M&S Merthyr Tydfil

Who we are, where we work from and who we help: We bring together our neighbours at the Ty Gwaunfarren older people’s social housing scheme, Merthyr Tydfil, through our Pantry and by cooking healthy meals in our communal kitchen and eating them together in our communal lounge. We collect surplus food from M&S and Lidl, which we share out amongst our neighbours. We also cook meals most days, including Christmas Day. Most of the residents here live alone so the meals bring us together to eat healthy food together as a community and it helps reduce loneliness and isolation.

The healthy eating project will cover a number of different aspects of our work as a school. We will be establishing a healthy breakfast club in the secondary phase. With pupils taking part in making their own healthy breakfast. We will also be providing afterschool clubs where pupils can attend with their parents healthy cooking classes. In addition we will be providing afterschool meals to those pupils in need. We will also be working with a number of other community based organisations to ensure that pupils have access to meals during the school holidays. This project forms part of a larger Family and Community Engagement Strategy that we have developed as a school. Intergenerational work will also be fully embedded across all aspects of this work.

The Willows Centre Troedyrhiw exists to support social, educational and recreational activities for all community members in Troedyrhiw and surrounding areas. The centre aims to promote and actively encourage equality for all community members in order to fulfil their potential as empowered individuals and as members of groups. The Willows Youth Club a project who is run by the Willows Centre Committee through a contract with the local authority on a commissioned basis works with over 200 members annually, achieving up to 50 accredited outcomes,