First class community facilities for Felinfoel
Support from Carmarthenshire County Council is helping to provide first class community facilities in Felinfoel, help people escape the debt trap, find work or enjoy their retirement.
The council’s Chief Executive Mark James toured projects in the Llanelli area with officers from the regeneration and leisure department to see for himself the benefits being enjoyed by the local community.
He visited the Glanymor and Tyisha Communities First base in Station Road, Llanelli, to meet staff and volunteers from the Llanelli Communities First Debt and benefit Support, Volunteering Demonstration Project.
The three year project is now at his halfway mark and is already exceeding expectations with more than 2,000 people helped by the volunteers, more than three times the whole project target.
The target for dealing with almost £1.4m of domestic debt has already nearly been met.
Communities First Volunteer Development Officer Bryony Wiffen said: “The figures speak for themselves and are evidence of the need for the project. Our volunteers, some of them Citizens Advice Bureaux trained, provide a valuable service helping people to handle their debts and learn how to manage their budget.”
The project is half funded by the Welsh Government’s Outcomes Fund and half by Carmarthenshire County Council coming to a total of nearly £200,000 for 2009-2012.
The project has attracted a great deal of support from numerous partners comprising of Communities First Partnerships, Carmarthenshire County Council, Llanelli Citizens Advice Bureaux, Housing Benefits & Council Tax Benefits Department, Her Majesties Revenue and Customs, Working Tax & Child Tax Credit System, Trading Standards, Wales Illegal Money Lending Team, Advice and Support Carmarthenshire (ASC), Casework Team Carmarthen/Llanelli; Shelter Cymru, Information Matters Team; Shelter Cymru and Carmarthen Association for Voluntary Services Volunteer Development Team.
The Lighthouse Project in Llanelli’s Queen Victoria Road has been awarded £83,000 from the Deprived Area Fund (DAF) to help people in the deprived areas to select, train for, obtain and retain employment.
Jobforce Wales provides learning and training to a wide sector of the community in Carmarthenshire and Swansea and is also active in Pembrokeshire, Neath, Port Talbot and Bridgend.
It provides for employed and unemployed 16 - 65 year olds as well as an Alternative Curriculum Programme for disaffected youths aged 14-16 in partnership with the local education authority, schools and others.
The Lighthouse is a one-stop-shop providing easy access to services to get people into work, particularly serving residents from deprived area wards, who tend to be furthest from the jobs market. Anybody can walk in or be referred by support agencies. They can discuss their needs with a Liaison Officer who will introduce them to relevant services within the building.
Jobforce Wales chief executive Rob Jenkins said: “People can just walk in here and speak to us in a very informal atmosphere. We have 3,000 clients a year and see 30-40 people a day.
“Our clients include people who are motivated and want to train and get a job to people experiencing a range of problems.
“We have projects such as Step by Step for people with multiple barriers to working. We encourage them back to learning through teaching basic cookery classes, healthy eating and other life skills.
“We have a database of employers and advertise as many jobs as JobCentre Plus.”
Twenty one-year-old Hannah Phillips, who is doing classes at the Lighthouse, said: “It is very enjoyable and helps to build up your confidence.”
Felinfoel Communities First is behind the redevelopment of the Recreation Field which was prompted following consultations with the local community in 2007 about what facilities people wanted.
The community identified that there was a need to create a community hub that would incorporate changing facilities and a space that the community could use to run courses and initiatives that would create employment opportunities and help tackle child poverty in the area.
The resultant building, which is due to be completed by the beginning of September, will have two floors. The ground floor will have new changing facilities for the Cricket, Rugby and Football Teams. The first floor will include a community space including kitchen facilities, an Outreach room, a centre point for the Communities First staff and a training/ computer suite.
The construction of the building is costing £981,670. Llanelli Rural Council has contributed £555,670. Other funding includes £300,000 from the Communities Facilities and Activities Programme; £50,000 from Cwm Environmental, £25,000 from Carmarthenshire County Council’s County Collaboration Fund, £15,000 from Carmarthenshire County Council’s Community Fund along with fundraising from the community. Extensive officer support from Carmarthenshire County Council has been received throughout the project.
