Grassroots minority sport, well-being, and employability support organizations operating in the Irvine Bay area. Supporting members of the local community through mental health support, employability training and placements, financial and Net Zero training, low-cost facility hire and gym memberships, and supporting minority sports within the community.
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Irvine Community Sports Club is Irvine's longest-serving sports and community facility, diligently serving the Irvine Bay area of North Ayrshire for 50 years.
We provide facilities to allow for the growth and survival of grassroots minority sports within the area, allowing Adult and Junior Cricket, including mixed teams, Girls' and Lady's Football, Ladies and Junior Hockey, Gents, Ladies, and Junior mixed Rugby, and Gents, Ladies, and Junior Running. Grassroots sports are an essential aspect of life for many as the values of respect, confidence and teamwork have helped to lower social isolation, adverse mental health, and low physical health within the community.
Irvine Community Sports Club for the past 8 years has been a proud supporter and deliverer of employability training and placements within the area, helping to support 38 placement-based employment opportunities, with a 92% success rating in gaining permanent long-term employment. We have also delivered employability training sessions to 2,342 people from the local Irvine Bar Area, helping to reduce levels of unemployment and raising local economic interactions.
In March 2020, after the Covid-19 pandemic restricted every member of the UK, the club developed the TimeToTalk project. This support project during its first year acted as an online and telephone mental health support project, as well as providing collection and delivery of prescriptions and groceries to people unable to leave their accommodation due to health restrictions, helping to support the most vulnerable within our communities. The project has since grown to include online training courses in Digital Literacy and Online Safety, Household budgeting and benefit calculations, Net Zero Awareness, Personal Development Plan creation, and employability skills training. The club has since developed the project, becoming a Connecting Scotland Provider, as well as partnering with Vodafone to distribute free 6-month Sim card bundles to those in need within the community. We support local addiction services, women's aid, and social services, as well as individual members of the local community to get or stay connected. This is an invaluable resource as during the cost of living crisis that currently grips the nation, currently 6,000,000 people have no access to telephone or online services, this has meant that the levels of mental health conditions within all communities are now increasing and support is required more than ever. To date since March 2020, the TimeToTalk project has delivered 14,897 mental health support sessions to 4,986 people, 897 people have completed online training courses, 22 people and families have received devices and training through Connecting Scotland, and 2,287 individuals and families have received free telephone and internet mobile services assistance.
From the club's inception, it has always strived to help alleviate the issues felt within its communities, to help support positive action to increase social interaction, provide a safe space, allow for barriers restricting the most in need of assistance to be removed, and allow participation in sport and fitness, and creating a stronger, more unified community which thrives. For 50 years, Irvine Community Sports Club has fulfilled this mission, through changes in delivery, the community, and the issues requiring assistance.
Now the club is facing uncertainty in its own future and ability to continue delivering the services the community requires. The cost of living crisis has impacted greatly the revenue the club receives from its gym memberships and the number of grants available for employability and other aspects of our delivery. It is now essential for new revenue to be generated to keep Irvine's longest-serving community club able to continue serving its community.
We ask now for anyone who has the ability to help to support the club in its time of need, we understand that there is a huge aspect of the nation who cannot afford to help, and we are here if you require our assistance, but to those of you who can, please help us, so we can help those in need.
We thank you for taking the time to read through what we do, and hope you can help.