance to help make the Volunteers Celebration event happen. It is important to say thank you to everyone who continually give up their own free time to help others. Without the input of volunteers many services would not exist.”

Alan Somerville, senior development officer, presented a cheque for £1,000 to Josh Stewart, as part of a 3-year sponsorship award.

Josh is a 12-year-old competitive cyclist who has represented his club in Dumfries, ‘Stepping Stanes Youth Cycling Team’, at numerous local and national races over the years. This year Josh has seen many national and local successes including becoming Scottish National Omnium Champion Youth Cyclist and Scottish National Crit Champion. He placed first overall in the Isle of Man National Youth Tour and first in the Race the Worlds World Champion Support Race in Glasgow.

Josh’s goal is to get to at least 5 of the 8 British National Cyclo cross rounds which are due to take place over the winter months across the UK. The funding provided by Cunninghame Housing Association is to support the costs involved in getting to these competitions and living costs once he is there.

A cheque for £1,000 was presented to Caiden MacColl, a young ice hockey player from North Ayrshire. 15-year-old Caiden is an ice hockey goalie who is a member of the North Ayrshire Ice Hockey Club and has been playing since he was 5 years old. He has a passion for ice hockey and dedicates long hours and many days to the sport. He trains at Auchenharvie Ice Rink in Stevenston with both the ‘under 16’s and under 19’s’ as well as training with the senior team.

Caiden plays in league games across all of Scotland as far as Aberdeen, Inverness and Belfast as well as playing league fixture games most weekends which consist of early starts. Family have commented how extremely proud they are of his commitment and determination to the sport.

Caiden has been identified to progress in his sport with the prospect of becoming the goalie for Great Britain and is currently taking part in development camps in Bracknell. The funding provided by Cunninghame Housing Association will support the financial costs involved in travelling to Bracknell to take part in these camps as well as helping to provide additional kit.

Tidelines Book Festival is a community-led charity bringing quality literary events to North Ayrshire, including free author visits to local schools and participatory community projects. The aim of Tidelines is to encourage engagement with books and reading for all ages to impact positivity on health and wellbeing and contribute to maintaining literacy levels in the local community.

Funding of £450 was provided by Cunninghame Housing Association to support six free author visits covering eight primary schools across North Ayrshire as part of their 2023 Festival covering Kilbirnie, Stevenston, Ardrossan, Irvine and Millport.

Choose Kilwinning is a community group which is made up of a mix of voluntary local business owners and members of the community – consisting of over 40 members at present. The group established themselves at the beginning of 2023 taking over the responsibility of organising this year’s Segdoune Gala (a historical annual event) and the Christmas event for the town as well as holding smaller events throughout the year.

Cunninghame Housing Association awarded the group £1,000 to assist with this year’s winter event which is due to be held on Saturday 25th November 2023 in Kilwinning Main Street. The event will provide a fun-filled evening with festive activities, a Christmas Market, and a visit from Santa amongst other activities.

St Peter’s Children’s Centre is an established parent and toddler group catering for families with children under 3 years of age. The group has been operating in Ardrossan for over 30 years and has members within the Three Towns, as well as Kilwinning, Irvine, West Kilbride and Fairlie.

The group provides 3 hourly sessions each day where parents can interact with their children in a safe, warm and welcoming environment, providing access to a large hall, extensive outdoor area and a small hall for activities.

The group is a registered charity and relies on support from grant funding to continue to provide such an invaluable service. The £1,000 provided by Cunninghame Housing Association is to assist with the core costs involved in running the facility. Given the cost of living it is proving more difficult and with support such as this, relieves the pressure on the service.

Janet Strang also presented a cheque for £1,000 to Olivia Fisher, a young athlete from North Ayrshire.

Olivia is 12 years old and has been a member of North Ayrshire Athletics Club (NAAC) for the past 3 years. Olivia trains twice a week for NAAC and is currently competing for her club in the Youth Development League and Central & South of Scotland Athletic League.

Recently, Olivia was accepted to Glasgow School of Sport, where she will attend for the next 6 years. Olivia had to go through a thorough application process involving completing an application, recommendations from her Coach and teachers who experienced her commitment first hand, attending a trial and finally a face-to-face interview with the School of Sport prior to being successful. Her training now forms part of her school day and supports in her dream of pursuing a career in athletics.

The funding provided by Cunninghame Housing Association is supporting Olivia with the costs involved in travelling to Glasgow each day for her first year.

Janet Strang added: “We are thrilled to be supporting Olivia with the financial costs involved commuting to Glasgow every day to excel in her field. What a great opportunity for a young person who has quite clearly worked hard to get where she is, and we wish her every success for her future.”

The Making Our Communities a Better Place Fund runs throughout the year (1st April 2021 to 31st March) until the funding is exhausted.