Communities First Development Officer Amy Wakefield said: “The support from the community has been tremendous, and the community has been involved at every stage.”
Felinfoel Councillor Hugh Richards said: “The project is providing tremendous facilities for a village that has lacked them for years. It is a great way of encouraging young people to take up sport.”
Felinfoel Communities First executive committee member John Evans said: “The facilities are first class and will be the best of their kind in South Wales.”
The final visit was to Tir Ynys Sheltered Complex in Felinfoel to see how older people are benefiting from a European Funded Communities 2.0 project to learn about new technology.
People at the session were learning how to use Wii consoles for games such as 10 Pin Bowling and using Ipads to access key council and other services via the Internet.
Mrs Mary Sanday of Bynea said: “It is the first time I have used a Wii and I’ve enjoyed it. You can see how energetic it is.”
Mrs Menna Thomas of Felinfoel said: “The grandchildren have Wii but I have never bothered with it until now. It is quite exciting! I will definitely be challenging my grandchildren to a game.
Carmarthenshire County Council Acting Community Regeneration Manager John Wilson said: “We have a hard working team who have an excellent track record in helping community groups and organisations secure valuable external sources of project funding.
“This visit shows how much support we are able to bring in to help communities help themselves. It is wonderful to see so many communities benefiting from what we are doing.”
Chief Executive Mark James said: “I have been very impressed by the level of community involvement in these projects.
“We have seen how some of the neediest people in our community are helped by the Debt and Benefit project to get their lives back together. It is a real credit to the volunteers and team of officers.
“At the Lighthouse project I was encouraged to meet young people learning skills and applying for jobs, to see how engaged they were and to learn how it was helping them.
“With the Felinfoel Recreation Field project it was great to see people come together to say what they wanted and to assist them along with Llanelli Rural Council to provide a great community facility.
“At Tir Ynys it was great to see older people using new technology, having fun with it, and using it to access council services.”
The council’s Chief Executive Mark James toured projects in the Llanelli area with officers from the regeneration and leisure department to see for himself the benefits being enjoyed by the local community.
He visited the Glanymor and Tyisha Communities First base in Station Road, Llanelli, to meet staff and volunteers from the Llanelli Communities First Debt and benefit Support, Volunteering Demonstration Project.
The three year project is now at his halfway mark and is already exceeding expectations with more than 2,000 people helped by the volunteers, more than three times the whole project target.
The target for dealing with almost £1.4m of domestic debt has already nearly been met.
Communities First Volunteer Development Officer Bryony Wiffen said: “The figures speak for themselves and are evidence of the need for the project. Our volunteers, some of them Citizens Advice Bureaux trained, provide a valuable service helping people to handle their debts and learn how to manage their budget.”
The project is half funded by the Welsh Government’s Outcomes Fund and half by Carmarthenshire County Council coming to a total of nearly £200,000 for 2009-2012.
The project has attracted a great deal of support from numerous partners comprising of Communities First Partnerships, Carmarthenshire County Council, Llanelli Citizens Advice Bureaux, Housing Benefits & Council Tax Benefits Department, Her Majesties Revenue and Customs, Working Tax & Child Tax Credit System, Trading Standards, Wales Illegal Money Lending Team, Advice and Support Carmarthenshire (ASC), Casework Team Carmarthen/Llanelli; Shelter Cymru, Information Matters Team; Shelter Cymru and Carmarthen Association for Voluntary Services Volunteer Development Team.
The Lighthouse Project in Llanelli’s Queen Victoria Road has been awarded £83,000 from the Deprived Area Fund (DAF) to help people in the deprived areas to select, train for, obtain and retain employment.
Jobforce Wales provides learning and training to a wide sector of the community in Carmarthenshire and Swansea and is also active in Pembrokeshire, Neath, Port Talbot and Bridgend.
