Llwynhendy Youth Group's New Garden Project

Llwynhendy Youth Group started on new garden project this week. Members of the group are improving the garden in Llwyn yr Ynys Residential Complex. The project is supported by Llwynhendy Communities First and BTCV.

It's a bit windy, but watch the video below, recorded by a Youth Group member, to hear Ryan Keenan, Senior Project Officer with BTCV explain about this garden project.

Today's activities included de-turfing around pathways ready for flower planting, building bird houses (which was a good test of everybody's assembly skills!) and sawing wood ready for the flower beds.

The team

Digging around the paths ready for a flower bed

A bit of the bird box kit

Putting the boxes together

To find out more about the work of BTCV, visit their website at http://www.btcv.org.uk/

Pen-Y-Fan Litter Pick

Residents, parents and children all put their hard work together this morning to clean up the Pen-Y-Fan playing fields.

Organised by Bigyn 4 Communities First and Pltra, the morning was a great success with more than 40 children, parents and grandparents contributing to their community to help provide a clean and safe environment for the local children using the park.

Jeremy Dimond (Bigyn 4 Communities First development officer) said "I am very pleased that so many have turned out. It is great to see the children of the community helping to keep the place clean and tidy and we look forward to the next one"

(Picture of the rubbish collect from the playing fields during the pick)

The litter pick has encouraged an active community spirit in the area and the entire community looks forward to the future and the development of their community.

Sandra Cooke from Pltra (above) (also secretary of the events community) said "Bigyn 4 is wonderful and we are so glad that it has been given Communities First status".

Through a partnership with Pltra and Bigyn 4 Communities First, there are plans to develop the current play area and outside pool on Pen-Y-Fan playing fields to provide better facilities for the entire community of all ages.

If you live in the Pen-Y-Fan area then why not come along to the next litter pick session. Dates will be posted up on the Carmarthenshire Connect calender when available.

Wednesday Club

Wednesday Club is a weekly after school club run by Llwynhendy Youth Group and Llwynhendy Communities First. The club offers young people in Llwynhendy the chance to get together, have some fun and enjoy various activities and facilities.

First, a welcome from club members...

Over three Wednesday Club sessions, club members took 134 photos and 39 videos on Carmarthenshire Connect's mobile phones. Here are some of them.

Llanelli's Scarlets' Lou Reed drops in...

Wednesday Club is the community project that Llanelli Scarlets' Lou Reed supports. He had his photo taken with some club members. Also, watch the video below to see Amy interview Lou.

Lost Skills Found Friends Celebrate Adult Learners' Week

The Lost Skills Found Friends group celebrated Adult Learners' Week today with an exhibition and workshop sessions at St Barnabus Hall in Glanymor & Tyisha.

Members of Lost Skills Found Friends

Lost Skills Found Friends is a Llanelli based group that has been running for nearly two years. The aims of the group are twofold: to build new skills in arts and crafts and to build friendships. The group has gone form strength to strength since it started. The group meets twice a week - on Mondays at the Ganymor & Tyisha Communities First Office and Thursdays at St Barnabus Hall, Llanelli.

The group's members make a variety of items based on

• gift ideas
  
• plastic canvas work
  
• beadcraft
  
• wool/yarn craft, and
  
• paper craft

The group also works on projects, the most significant of which to date has been the The Village project. This is a model village and is made of a variety of yarns and plastic canvas and consists of all sorts of buildings and features commonly found in the community. None of The Village items were made using patterns: all were made using group members' skills. The village is extensive, covering around 9 tables when it is displayed in full. The video below shows some of the village that was on display today.

All the members of Lost Skills Found Friends present at today's exhibition had a go taking photos on Carmarthenshire Connect's mobile phones for this blog - below are some of them.

Group Chair Dorothy Jenkins

See the group's website at www.lsff.org.uk

New Llwynhendy CF Offices

The Communities First Llwynhendy offices have moved!

