B&Q Merthyr Tydfil

The Pantry runs from our community flat at 47 Twyncarmel every Tuesday. It's open to all our residents in Merthyr (478 properties, 989 people). We post each week on the Twyncarmel Facebook group so people know what we have in stock. We have also created a WhatsApp group for members. We heard demand for a Pantry through our Tenancy Support Officers, who help residents struggling with the cost of living. Many were receiving food parcels from our sister project, Ty Gwaunfarren Lunch Club, during the pandemic, but we knew many more needed help but were too proud to ask. A Pantry is less stigmatised than food parcels and offers more food/less waste than food parcels, as people can choose what they want. Neighbourly surplus food is given away for free. Grants from Neighbourly /Lidl grants and a Welsh Government, via the local Council, help us top up supplies. At the Pantry residents can also access money and housing advice, and recycling equipment, to avoid fines for not recycling properly. Through the Pantry we are connecting with our residents and developing community projects based on their needs /demand, including Multiply - a Levelling Up funded programme, which uses fun activities such as crafts and cooking to helps adults to improve their numeracy skills. We encourage local residents to volunteer with the pantry and build their confidence and work skills. Wales & West Housing, who own the building and whose staff run the project, is a registered charity No 21114R Our local councillors are supportive of this project, one of whom is a WWH resident. This project is in the Cyfarthfa 2 ward, which ranks as the 65th most deprived LSOA in Wales, out of 1,909 in the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation. Our estate is very isolated with only one small shop and no cafe. There are many families from minority groups including Poland, Portugal and Brazil, who have English as a second language, living in Twyncarmel. At our Warm Space people can keep warm, have a hot drink and chat to our Tenancy Support Officers about cost of living worries they are facing. The WWH staff hear many people struggling with loneliness/isolation, both young and old. We are also creating a community garden on a disused site, that was formerly a children's play park. The community will grow fresh vegetables, fruit and herbs here to enjoy the benefits of freshly picked food, the health and mental health benefits of gardening, being outdoors and spending time with others. We need food, household, period/hygiene, baby and pet products for our Pantry please. We would also love any garden products such as seeds, bulbs, plants, broken bags of compost, wood chip and anything else that could be used for our community garden please. The grants and surplus food we receive via Neighbourly will make a real difference to the people here - thank you!

Our core aim is to raise literacy standards in merthyr tydfil and the valleys . poor literacy means that young people do not gain the life chances they deserve and as a result have limited job and career prospects. the trust achieves this through numerous initiatives in the community . We run a 1.Baby Book worm project - Giving young people a start in school 2.Newsletter project - Written by young people for young people 3.After School Clubs Funded By Children In Need 4.Youth Clubs on the weekend funded by comic Relief 5.We partner with Community Payback and Run a Gardening project that has won 3 green flag awards . 6.The Trust Runs the Spread the Word Festival the largest children's festival in the UK celebrating World Book Day . 7. We run the Dowlais Community Centre a hub in the local community reaching out over 2500 people a week . The building is used by over 50 partnership agencies and has a gym , community cafe , gardening project , Book shop , Music studio and a park . The Centre is open from 9am until 9pm 7 days a week to service the community . 8. We have create 15 Community Libraries to support children in the Merthyr Tydfil and surrounding area. 9. Active COVID 19 response programme including: food parcels, home shopping and prescription deliveries. 10 Award Winning Queens Award for Voluntary Service 2021, The Charity Awards - Education and Training Winners 2021 The Trust is a Community Focused Charity reaching out to over 3500 People a week in the Community from ages 0 to 99 yeas .

Dowlais Primary School provides education to pupils from the ages 3 to 11 and delivers all areas of the National Curriculum. We serve the local areas of Dowlais, Penywern and Pant and have 198 pupils on roll. Within our school we have a Learning Resource Base which provides specialist provision for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. We would like our Learning Resource Base to be further developed in order to continue to meet the complex needs of the children within the class. We would like help to brighten up and decorate our classroom so that it is transformed into a calming and nurturing environment for our pupils. We would like it painted with neutral colours which would not be over stimulating for the children and would provide a relaxed atmosphere.