- Area:
- Wales
- Programme:
- People and Places
- Release date:
- 18 10 2007
A project to transform a disused building into a vibrant community centre and a new computer system to reduce the fear of crime are among a number of projects throughout the country to benefit from a £4 million cash injection, announced today under the Big Lottery Fund’s People and Places programme.
From Blaenau Ffestiniog in North Wales, to Merthyr Tydfil in the South, eighteen community projects throughout the country are benefiting from the £3,991,729 cash roll out, which aims to bring people together to make communities stronger and to improve rural and urban environments (full list of projects at end of release).
In Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, Menter y Moelwyn will spend their award of £25,000 on developing their plans to refurbish the Victorian Market Hall in the old slate-quarrying town. The long-term aim is to transform the disused building and provide a comprehensive centre for the performing and visual arts for local people and visitors to enjoy. The facility would provide the community with a social, cultural and educational centre.
The project would include a gallery, theatre/cinema/performance space, and café bar with second performance space, education rooms for art and IT, and a music rehearsal room with recording facility. A dedicated clubroom for young teenagers would cater for this under-represented age group and attempt to foster their interest in the arts.
Delighted with the opportunity to develop the plans further, Alan Norton, a Trustee with Menter y Moelwyn, said: “This is a project that will benefit the whole community and to think of the potential of what we could achieve with this building is amazing. Our plan is to utilise the arts for developing people and skills and this is one of the projects that forms part of the long term strategy for the regeneration of Blaenau Ffestiniog. The whole community is working together on this. We are very excited about the lottery funding to develop the project and we would be even more excited if we could make the project happen. The facility would be used to highlight the culture of Wales and the town and provide tourists to the area with something to do when they get here.”
Tackling crime in the community is the number one priority for Merthyr Tydfil Association Neighbourhood Watch in South Wales. They will spend their £136,430 on a Ringmaster system for communities suffering from the fear of crime, or for victims of crime.
The Ringmaster system is a stand-alone computer, which holds a database of contacts for Neighbourhood Watch Schemes across the borough of Merthyr Tydfil. The system can send voice messages to the community Neighbourhood Watches about crime in their area, helping people to be aware of crime. It will help to co-ordinate and form links between community groups, the Police and community members.
The project will provide help, advice and information about current crime activity, helping to prevent crime, increase public awareness about crime patterns, provide information about people and vehicles and publicise Neighbourhood Watch meetings, police surgeries and community action events.
Expressing her joy about the award, the Chair of Merthyr Tydfil Association Neighbourhood Watch, Hilary Doyle, said: “There’s only so much that volunteers can do, so to have this new system is a temendous boost to the organisation and the community. Over the years, we have achieved great results and have made our communities better places to live. This system will help us make things even better.”
Commenting on the positive impact the awards will have on the communities throughout Wales, Big Lottery Fund Wales Committee Member and Chair of the People and Places Committee, Janet Reed, said: “Programmes like People and Places are making a difference to the lives of so many people in communities across Wales. People and Places delivers on our promise to use Lottery funding to regenerate and revitalise communities, tackle disadvantage head on and leave a lasting legacy. I’m sure these awards will have a positive impact on the lives of many people in the community and will continue to do so for years to come."
The £66 million People and Places programme awards grants of between £5,001 and £1 million for a broad range of community projects. For further information about the People and Places programme and how you can apply for funding, please visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk and use the ‘Wales’ specific search facility.
For further information about the projects and to obtain contact details for the individuals and organisations involved, please contact the Big Lottery Fund press office on the numbers below.