(Aled Davies - Llwynhendy Communities First co-ordinator - outside their new offices)

The team and staff on Llwynhendy Communities First are enjoy their new, spacious and more practical offices after being re-located a few yards from their old office on Pemberton Road, Llwynhendy.

The new offices are next to Labrokes betting shop and consists of more office space, larger storage area, a kitchen, a large meeting room and a room for their new school uniform exchange project they will be launching soon.

They also plan to have an information room where local residents can call in for a cup of tea and a chat as well to keep up with their area's latest developments.

Upstairs will eventually have an computer and telephone for community groups to use to gain access to the Internet an make phone calls.

If you're in the area then why not call in and see the new office.

Pantyffynnon Youth Go Internet Safe!

Carmarthenshire Connect delivered a workshop on Internet safety to the youth of Panyffynnon yesterday over drinks, crisps and pizza at the new Pantyffynnon CF office in Ammanford.

The group spent an hour and a half discussing the issues that affect young people online including social networking websites, online grooming and predators and how to keep safe from such dangers.

The group also watched videos from CEOP (The Child Online Exploitation and Protection Centre) about the more serious problems of child abuse that can arise from Internet use. This included learning how to use the report abuse button now found on many websites for young people.

Ann Richards (Communities First development worker) said " I now hope the young people will take more care when using the web and websites such as 'Bebo' and 'MSN' ".

Carmarthenshire Connect will now look at providing open surgery sessions to the youth so they can learn more about general ICT.

Llanelli Disabled Drivers Association

The Llanelli Disabled Drivers Association (DDA) is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. The group meets every Tuesday afternoon at its hall in Albert Street, Llanelli. Membership of the group is open to drivers and non-drivers with a mobility problem. The group also welcomes non-diabled who can join as associate members. Llanelli DDA is affiliated to Mobilise Organisation.

Llanelli DDA's hall in Albert Street.

Tuesday 20 May was an important date in the group's calendar - it was their AGM. Chairman Peter Jospeh is very pleased with the Association's progress over the last year.

Here are some of the photos that group members took before and after the AGM using Carmarthenshire Connect's mobile phone.

The Association's Committee. Left to right: Eileen John (Secretary), Cllr Nigel Bevan (President), Peter Joseph (Chairman) and Roy John (Treasurer).

And finally, a photo of The Tea Team, who kept everyone refreshed with tea and well fed with tasty cakes.

To find out more about Llanelli Disabled Drivers Association Affiliated to Mobilise Organisation, see their website at http://www.llanellidda.org.uk/.

Valley Teen Club

Valley Teen Club has been offering young people from the Amman Valley a place to meet, socialise and try new activities for the last 10 years. The club currently meets every Monday.

Valley Teen Club volunteers and members. Taken by Nerys.

They do have a table tennis board, honest.

The club usually has between 35 and 50 members attending every week and is run by a team of dedicated volunteers and a youth worker.

Play the video below to hear Laura and Owain interview club Chairman Gary Davies and volunteer Peri Thomas, who tell us more about the club.

Filmed by Owain using Carmarthenshire Connect's mobile phone.

Laura gets the members' perspective when she interviews and films Owain and Lowri.

Owain then tells Laura about the other clubs he's involved with, highlighting how groups in the Amman Valley help each other out.

Filmed by Laura.

Thanks to youth worker Jeff Fish, Valley Teen Club members get to enjoy a range of activities, including working to achieve Bronze level Duke of Edinburgh's Award. Laura interviews and films Jeff, who tells us more about these activities.

Pen-Y-Fan Quarry Park Unveiling!

Residents, councillors and funders all got together this morning with Paul Harris (Chairman of the Green Network) and Jane Davidson (Minister for the Environment, Sustainability and Housing) to unveil the new Pen-Y-Fan Quarry Park.

The old derelict quarry site, which used to be a local dumping ground with two farms on-site has been completely transformed into a new modern local park area with three brand new play areas.

