Funding will directly support the UK Shared Prosperity Fund’s goals by strengthening community resilience, tackling inequalities, and improving life chances for vulnerable men affected by addiction in Girvan and South Carrick — as part of Harbour Ayrshire’s Bridge to Shore project.The Bridge to Shore pathway supports individuals from crisis through to stability, community integration, and ultimately, independence. This proposal focuses on the early and middle stages of that journey, providing essential support where it's needed most.

Harbour Ayrshire currently delivers a vital weekly support group led by staff and volunteers with lived experience. The group offers a safe, trauma-informed environment where men can share openly, build peer connections, and learn practical coping strategies. By addressing root causes of addiction — such as poverty, poor mental health, and intergenerational trauma — the project empowers participants to break negative cycles and build long-term resilience, both personally and within the community.

This funding will cover essential delivery costs including venue hire, refreshments, and holistic therapies. These elements are key to removing barriers to engagement and ensuring all participants feel welcomed and supported.

In addition to sustaining the current group, funding will enable expansion into surrounding villages where need is high but services are scarce due to poverty, digital exclusion, and lack of transport. Development work — under the Bridge to Shore framework — will focus on:

Increasing outreach and engagement in rural areas of Girvan and South Carrick

Supporting individuals to access central services and digital resources

Building local capacity by helping communities create peer-led support groups

Fostering community cohesion and empowerment through shared learning and lived experience leadership

By supporting this project within the Bridge to Shore model, you are investing in the creation of healthier, more inclusive communities, reducing health inequalities, enhancing social capital, and empowering individuals to contribute positively to their local areas — fully aligning with the aims of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

The project will support two different levels.

1. Archery Tag – This will support community engagement at the weekly Come and Try events we run at Riverside Sports Arena and community charity events that we support. Having just moved into new outdoor facilities at Annbank Football Club, Weston Avenue New Pebble Park, Annbank, Ayr KA6 5EF we will be supporting the Annbank Community Fund to support the local community. Archery Tag is a way to get all ages involved in group games which then introduces people to the sport moving onto other target games, soft archery and eventually to engage with the sport of archery. In the past we have had success from 8 – 80 years in age.
2. Disability Sport Support – We have members of the club that are disabled. To have their equipment adjusted it requires a minimum of a 10 hour round trip or to send equipment away for adjustment/repair.  We propose to buy several items for bow maintenance which will be held and stored at the club’s facility to allow access to repair and tune compound bows and recurve bows.  The compound bows are compressed and cannot be adjusted without specific equipment including a Bow Press, Draw Board, and a  Bieter Vice.  

   The Archery Tag will be used as part of the Come and Try / Community events that we host weekly / monthly in Ayr North and other areas where we are asked to support community events throughout South Ayrshire. We expect to begin to host out own Archery Beginners courses to Archery GB standard June / July 2025 which will be open to residents across the whole of Ayrshire.

   Initially we will be targeting SIMD areas working in partnership with Active Schools and Scottish Disability Sports Sport. The club has a range of equipment suitable for beginner’s courses and a limited supply of equipment that can also be borrowed.  

   Disability Bow Maintenance  The equipment being applied for will allow archers from across North Ayr and beyond to access equipment to maintain their personal equipment. The club at the moment has several disabled archers who also are competitive archers and shoot across the UK most recently gaining a 3rd and 4th place in the Scottish Indoor Championships. To aid the disabled archers who shoot compound we need to invest in specific items of equipment that allow compound bows to be maintained without having make a 10 hr round trip to an archery shop.  Part of this can also be used by the whole club as clamps and draw testers for different types of equipment. Introducing maintenance develops new skills within the sport and the community. It also means that individuals take ownership of equipment and learn how to develop new skills Archery is one of the most inclusive sports there is. It is multi-generational and multi-cultural while being a sport that abled and disabled can complete together.  As a club we have worked with the local area West of Scotland Archery Association and Scottish Archery to support inclusion running events for Scottish Disability Sport. Locally we have supported Active School with children who were non attendees at school and many neurodiverse children have found archery to be a sport that that they can focus on and repeat. One of the Scotland U21 Team that I manage who is neurodivergent has now progressed onto representing the country at senior level a fantastic achievement.

The purpose of Troon Men’s Shed is to provide recreational facilities and advance the social needs, health and well being of men of all ages and backgrounds living in Troon and surrounding areas.  

Troon Men’s Shed was established in April 2024 and has a growing membership with 75 members, and currently meet fornightly in a hired hall with guest speakers. Our members have volunteered to help out at community events in Troon at Wintertainment, Troon Round Table Fireworks and Santa Float, and we are currently assisting Ayrshire Cancer Support with practical DIY work in their new Ayr Centre.

Members benefit by meeting with other men in a safe environment, reducing their social isolation and providing mental stimulation, which also benefits their families. The acquisition of the Hosiery Park Pavilion will enable us to meet more regularly and undertake practical workshop activities which we are unable to do in a hired meeting hall. The establishment of workshop activities will enable men to utilise their practical skills, and to pass on their knowledge to others.

A Stage 1 Community Asset Transfer Request was submitted to South Ayrshire Council in November 2024, and the Stage 2 request is currently being prepared, with a target date to submit of 31 May 2025.

The Hosiery Park Pavilion building is in poor condition as it has been unused for several years, and once acquired would be repaired and converted into a suitable facility comprising of an activity workshop area where woodworking and other similar practical activities can be undertaken, and a separate multi-use social space.