It provides for employed and unemployed 16 - 65 year olds as well as an Alternative Curriculum Programme for disaffected youths aged 14-16 in partnership with the local education authority, schools and others.
The Lighthouse is a one-stop-shop providing easy access to services to get people into work, particularly serving residents from deprived area wards, who tend to be furthest from the jobs market. Anybody can walk in or be referred by support agencies. They can discuss their needs with a Liaison Officer who will introduce them to relevant services within the building.
Jobforce Wales chief executive Rob Jenkins said: “People can just walk in here and speak to us in a very informal atmosphere. We have 3,000 clients a year and see 30-40 people a day.
“Our clients include people who are motivated and want to train and get a job to people experiencing a range of problems.
“We have projects such as Step by Step for people with multiple barriers to working. We encourage them back to learning through teaching basic cookery classes, healthy eating and other life skills.
“We have a database of employers and advertise as many jobs as JobCentre Plus.”
Twenty one-year-old Hannah Phillips, who is doing classes at the Lighthouse, said: “It is very enjoyable and helps to build up your confidence.”
Felinfoel Communities First is behind the redevelopment of the Recreation Field which was prompted following consultations with the local community in 2007 about what facilities people wanted.
The community identified that there was a need to create a community hub that would incorporate changing facilities and a space that the community could use to run courses and initiatives that would create employment opportunities and help tackle child poverty in the area.
The resultant building, which is due to be completed by the beginning of September, will have two floors. The ground floor will have new changing facilities for the Cricket, Rugby and Football Teams. The first floor will include a community space including kitchen facilities, an Outreach room, a centre point for the Communities First staff and a training/ computer suite.
The construction of the building is costing £981,670. Llanelli Rural Council has contributed £555,670. Other funding includes £300,000 from the Communities Facilities and Activities Programme; £50,000 from Cwm Environmental, £25,000 from Carmarthenshire County Council’s County Collaboration Fund, £15,000 from Carmarthenshire County Council’s Community Fund along with fundraising from the community. Extensive officer support from Carmarthenshire County Council has been received throughout the project.
Communities First Development Officer Amy Wakefield said: “The support from the community has been tremendous, and the community has been involved at every stage.”
Felinfoel Councillor Hugh Richards said: “The project is providing tremendous facilities for a village that has lacked them for years. It is a great way of encouraging young people to take up sport.”
Felinfoel Communities First executive committee member John Evans said: “The facilities are first class and will be the best of their kind in South Wales.”
The final visit was to Tir Ynys Sheltered Complex in Felinfoel to see how older people are benefiting from a European Funded Communities 2.0 project to learn about new technology.
People at the session were learning how to use Wii consoles for games such as 10 Pin Bowling and using Ipads to access key council and other services via the Internet.
Mrs Mary Sanday of Bynea said: “It is the first time I have used a Wii and I’ve enjoyed it. You can see how energetic it is.”
Mrs Menna Thomas of Felinfoel said: “The grandchildren have Wii but I have never bothered with it until now. It is quite exciting! I will definitely be challenging my grandchildren to a game.
Carmarthenshire County Council Acting Community Regeneration Manager John Wilson said: “We have a hard working team who have an excellent track record in helping community groups and organisations secure valuable external sources of project funding.
“This visit shows how much support we are able to bring in to help communities help themselves. It is wonderful to see so many communities benefiting from what we are doing.”
Chief Executive Mark James said: “I have been very impressed by the level of community involvement in these projects.
“We have seen how some of the neediest people in our community are helped by the Debt and Benefit project to get their lives back together. It is a real credit to the volunteers and team of officers.
“At the Lighthouse project I was encouraged to meet young people learning skills and applying for jobs, to see how engaged they were and to learn how it was helping them.
“With the Felinfoel Recreation Field project it was great to see people come together to say what they wanted and to assist them along with Llanelli Rural Council to provide a great community facility.
“At Tir Ynys it was great to see older people using new technology, having fun with it, and using it to access council services.”
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