Full list of projects:
| Organisation | Location | Project Summary | Amount |
| Prosiect Dyslecsia Cymru | Cardigan Town, Carmarthen, Haverfordwest, Landrindod Wells and Flintshire | The project will run training courses and workshops to teach young people with dyslexia and other learning difficulties, and their parents / grandparents / carers, how to develop basic skills in the home by working with family groups. An advice/administration centre will also be opened in Ceredigion. | £94,790 |
| Menter y Moelwyn | Blaenau Ffestiniog | The grant is a Capital Development Grant to enable the preparation of final designs and drawings, submit planning applications and prepare the draft lease with Gwynedd Council to enable submission of a full application to BIG for a capital grant to refurbish the Market Hall in Blaenau Ffestiniog for community use. | £25,000 |
| Merthyr Tydfil Association Neighbourhood Watch | Merthyr Tydfil | The project will establish a Ringmaster system in communities who are suffering from fear of crime or who are victims of crime. The Ringmaster system holds a database of contacts for Neighbourhood Watch Schemes across the borough and will provide help, advice and information about current crime activity, helping to prevent crime and improve community relations. | £136,430 |
| Neath & District Citizens Advice Bureau | Based in Neath Port Talbot, targetting 5 Community First and 2 rural wards | The project will deliver an advice service in 7 local communities using ICT. Advice information kiosks will be set up linking to bureau services with advisers trained to deliver a digital advice service. Local volunteer community buddies will be trained to offer help and guidance and volunteer advisers will be trained to provide ongoing advice work by telephone, instant messaging and email. | £248,707 |
| Newport Chinese Community Centre | Newport and surrounding areas | Provision of a drop-in facility to enable the Chinese Community to access help/advice/support and signpost them to appropriate services. | £159,914 |
| Newlink Wales | Newport, South Wales | The project will develop a Black Minority Ethnic drug information service in Newport allowing for an enhanced community knowledge of prevention and treatments. | £241,070 |
| Usk House (Powys) Ltd | Brecon, Powys | The project will buy a new minibus and pay for a driver and escort to collect and return day patients to and from the Hospice. The bus and driver will also be made available to the local Dial-a-Ride scheme and to the local nursing homes for occasional evening and weekend trips. | £121,532 |
| Blaengwawr Primary School | Based in Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf | The project will develop a piece of fallow land between a residential care home for older people and a Primary School. The land will consist of allotment beds, walkways, grassed amphitheatre and paths. This will allow older people and children to improve relations by cultivating plants together, providing opportunities for interaction and performances. | £49,982 |
| Cwmparc Community Welfare Association | Cwmparc, Rhondda Cynon Taff | The project will enhance the work of the Association by encouraging healthy living, refurbishment of the community café, increased childcare facilities, the Cwmparc outdoor adventure park area and an increased number of non vocational classes and training courses. | £302,740 |
| City and County of Swansea | City and County of Swansea | The project will work with children and adults from ethnic minority and asylum seeker communities to integrate and include them into local open access play provision. | £72,555 |
| Swansea Chinese Community Co Op Centre | Swansea and surrounds | The project will promote healthier lifestyles for the Chinese Community. | £133,942 |
| Thompson Street Estate Communities First Partnership | Thompson Street Estate, Barry | The project will develop a range of social, educational and community activities, workshops and courses for children and young people aged from 0 to 25 living on the Thompson Street Estate and Castlelands 1 sub-ward of Barry. | £92,720 |
| Vale of Glamorgan Council | Bridgend, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath Port Talbot, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Swansea and the Vale of Glamorgan | The project is an overarching Leadership Group programme between all agencies working with vulnerable young people aged 4 to 11 years and their families in South Wales, working in the seven LA areas that make up the South Wales Police Force area. The project will develop new ways of working with children and their families to prevent children developing anti-social behaviour or engaging in criminal behaviour. | £994,529 |
| Groundwork Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot | Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot and Vale of Glamorgan | The project will provide environmental education to schools in order to raise awareness and adopt practices to reduce resource issues. It will concentrate on energy and water conservation together with waste minimisation. | £250,000 |
| Federation of City Farms & Community Gardens | The project will cover the whole of Wales | The project will focus on three key areas of work: Community Enterprise - helping to ensure the sustainable revitalisation of communities by strengthening the capacity of locally managed gardens and farms to meet local need through community managed enterprise initiatives. Community inclusion - supporting the development of community gardens and farms in Wales as 'inclusive hubs of local communities' that facilitate and foster improved community relations. Turning Grey into Green - supporting the development of enhanced local environments and communities through community gardening and farming. | £171,686 |
| Wales Epilepsy Association Cyf | Based in Wrexham, serving Wales | The project is to extend the present fieldworker service to reach more local communities in Wales. It will establish more self-help groups to break down the social isolation, and will provide a point of education and support. It will create volunteering opportunities within the local groups and establish community links with both voluntary and statutory organisations. | £248,000 |
| Hanes Llandoch | The project is focussed on St.Dogmaels, Pembrokeshire | Hanes Landoch has been established to reinvigorate and revitalise the community of St.Dogmaels, a deprived rural area in the northwest corner of Pembrokeshire. This will be done through highlighting the heritage, history and culture in the area, creating itself as an attraction to increase the revenue for the area and provide educational and training opportunities, through resourcing and staffing an information and education centre. | £249,782 |
| Penley Rainbow Centre | Penley, Wrexham | The project will provide a permanent home for the Rainbow Centre and accommodation for community activities for Penley and the surrounding district. | £398,350 |
Further information
Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 02920 678 207
Out of hours contact: 07760 171 431
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102 030
Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Notes to Editors
- In Wales, the Big Lottery Fund is rolling out close to £1 million a week in Lottery good cause money, which together with other Lottery distributors means that across Wales most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.
- The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. It was established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
- Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to Good Causes. As a result, over £20 billion has now been raised and more than 250,000 grants given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
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