Ystrad Mynach club celebrates cash boost
Ken Pritchard is a big man by any standards, but he happily admits to feeling “10 feet tall walking down the streets of Ystrad Mynach” thanks to a Welsh Assembly Government grant.
“I’m simply chuffed to bits,” the leader of the Ystrad Mynach Boys and Girls Club admitted.
The grant cash has helped transform the club he helps run in Lisburn Road.
“The change in the club’s fortunes has been very dramatic,” Mr Pritchard declared as he surveyed the new games hall.
“Before Christmas, I think we only had about nine members left on the books.”
Today, the youth club’s membership is 120 – and growing daily.
“It is a remarkable turnaround in the club’s fortunes,” Mr Pritchard said.
“It is a marvellous boost, not only for the club and its members, but also for the community of Ystrad Mynach as a whole. The community will feel the benefit of keeping a great bunch of youngsters engaged in worthwhile activities in the club.
“I kid you not, when I say that I feel 10 feet tall walking down the streets of Ystrad Mynach because of what has been achieved here thanks to the Welsh Assembly Government.”
The club received £298,922 from CFAP – the Welsh Assembly’s Community Facilities and Activities Programme.
“We’d been lucky in receiving Big Lottery money to help refurbish the sports hall in the main building, but we had a very sorry looking building at the back which had to be seen to be believed.
“What started as a wooden shed had turned something of a concrete garage and it was more derelict than useful,” said Mr Pritchard.
“We were at our wit’s end in looking for extra cash to do something with the building. Until, that is, GAVO, the Gwent Association of Voluntary Organisations, suggested asking the Welsh Assembly Government.
“From the start, the Welsh Assembly Government officers were more than helpful and they advised us through the whole grants process from start to finish.
“It all culminated in a grand reopening, by our Assembly Member and Club President Jeff Cuthbert and Councillor Harry Andrews MBE. We rolled out our very own brass band for the event and it was a great celebration.
“Today, we have a great facilities which include snooker, pool and plenty of other sporting facilities and activities, a centre for the Cylch Meithrin Welsh playgroup in the day, a home for a raft of activities in the evenings and a safe and secure monitored computer IT suite where the youngsters can learn the latest new technology.”
Mr Pritchard, the cub leader for the last 25 years, has seen Ystrad Mynach Boys and Girls Club come a long way.
“The club was formed out of the old Apollo football club in 1933 and has been on this site since 1936,” he said.
“I am grateful for the help of the small band of dedicated volunteers who help make sure the club is a run to a very high standard.
“It has certainly come a long way in the last 50 years. I can remember standing on a wall 50 years ago, aged 11, and watching the singer Frankie Vaughan attend a club opening and belt out ‘Give Me The Moonlight’ and perform a few high kicks!
“We’ve had memorable occasions. Now, thanks to this Welsh Assembly Government money we will have many more memorable occasions to be enjoyed by the people of Ystrad Mynach.”
CFAP - The Community Facilities and Activities Programme is a grant scheme operated by the Welsh Assembly Government to help community or voluntary organisations provide facilities or carry out activities which will promote the regeneration of communities. Since its launch in 2002 CFAP has proved to be a highly successful grant programme. To date, a total of £64 million has been awarded to 660 projects across the length and breadth of Wales.
Projects have included the refurbishment of church and village halls, work to make community properties accessible to the disabled, buying part of a former airfield for community use and restoring historic buildings for community use.
The CFAP is run from The Welsh Assembly’s Merthyr Tydfil office - Communities Facilities and Activities Programme (CFAP), Communities Directorate, Welsh Assembly Government, Merthyr Tydfil Office, Rhydycar, Merthyr Tydfil, CF48 1UZ
Weblink: http://www.ystradmynachbgc.com
Open for business: Members of the Ystrad Mynach Boys and Girls Club join Ken Pritchard, left, and Tony Honeywill, right, at the plaque to commemorate the reopening of the hall.
Press release issued by Robert Lloyd on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government.
“I’m simply chuffed to bits,” the leader of the Ystrad Mynach Boys and Girls Club admitted.
The grant cash has helped transform the club he helps run in Lisburn Road.
“The change in the club’s fortunes has been very dramatic,” Mr Pritchard declared as he surveyed the new games hall.
“Before Christmas, I think we only had about nine members left on the books.”
Today, the youth club’s membership is 120 – and growing daily.
“It is a remarkable turnaround in the club’s fortunes,” Mr Pritchard said.
“It is a marvellous boost, not only for the club and its members, but also for the community of Ystrad Mynach as a whole. The community will feel the benefit of keeping a great bunch of youngsters engaged in worthwhile activities in the club.
“I kid you not, when I say that I feel 10 feet tall walking down the streets of Ystrad Mynach because of what has been achieved here thanks to the Welsh Assembly Government.”
The club received £298,922 from CFAP – the Welsh Assembly’s Community Facilities and Activities Programme.
“We’d been lucky in receiving Big Lottery money to help refurbish the sports hall in the main building, but we had a very sorry looking building at the back which had to be seen to be believed.
“What started as a wooden shed had turned something of a concrete garage and it was more derelict than useful,” said Mr Pritchard.
“We were at our wit’s end in looking for extra cash to do something with the building. Until, that is, GAVO, the Gwent Association of Voluntary Organisations, suggested asking the Welsh Assembly Government.
“From the start, the Welsh Assembly Government officers were more than helpful and they advised us through the whole grants process from start to finish.
“It all culminated in a grand reopening, by our Assembly Member and Club President Jeff Cuthbert and Councillor Harry Andrews MBE. We rolled out our very own brass band for the event and it was a great celebration.
“Today, we have a great facilities which include snooker, pool and plenty of other sporting facilities and activities, a centre for the Cylch Meithrin Welsh playgroup in the day, a home for a raft of activities in the evenings and a safe and secure monitored computer IT suite where the youngsters can learn the latest new technology.”
Mr Pritchard, the cub leader for the last 25 years, has seen Ystrad Mynach Boys and Girls Club come a long way.
“The club was formed out of the old Apollo football club in 1933 and has been on this site since 1936,” he said.
“I am grateful for the help of the small band of dedicated volunteers who help make sure the club is a run to a very high standard.
“It has certainly come a long way in the last 50 years. I can remember standing on a wall 50 years ago, aged 11, and watching the singer Frankie Vaughan attend a club opening and belt out ‘Give Me The Moonlight’ and perform a few high kicks!
“We’ve had memorable occasions. Now, thanks to this Welsh Assembly Government money we will have many more memorable occasions to be enjoyed by the people of Ystrad Mynach.”
CFAP - The Community Facilities and Activities Programme is a grant scheme operated by the Welsh Assembly Government to help community or voluntary organisations provide facilities or carry out activities which will promote the regeneration of communities. Since its launch in 2002 CFAP has proved to be a highly successful grant programme. To date, a total of £64 million has been awarded to 660 projects across the length and breadth of Wales.
Projects have included the refurbishment of church and village halls, work to make community properties accessible to the disabled, buying part of a former airfield for community use and restoring historic buildings for community use.
The CFAP is run from The Welsh Assembly’s Merthyr Tydfil office - Communities Facilities and Activities Programme (CFAP), Communities Directorate, Welsh Assembly Government, Merthyr Tydfil Office, Rhydycar, Merthyr Tydfil, CF48 1UZ
Weblink: http://www.ystradmynachbgc.com
Open for business: Members of the Ystrad Mynach Boys and Girls Club join Ken Pritchard, left, and Tony Honeywill, right, at the plaque to commemorate the reopening of the hall.
Press release issued by Robert Lloyd on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government.
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