(Paul Harris and Jane Davidson)

(Opening speech from Paul Harris)

(Grand Unveiling by Jane Davidson)

(Above: new park play areas)

After an appeal from local residents and through consultations with local young people, the park has been made possible by the hard work of PLTRA who formed in 2001 as a community partnership. £800,000 has been raised in the development of this site to give the local residents of Pen-Y-Fan a safe environment for their children to play and enjoy for many years to come.

The park has been funded from a collaboration of the Environment Agency, Lottery, Welsh Assembly Government, Welsh Development Agency, Carmarthenshire County Council and the One Fund.

With the area recently been given Community First status, residents and councillors have welcomed this wonderful addition to the community that will go along side Llanelli's Millennium Coastal Path, Millennium Visitors Centre and the Jack Nicklaus designed Golf Course.

A Poem From GCG Happy Wanderers

Georgina, a member of the GCG Happy Wanderers, wrote a super poem about the group. Watch the video below to hear Georgina read it out.

GCG Happy Wanderers are we

With orange coats we are easy to see.

If the weather is wet we don't care a jot

On with out waterproofs and off we trot.

Walk every Tuesday for three miles plus

Thursdays we halve that and don't make a fuss.

We have found many paths in Garnant,

Tairgwaith and Cwmgors.

Brynaman and the Black Mountain of course.

Enjoy the river walk to Glanamman you see

And on our way back to the Half Moon for tea.

As the weather gets warmer we hope

To change this for a shandy or coke

Sure we are fitter with all this walking

To help us a long we do a lot of talking.

On our way home we are weary, and so

Get into our cars and say Cheerio.

GCG Happy Wanderers' Day Out at Clyne Gardens

The Gwaun Cae Gurwen Happy Wanderers enjoyed a day out at Clyne Gardens in Swansea on Tuesday. The warm and sunny weather was perfect for enjoying the superb plants in the gardens. After a good pub lunch at The Woodmans, it was time to take make the most of the sun with a beach walk and an ice cream. Here are some of the photos that group members took.

Lost Communities DVD Progress

The Memories of Lost Communities DVD that Sandra and Mavis from the Lost Communities of Bwlch-y-gwynt and Machynys group are making is progressing well. The DVD, which Carmarthenshire Connect is helping the group create, will feature memories of people who lived in Bwlch-y-Gwynt and Machynys before the communities were demolished about 30 years ago.

Yesterday, we filmed some introduction shots at the site where the communities used to be. The villages were in the area of Llanelli where Machynys Peninsular Golf & Country Club and the new Pentre Nicklaus Village development are now sited. Filming was made a little difficult be the amount of wind. Bwlch-y-gwynt, which roughly translates into English as 'windy gap', was named so for a good reason!

Sandra and Mavis film on the road that once led to the communities of Bwlch-y-gwynt and Machynys

Choices

As reported last week on Carmarthenshire Connect, BASE (Brynaman Street Elite) launched their DVD, "Choices" at St Catherine's Hall Brynaman on 29 April. The DVD is a powerful story of how one young person's choices lead him to lose his friends and ultimately his liberty. We published reactions from the audience last week. This short trailer shows just why they thought the DVD was so good.

Choices

In making the DVD, the group received help from many organisations across Carmarthenshire, including Trinity College, Streets Youth Project, Brynaman Community Centre, Valley Teens Youth Club, Carmarthenshire Youth Service, Upper Amman Valley Communities First, Mess Up The Mess Youth Theatre, Carmarthenshire Community Safety Partnership, Dyfed Powys Police, Ammanford Magistrates Court, Mentor Bro Dinefwr and Carmarthenshire Connect.

NEETs Project

The Bwlch Team of the Carmarthenshire Youth Service runs a NEETs Project for young people aged 16-24 who are not in education, employment or training.

The project offers young people the chance to experience outdoor activities such as mountain biking, sailing and kayaking. From this experience, participants can then gain OCN qualifications.

