Llys Nant y Mynydd - Computer Club Success

Thanks to the Gateway Project the Computer Club at Llys Nant y Mynydd is now up and running.  The club is run by one of our Residents up in Pen y Bryn, Rassau.  Every Tuesday morning between 10am - 12pm the club is held in the IT Suite for all residents of Llys Nant y Mynydd.  Our first session had two new members, who seemed very pleased with what they learnt.  Natalie and myself have help set up the club and will now be taking a step back and hopefully more residents will attend as the club progresses every week.  Many thanks to Mr Malcolm Gould running the club. 

Festive Morning at Llys Nant Y Mynydd!

On the morning of Monday 19th December some of the local children from Coed y Garn Primary School visited Llys Nant Y Mynydd to sing christmas songs for the residents at the scheme. The children who are all in the new school choir and ages ranged between 7 - 10 years of ages did a marvellous job. They sang some lovely old christmas classics and encouraged the residents to sing along too.

The kids performed around the wonderful xmas tree in the foyer and I would say that nearly all the residents came down to watch them - we even had to het more seats out!

Following the performance the kids were treated to xmas doughnuts and squash and the residents enjoyed some mince pies. The atmosphere was wonderful and it felt really festive. Whilst the children were there they also drew the tickets for the christmas raffle and many of the residents won some lovely prizes which had been donated by various family and friends. The school were luck enough to win a super fruit hamper as well.

A great time was had by all and it has to be said that the pupils from Coed Y Garn are all extremely polite and very well behaved. Lets hope Santa was watching down on them and they get all they wish for this christmas!!

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very merry christmas and a happy and prosperous new year!

Christmas Carols at Plas Hyfryd

With the countdown to christmas now on - the residents at Plas Hyfryd were were recently treated to a lovely festive few hours at the scheme. 34 of the pupils came over to sing carols for them. The children were situated around the christmas tree on the balcony so all the residents could see them. They sang some lovely christmas songs and carols and their performance brought a tear to many eyes (including mine). The children were pitch perfect, loud and clear with the help of some musical instruments. After they had performed they came down to the restaurant area and enjoyed some refreshments with the residents. A lovely afternoon was had by all and at the residents request they belted out a few other numbers before going back to school. As a little thank you they were each treated to a little bag of chocolate coins to take home. The children at Cwrt Rawlin Primary are a real credit to the school and heres hoping that Santa is good to them this year!!

Llys Nant Y Mynydd Christmas Faye

With Christmas fast approaching the residtents at Llys Nant Y Mynydd enjoyed a christmas fayre on the afternoon of Monday 5th November. Vision 21 and some of the staff at the scheme have made some lovely food that would be sold. From christmas cakes to mince pies, pickled onions to pickled cabbage and wonderful handmade chocolates - homemade christmas puds, there was plenty to choose from. Some staff from Vision House also set up a stall selling lovely christmas wreaths, poinsettas and handmade christmas cards. Vision House is a centre in Blaenau Gwent which caters for adults with mental health needs and is situalted on the Garden Festival site in Ebbw Vale. Their work was fabulous and very reasonalby priced too.

Some local volunteers assisted in the cafe area serving coffee and tea. They also helped out on the stall as well. They too did a terrific job!

The harp was being played in the foyer by Mr Dave Richards which gave the afternoon a lovely festive feel.

A terrific time was had by all with all proceeds going to Vision.

Merry Christmas!!

Supporting tenants into employment

We are delighted that we have recently helped two more of our tenants secure employment.

Mike is a tenant from Llanbradach. He has been working with Clare Watkins as part of the Gateway project and Clare helped him to prepare for his interview with Jehu. Mike is doing really well and is enjoying being back in work.

Martell is another United Welsh tenant who lives in Cardiff. We were thrilled to be able to support him when he applied for a trainee electrician role. Martell was successful at interview and is now working for a company in Cardiff which specialises in fitting PV systems and insulation products.

