Volunteer North Ayrshire is delighted to announce that it has been successful in their bid to the Big Lottery Fund to pay for a project that will benefit young people and communities in North Ayrshire over the next four years.

Give a Little...Gain a Lot is a partnership project between VCNA and Impact Arts that will work with young people who are experiencing a variety of difficulties in their lives, helping them gain self confidence & esteem. It will use the arts as a catalyst for positive, lasting change in young people's lives. The young people who will be involved in this project will be living in North Ayrshire and directly involved in the Fab Pad project that Impact Arts delivers in the area. Fab Pad supports people in sustaining their housing tenancies through using the media of the arts.

This project will allow the young people involved to use the skills they have learnt such as how to use paint, light & colour to create innovative rooms/areas that will benefit others in their local communities. They will work as volunteers with local community groups to transform rooms or gardens - a bit like changing rooms but North Ayrshire style!

Young people will work towards acheiving their 50 hour award. MV Awards are endorsed by the Scottish Executive in recognition of the volunteering contributions that young people make to todays society.

A successful pilot project was run in 2006 with Fergushill-Interlink, a resource centre for adults with profound learning disabilities in Kilwinning, benefiting by their music and arts room being totally transformed and the first year of the project saw Fullarton Community Centre in Irvine being transormed.

If you know of any community groups or organisations that would like to benefit from this innovative project simply contact the Volunteer Centre on 01294 277300 for an application form. The closing date for applications is Friday 26th September..

Click here for more information on the Big Lottery Fund