Ystradowen Day Club gets a boost


A day club set up by the community for older people living in Ystradowen is growing bigger and better by the day.
Residents living in the area rallied round to run the day club when it was offered to them by Carmarthenshire County Council.
With the help of various departments within the council, the residents formed a small committee and enlisted volunteers, and now the club is standing firmly on its own two feet.
Chair, Rhys Maddock, said: “We have had an excellent response from the local community and as a committee we are keen to establish the centre and ensure that the community has an easy accessible venue for years to come. We have also been very busy fundraising and to date the committee has applied for almost £300,000 of grants.”
Since launching in May, the club has already developed to involve many more activities than the council was previously able to provide.
In independent hands, it also means that eligibility criteria no longer needs to be applied, meaning many more people are able to join.
Currently, the club provides services for 30 older people every week, supported by 18 volunteers.
Members are able to enjoy a hot meal in the company of friends, participate in a variety of activities and games, read, sing and enjoy craftwork, and even exercise to music.
The club has also been extended to welcome residents from surrounding areas, including areas in the upper Swansea Valleys.
The use of the building where it is held has also been extended to the community, with room hire and events such as clothes sales and digital storytelling.
Cllr Pat Jones, Carmarthenshire County Council’s Executive Board Member for Health and Social Care, said: “Ystradowen is a perfect example of exactly how we saw that these clubs could be developed in the hands of voluntary and independent providers.
“Just as they have shown, these clubs can thrive when they are not restricted by the rules that the county council had to have in place – such as eligibility criteria, which restricted who was able to attend."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Former Gower MP Gareth Wardell the guest speaker at Llanelli Rotary Club

Image
Former Gower MP Gareth Wardell was the guest speaker at the weekly meeting of Llanelli Rotary Club held at the Stradey Park Hotel. Mr Wardell gave an illuminating address, weaving comparisons between his job as a politician and his late father's job as a Tumble barber. It was an amusing, highly-entertaining and thought-provoking address. Mr Wardell, now 69, won the Gower constituency seat in a Parliamentary by-election in 1982. The Labour MP held the seat until his retirement in 1997. He now works as a public affairs consultant in Wales. Mr Wardell's Parliamentary term was largely in opposition to Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Government. But his did make a significant contribution by being the youngest MP to chair the Welsh Affairs Select Committee. Mr Wardell recognised that in the 'fame stakes' he may have played second fiddle to his father, Jack, who was one of the UK's oldest barbers and who cut and styled hair for almost 80 years. Jac
Read more

'Class of 1980' from Burry Port enjoy reunion

Image
There was a big class reunion held in Burry Port at the weekend. Members of the Class of 1980 from Porth Tywyn (Burry Port junior) School got together at The Coasting Pilot pub. The reunion was organised by Christine Rees and same 22 members of the original class of 28 turn up to discuss their old schooldays. One ‘Class of 1980’ member was Burry Port businessman Owain Davies. He said: “We all have very happy memories of our time in school. We had a fantastic teacher in Mr Heddwyn Jones, who now lives in Four Roads. “We were very fortunate to have the same teacher for three years and we were a very happy class. Mr Jones was an inspiring teacher and we all got on every well and we are all still good friends. “Heather Thomas (now Heather Osmond) made it from Surrey, but she was trumped by Gail Morris, who flew in from Ohio in the United States for the reunion. “It was a fantastic evening at the Coasting Pilot with good food, good wine and good company. We even recreated the class
Read more

Lauryn Davey is making her mark in athletics - but needs sponsors

Image
Ammanford-based Lauryn Davey is making a major mark in the world of Welsh athletics. At just 16, she is the best all-round athlete of her age in Wales. She's chalking up Welsh championship victories and has been honoured by her club, the Carmarthen Harriers. Lauryn's been earmarked as a future international star, but knows the road to the big championships is difficult, demanding and expensive. Ammanford businessman and well-known comic entertainer Phil Evans has launched a campaign to get cash backers for Lauryn's athletics career. "Everyone in the area is hugely proud of her achievements in athletics to date," said Phil. "But we also want to see her go on and do bigger and better things. "Together with some friends, I am helping find ways of generating much-needed sponsorship cash for Lauryn. "She has massive potential to succeed on the international stage and I am sure a little bit of financial help will help to smooth her
Read more