Golygfa Gwydyr community group recives £82,000 WAG funding

Mar 18 2010 by Samantha Castle, North Wales Weekly News

A COMMUNITY group in the Conwy Valley has received a share of a £200,000 cash boost.

The local organisation is among 46 community projects in Wales that will benefit from a share of £7 million in funding under the Welsh Assembly Government’s Community Facilities and Activities Programme (CFAP).

Golygfa Gwydyr, a local community group, based in Llanrwst, has been awarded a grant of £82,000 to renovate and refit a building in Llanrwst.

Golygfa Gwydyr runs its projects on seven hectares of Gwydyr forest known locally as the Caerdroia.

Initially an open air theatre project, events have now expanded to encompass environment, education and training for community enterprise.

Roger Davies, a volunteer with the community group, said: “Our aim is to re-unite the community with the forest so that it can be used as a resource to tackle unemployment, health and wellbeing issues, and social exclusion in rural Conwy.”

The community group does this through environment based training and outdoor activities based on woodland sites.

Mr Davies added: “The old NFU building in Plough Street will act as a focus to engage with the community and promote training and volunteering opportunities as well as provide some basic services such as a job club and shop front for products produced from the site.”

He added: “Rural Conwy needs a skills base relevant to opportunities and resources available locally.”

Golygfa Gwydyr currently work with the Touchstones 12 project for drug and alcohol dependants in Colwyn Bay. T12 volunteers come to the site once a week and spend time maintaining the woodland and help improve features like the pond, the plum orchard and the pathways.

Terry Parry, a volunteer at T12, said the program has helped him in his alcohol recovery programme. He said: “As a builder by trade when I heard about Golygfa Gwydyr through T12 I jumped at the chance to spend some time in the outdoors, learn new woodland skills and work as part of a team.

“With Golygfa Gwydyr I can work towards professional qualifications and hopefully return to work.”

More details at www.golygfagwydyr.org