Here are some photos and a video that some members of the NEETs Project took on one of their mountain bike rides at Brechfa Forest.

As you can see, the fast pace of jumping the tables was a real test of the Sony Ericsson K810's responsiveness!

The NEETs Project meets every Tuesday at Bwlch Youth & Community Centre, Llanelli. For more information call the Bwlch Centre on 01554 749782.

Glanymor & Tyisha History Group

Glanymor & Tyisha History Group members at May's meeting at Bethania Chapel, Llanelli.

The Glanymor and Tyisha wards of Llanelli were once home to heavy industry, most famously tin-plating. Supporting this industry were networks of docks and railways. Around this industry, vibrant communities formed.

In the latter half of the 20th century, much of this industrial landscape was demolished - the Glanymor & Tyisha History Group aims to record as much of the history as possible, before it is lost forever.

The group formed in early 2004 and decided to launch a series of book to tell the story of Glanymor & Tyisha. A People's History: Glanymor & Tyisha, Number 1 was published in 2004, followed by Number 2 in 2005 and Number 3 in 2006. Books 1 and 2 were soon reprinted as one combined book, due to the high demand for them. Book Number 4 was published in late 2007.

The books are collections of writings by different authors, from both within and outside of the History Group. The group is currently compiling book Number 5.

Group Chairman Nevil Williams with the group's latest publication - A People's History: Glanymor & Tyisha, Number 4. Taken by Benita.

Llwynhendy Dads Visit Picton Castle

The Llwynhendy Dad's Group enjoyed a superb (although damp!) visit to Picton Castle in Pembrokeshire with The Gateway Gardens Trust last Wednesday. After making the coach journey from Ty Enfys Family Centre in Llwynhendy, the day started with a tour of the woodland gardens and the walled gardens.

Enjoying the plants. Taken by Gary.

Taken by Paul.

Taken by David.

Taken by Jeanette.

The walled garden. Taken by Cerub.

This trip was part of The Gateway Gardens Trust's Bittersweet programme of visits. The Bittersweet project looks at the links between the salve trade and historic gardens - it was interesting to learn about the links that Picton Castle had with the slave trade.

Taken by Cerub.

Jeanette from The Gateway Gardens Trust explains about the different types of mint that grow in the walled garden. We then had a mint tea tasting session.

After a bowl of hearty Leek & Potato soup and sandwiches, it was time to take a look around the castle shop and enjoy some of the artwork on display that school pupils had painted on their trips to the castle. Then an excellent tour of the castle was enjoyed.

In front of the art wall.

Picton Castle. Taken by Gary.

The group just before we leave. Taken by Paul.

The Gateway Gardens Trust creates and pays for special tailor-made visits to historic parks and gardens in Wales and the West Midlands for a diverse range of community groups, schoolchildren and Lifelong Learners. Find out more about the Trust on their website at www.gatewaygardenstrust.org.

Llwynhendy Dads Group was started up in July 2007 by NCH Cymru and is supported by a variety of partner organisations including Communities First Llwynhendy and Ty Enfys Family Centre.

BASE Launch DVD

After about a year in the making, Brynaman Street Elite (BASE) launched their new DVD on Tuesday evening at St Catherine's Hall, Brynaman. Attendance to the event was excellent with people from a variety of local organisations, alongside those who had a part in the making of the film, in the audience. After the showing, a buffet organised by the Valley Teens Club and BASE's non-alcoholic punch were enjoyed.

The BASE Team introduce the DVD

The DVD is a short film called Choices. It shows the consequences of the main character's decisions to get involved in anti-social behaviour. From this it highlights that young people do have a choice and inspires the viewer to make the right choice.

Peter, from BASE, recorded a series of interviews with those at the event using a camcorder, some of which are below. Responses will also be used as part of the evaluation of the DVD project.

To start with Peter asked Alex and Owain, who worked on the project, to explain what the film is all about...

Then Peter captured the audience's thoughts...