Community Changemakers Fund Spring 2022

About the Fund

After the success of the initial Community Changemakers Fund, we have relaunched the grant fund again to continue supporting communities along the railway line to make change happen in their local places. We are passionate about supporting local people to improve their communities in innovative ways – small interventions that help create pride of place and promote well-being in the community.

Any group of local residents, community organisation, charity, community interest company or micro-SME that is based within 10km/6miles of a train station in South West Wales were able to apply. The assessment panel included members of the South West Wales Connected Steering Group and staff from Carmarthenshire Association of Voluntary Services. Click here to see the funders that helped make these projects possible.

This round of the Community Changemakers Fund has closed. Congratulations to all of the awarded projects!

Thank you to our Project Funders

Neath Port Talbot

Carmarthenshire

Pembrokeshire

Swansea

Neath Port Talbot

The Friends of Neath Abbey Iron Company were awarded £950 to obtain ladders to continue maintenance on the ironworks. The group have transformed the ironworks into an inspiring community space and heritage spot with Green Flag status. To continue with upkeep of the ironworks, the group require long ladders to continue clearing vegetation, preventing further degradation of the monuments, including the 70ft high furnaces and on top of the walls of the engine manufactory.

Port Talbot Sea Cadets were awarded £500 to carry out more community projects, such as events, litter picks, foodbank donation drives, information sessions on different topics and community networking opportunities. As part of the project, the cadet committee and cadets will be heavily involved in organising and running the programme of activities. This project would enable the cadets to take an active part in community life and make up for what was lost as part of the Covid lockdowns.

Neath Port Talbot Children’s Rights Unit were awarded £600 to support activities within the Girls’ Rights Group, which was established during 2020. The group consists of girls who meet on a regular basis have their voices heard on issues that are important to them and to highlight general issues that girls face that they would like to champion. The unit have identified the need to increase the frequency of the group meetings and activities after the positive impact this is having on their confidence and wellbeing.

Carmarthenshire

Carmarthenshire Wellbeing Project were awarded £970 to continue development with their allotment project, which requires smaller items needed for propagation, materials for crop protection, consumables, items of PPE and shelving spaces to manage storage. The project involves a group of people who have been homeless or vulnerably housed, and of low economic means, who will benefit greatly from this project and access to the allotment throughout the year. Supported by The Wallich Carmarthenshire Floating Support service, they recognise the need for ‘spaces for opportunities’ and will use the allotment as a vital part of recovery, by encouraging the interest of growing crops and creating a sense of achievement among the group, which will provide the opportunity to engage and take part in something successful.

Llanelli & Mynydd Mawr Railway Company Limited were awarded £1000 towards the cost of a replacement portable toilet block for placement on their site at Cynheidre, which has been on site for over 10 years and has recently deteriorated to the point where it is no longer viable to continue repairing it or to continue using it safely. The charity is developing a heritage railway, heritage centre and nature trail as part of a growing tourist attraction on the site of the former Cynheidre Colliery, which is on the route of the former railway used to transport coal from Cross Hands to Llanelli. Replacing the current toilet block would reduce costs involved in weekly hire of portaloo toilets for public events and be of a huge benefit to visitors and community volunteers. The acquisition of the toilet block will allow the charity to continue with their vision to make continuous improvements to the on-site facilities and attractions, with improved accessibility to volunteers in the community.

Llanelli Railway Goods Shed Trust were awarded £500 to contribute towards a heritage area within the Goods Shed to allow the community and visitors to access their local iconic heritage asset. The Trust aims to transform the iconic Grade 11 listed former Llanelli Railway Goods Shed into a flagship social enterprise and Community Hub which will become a multi use facility addressing social, economic, environmental and cultural issues. The project will provide unique access to this heritage building at the heart of the community and will allow local people for the first time in Llanelli to be able to experience and understand the significance of a building which has been on their doorstep for more than a century.

New Leaf were awarded £500 to contribute to their Creative Empowerment Coaching service, which empowers individuals to pursue a career in the creative industry. The programmes develop people’s ability to abolish negative self-limiting beliefs, learning from so called past “failures” in order to develop resilient confidence in their abilities, with a focus on budding artists under 25 who may have lost their jobs during the pandemic and would benefit from a programme to build confidence and skills.

Pembrokeshire

Paul Sartori Hospice at Home were awarded £952 towards costs involved with the formation of a community choir. The funds will be used to pay towards costs of an experienced Creative Director from Visions Arts to lead the choir and towards the costs of hiring the Vision Arts venue based in Haverfordwest. The Paul Sartori Community Choir will offer local residents the opportunity to involved in a group to widen social networks, physical interactions and to experience a greater sense of well-being.

Rosemarket Local History Society were awarded £665 to design and build a website which will become the focal point of communication and resource for the community. Due to the limited amount of printed material about the history of Rosemarket available, the vision for the website is to showcase different aspects of the village’s history through articles and photographs. The new website will also provide us with a visible presence with which the society can reach local and wider communities to encourage participation in a series of projects and events. As part of planning and groundwork, the society have engaged with other local history groups and voluntary organisations across Pembrokeshire for advice and to gain insights into their experiences.

