Arran Community and Voluntary Service

05/10/2026

Participatory budget voting is NOW OPEN! If you have any difficulty placing your vote for Arran organisations, please contact us on 01770 600611 and we can help 🙂

📣 Get ready! Participatory Budgeting voting opens on Monday!

Were you one of the local community groups or organisations who recently applied to receive funding through the Council’s Participatory Budgeting fund? If so, the good news is, the applications have been reviewed and 151 are ready for the public vote!

Coordinated by the Council’s Connected Communities team, we are delighted to announce that Participatory Budgeting voting opens on Monday 5 October!

Cast your votes from Monday 5 October via the Shaping North Ayrshire website: https://northayrshire.communitychoices.scot/

Residents of North Ayrshire aged 8 and up are able to cast their votes from Monday for the groups they think deserve a share of our total funding pot of £82,185 funding up for grabs, so don’t miss out on having your say!

The funding this year will be used to support projects with the following themes as part of a new streamlined Community PB fund, open to projects across North Ayrshire and from all age groups:

➡️ Community Action
➡️ Greener Communities
➡️ Community Innovation
➡️ Local Ownership

A total of 151 eligible applications have been received from community groups and local organisations and the vote will be open until midnight on Sunday 8 November 2026.

Young people aged 8 and up will be able to vote using either their Young Scot Card number or a temporary username and password provided by their school.

If you require any additional support to vote, you can either head along to your local library branch where paper ballot sheets will be available, or if you are a member of a local community group, email: [email protected] to request staff support to vote at one of your meetings.

Participatory Budgeting is based on an ethos of ‘it’s your money, you decide’. It is a type of citizen participation where local people are involved in the process of deciding how public money - in this case the Council’s PB budget - is best spent.

This year the funding also includes a contribution from the UK Government’s Pride in Place programme.

Find out more in the news release: https://tinyurl.com/mst2tnb9

30/09/2026

Mainland Based Event:
If you live in the Garnock Valley, why not go along to the Healthy Hearts event, which is being held on Wednesday 14 October from 10.30am to 6.30pm at Dalry Primary School (please use the KA Leisure entrance).

No booking is necessary, just drop in at a time that suits.

You can access free heart screening and additional health checks where needed. You’ll also find a host of information on what you can do to keep yourself healthy and reduce your risk of heart disease.

In addition, there’s a chance to take part in some fantastic wellbeing taster sessions, as well as the opportunity to chat to a wide range of local organisations and services that can provide support and advice on a wide range of other health, wellbeing and social issues.

More information on the event, as well as a full list of activities and organisations attending on the day, can be found at www.nahscp.org/news/healthy-hearts-garnock-valley

Transport to the session is available on request. Follow the link above to book.

24/09/2026

We are now closed. Look forward to seeing you all again on Tuesday 29th September. Hope you have a lovely weekend!

21/09/2026

18/09/2026

The North Ayrshire Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults Year 6 is now open!

£116,881 is available for one year projects. with funds being distributed by 31st March 2027

Funding is in 2 levels:
Level 1: up to £2,000
Level 2: up to £10,000

The Fund is open to applications until 8th December 2026. This should allow sufficient time for careful planning, conversations around partnership working, and to give organisations time to seek support from the TSI North Ayrshire if required. You can reach the TSI for support by emailing [email protected]
Local groups and organisations are fully encouraged to consider how you might use this funding to support mental health and wellbeing in your communities and to only apply for precisely what you need.
Please click on the link for further details and fund guidance: Funding - https://www.arrancvs.org.uk/funding/

The Ayrshire Community Trust North Ayrshire Virtual Community CentreNorth Ayrshire Scottish Mental Health Arts FestivalRAMH North Ayrshire Wellbeing &Recovery CollegeNorth Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership

12/09/2026

10/09/2026

If you’re worried that someone you know might be thinking about su***de, it’s important to know what to do. Starting a conversation about su***de could save a life.



For more information on how best to provide support to someone, visit https://tinyurl.com/2p82dtae



For advice on looking after your own mental wellbeing, visit https://tinyurl.com/2726bzr8



*Please note that HOPELINE shown in this video is no longer in operation.

To find out more about the support available, visit https://tinyurl.com/muzzx8hn

09/09/2026

!URGENT PLEASE HELP!
There is no volunteer to prep food this coming Monday at lunch club in Lamlash, we have 2 people to assist but no one to heat up/cook food.
Volunteers are desperately thin on the ground for the club which presents a risk to it running at all. If there are enough volunteers it can run one week Brodick the following week Lamlash, both need your support as lunch club provides vital connections for isolated people on Arran. It would be a couple of hours once a fortnight.
Can you help??
Do we have any businesses who offer Corporate volunteering to employees?? Auchrannie Local The Douglas Hotel Arran Active The Drift Inn North Ayrshire Council Lamlash Bay Hotel Coop Brodick

24/08/2026

👀 ARRAN GROUPS & ORGANISATIONS… WHERE ARE YOU ALL?

Our next Community of Arran Network (CAN) meeting is on 2nd September at 1.00pm in Ormidale Pavillion, Brodick and our RSVP list is looking a wee bit lonely… This is definitely one worth coming along to.

We have a representative from Planning Aid Scotland (PAS) joining us to talk about opportunities for island communities. Then we’ll be talking Participatory Budgeting – with the current fund closing just FOUR DAYS LATER on 6th September, this is your chance to find out more, ask questions and make sure your group doesn’t miss an opportunity. And, of course, there’s the usual cuppa, networking, catching up and finding out what everyone else on Arran is up to. CAN is about bringing Arran’s community groups and organisations together – but it only works if you’re in the room.
Groups, organisations, clubs and community projects – we want to see you there!
Already planning to come but haven't told us? Give us a wee 👍 below or drop us a message so we know you're coming.