If you would like to know more about the opportunities which are available, please contact me on 02920858189 email cjenkins@uwha.co.uk or Clare Watkins on 02920858188 email cwatkins@uwha.co.uk

Work experience for care leavers in partnership with Llamau

Work is now well underway on the refurbishment of a property purchased by Llamau in Roath Cardiff.




The work on the property is part of a lottery funded project which United Welsh is working on in partnership with Llamau.



The aim of this part of the project is to refurbish the property so that it is suitable to let as a shared house, whilst also providing valuable on-site work experience for young care leavers in the Cardiff and Vale areas.




So far 6 young people have been working alongside Newman Builders. They have been involved in gutting the property, laying foundations for an extension and they are now moving on to the fitting out of the interior. The young people have received hands-on experience with Newmans supporting them and explaining the technical elements of the work.

Everyone involved has been impressed by the enthusiasm shown by the young people and the care taken by Newmans to ensure that the experience the young people get is a valuable and enjoyable one.

I look forward to seeing the project progress.

Fitzroy Lodge Super Residents fly through their 1st Coop

I arrived at Fitzroy Lodge this afternoon to join in the carnage that is the normal scene accompanying the first packing and ordering session of any new Fruit & Veg Coop.
What did I find? Four residents just hanging out!

Talk about put me to shame, they had already packed, delivered to other residents and tidied up ahead of Coop opening time.

I will get there at dawn next week in order to bring you pictures of the fruit and veg elves at work (if I manage to catch them).

Fantastic job by everyone involved. Keep posted for more details on this and the next Co op to hit our areas.

The Gateway team is supporting the launch of several of these coops in order to provide volunteering opportunities to those within Living plus and our general needs properties as well as promoting healthy eating.

Back soon...

Xmas Card Making Fun!!

On Wednesday 23rd November a few of the residents at Kenneth Treasure Court got together in the Communal Lounge to make some christmas cards. There were only about half a dozen of us but they really had a lovely few hours chatting and designing their own xmas cards to give to their loved ones. Whilst sipping on hot tea and munching on delicious mince pies each resident had their own special ideas for their cards. We had plenty of bits and pieces to make the cards look wonderful. It was also a great opportunity for the residents to have a bit of a 'get together'. I am currently working with the School Community Officer at Rumney High School where we have lots of ideas for the school to get involved at projects at the scheme and vice versa.

Its all about Green Energy Mr Davies!!

On Wednesday 23rd November Gareth Davies (Development Manager) kindly agreed to give a talk to the year six pupils at Cwrt Rawlin Primary School about Green Energy. A class of approximately 25 pupils showed a lot of interest whilst Gareth explanied all about energy, solar and the Passive House. The children asked lots of questions especially about the Passive House they were quite baffled by the fact it didn't have a heating system!! Gareth was able to show them lots of photographs which enabled them to understand it a bit better.

The pupils have already learned an impressive amount concerning green energy and were very aware that lights have to be turned off etc, doors kept closed in the winter etc and why we use solar panels.

Gareth did a great job in communicating with communicating pupils and I am sure that if he wasn't working at United Welsh he could almost certainly be a primary school teacher!!

Thanks must also go to the children who were very well behaved.

No so Chilly Crilly!!

The new residents at Llys Nant Y Mynydd were treated to a great concert from our resident singing duo 'Crilly' (aka Barry Leavey and Paul Price!). The guys were 'hot property' when they got up and performed some wonderful classics for the residents!

The communal lounge was packed as the guys belted out some tunes and their auduience loved it. Many joined in with the singing!

Tea and welsh cakes were served and by the end of the show they didn't want Barry and Paul to stop. Crilly have kindly agreed to go to the scheme before xmas to perform a few christmas classics for them.

A big thank you from all the residents to Crilly and I would also like to thank Scheme Manager Heather for her help during the afternoon.

Crilly Rock!!