THE Dirrans Centre in Kilwinning has launched community fundraisers, including gigs and bingo nights, to raise cash for its projects.

The head and brain injury clinic, which supports adults across North Ayrshire, is looking to engage with local people in its quest to improve its services to clients.

Nanette Masterton, unit manager at the Dirrans Centre, told the Times: “We’re developing our service along the lines of community involvement. Many of our service users will not be here long-term so we help with rehabilitating them.

“People with disabilities often live at home and we can support them to live independently. In health services, people tend to have their treatment and there’s no follow-up so what we want to do is get our service users involved in community activities.

“For instance, we have a small enterprise growing where they bake cakes and sell them.”

Will Smith, a day care assistant at the centre, is a musician and sings in local band Will and the Wild Horse. He is using his music expertise and creativity to help improve the facilities through fundraisers, which he hopes will provide opportunities for service-users.

He said: “We’re looking at different ways of fundraising, such as music events, and what we can achieve by bringing them to the community. We’re not only a head injury clinic, we use a holistic, very person-centred approach. We’d like the community to know that we’re here and what we do.

Irvine Times:

“We’re going to start a music class which will lead to us organising smaller events and then eventually larger ones. The idea is that every gig will be better than the last one.

“We’re looking to broaden our horizons. We want to get our service users involved in the whole event from sounding to staging – everything. It’s a really good opportunity.”

The Dirrans Centre offers personalised support services to adults with physical disabilities, brain injuries, or other neurological or long-term conditions.

It has a multi-purpose function room which can be split into three sections, a therapeutic garden, a gym, a training kitchen, computer facilities and much more.

Services often change to meet the needs of those attending and some of the activities currently available include music, art and crafts, adult literacy, cooking, and fitness.

Will said that he hopes to put on the first music event in July. In the meantime, the centre is looking for donations of percussion instruments to use in its music room.

He said: “We completely welcome music donations but we are limited for space so we’re trying to build up percussion instruments. You can get a plastic bottle, fill it with rice and you’ve got a shaker, but we would prefer to have the real thing.”

As part of the Dirrans’ fundraising and community involvement, the centre will be holding monthly bingo nights, the first of which is planned for Tuesday, January 26.

Will said: “We’re going to be doing bingo on the last Tuesday of every month from now until June. We’ve got lots of decent prizes and there will be tea, coffee and cakes. It’s really good value for money and a good wee night out.”

The Dirrans Centre’s next fundraising bingo night is at the premises in Dirrans Terrace on Tuesday, January 26. Doors open at 7pm for 7.30pm start. Please arrive early to avoid disappointment. Books, available at the door, are £2.10 (or six books for £5.10).

To find out more about the Dirrans Centre, call 01294 552771 or visitv www.facebook.com/Dirrans-Centre.