Grwp Resilience were awarded £400 to support and extend community gardens in Pembrokeshire to meet the demand for allotments and community growing spaces. The space will be a mix of community gardens and private plots. The aim is for them to be beautiful, productive, wildlife friendly and places for healing and education as well as sociable production. This fund will help to develop a new allotment on the edge of Haverfordwest and procure simple agricultural fencing along the garden perimeter, with the aim to source local FSC certified timber.

Friends of Jubilee Park & Nature Trail were awarded £609 to replace old and dysfunctional tools for maintenance within the park. The group helps to maintain 15 acres of nature reserve and parkland and the new tools will be lighter and physically easier to use against the heavier petrol engines and manual pruners. The new tools will use 0 carbon portable electric replacements. The batteries will be recharged in the local village hall which is fitted with solar panels generating the necessary power.

Pembrokeshire People First (Project Name “Môr”) were awarded £500 to buy art tablets to loan the tablets out to people who don’t have access to this type of equipment to help overcome barriers to employment, employability skills, social interaction and emotional resilience. These specialised art tablets would be a core element to the project’s outreach plans, providing an accessible route to inclusion for members who would either prefer to work from home or for those who find their capacity to travel is limited in another way. The project will engage with members in the form of café based outreach sessions and walks to include as many people as possible. Môr intends to create small supportive communities, employment training and posts for meaningful long term roles.

The Queens Hall Narberth were awarded £790 to deliver a series of ‘Community Clean-up & Big Soup’ events in Narberth in collaboration with other non-profit organisations in the area. This would consist of a regular community litter-picking followed by a free lunch which is cooked using surplus food from food and grocery businesses local to Narberth.

Hubberston and Hakin Community Centre were awarded £1000 to install battery storage in order to store solar electricity generated by their 33 PV solar panels. The batteries will enable the centre to fully benefit from the solar panels and will reduce energy costs and their carbon footprint, making the community centre a more sustainable venue.

Clarbeston Road AFC were awarded £1,000 to refurbish a Portakabin that was gifted to the club in 2020. The Portakabin requires new flooring to fit the specifications of the club’s activities, making it much safer and suitable for the footwear of facility users. When work is completed, the Portakabin will provide a much needed space for increased
social contact between members and visitors, will allow for shelter on match days with inclement weather and will enable basic refreshments to be provided. The facility will also help the club to better support community events, such as the annual village sports day and to potentially meet some of the additional needs that the community.

Long View Residents were awarded £300 to clean up and enhance the concourse and the green space adjoining the platform of the Pembroke Dock station. The station, which is a Grade II listed building, has recently had its canopies restored as part of the Wales Station Improvement Scheme and this project will aim to enhance the platform and concourse area and will help turn the station into an area that creates a good first impression, instil pride of place and promotes well-being in the community.

Swansea

Cae Tan CSA were awarded £612.92 to extend the impact of their Grow from Home project. Cae Tan has worked successfully in Clase primary school for a number of years, supporting growing projects and teaching about sustainable food production, enabling families to grow vegetables to supplement and enhance what the family have to eat. The funding will enable Cae Tan to fund a “Popty Pizza” event at the primary school where staff, pupils and family members will make healthy pizza using seasonal produce grown at the school, home and at Cae Tan; The organisation will also purchase a portable induction hub to allow them to deliver a winter soup making workshop, building confidence in using fresh produce to make simple, cheap and nutritious meals for the whole family.

Volcano Theatre Company were awarded £962.30 to purchase art supplies and refreshments so that the men’s group can meet weekly at Volcano to socialise and improve their sense of wellbeing and connectedness through creative, artistic activity. The project aims to create a sense of community and friendship through shared activity in a welcoming communal space. At the end of the project, participants’ work will be displayed in a gallery event, showcasing the participants’ work in an open, community event that also raises awareness and signposts mental health services and projects, working to address the stigma that often surrounds mental health challenges.

6th Llangyfelach Scout Group were awarded £705.79 to update play and sports equipment, such as indoor and outdoor footballs, cricket and baseball sets, obstacle course set, a parachute and bean bags. The group will also focus on items such as sensory toys and items to calm children and alleviate stress, such as fidget toys, stress balls, building blocks, a sensory den and ear defenders. Gardening equipment will also be purchased so children can take part in planting tree saplings and other plants in the group[‘s recently cleared green space.

Loughor RFC Junior Section were awarded £1,000 to support the purchase of trees and hedgerows to enhance and develop a green site within their sporting complex site. Children from the community will plant and nurture the greenery over the coming years. The area is planned to have multiple plant species introduced, educating the community about biodiversity as the project develops.

Friends of Dunvant Park were awarded £487.22 to improve the park by adding play equipment, benches, and resources for activities within the park. The organisation will also aim to enhance biodiversity and community engagement through multigenerational activities.