Lord Elis-Thomas visits old Llanrwst grammar school site to unveil plaques

Sep 30 2010 by Samantha Castle, North Wales Weekly News

Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas visits Llanrwst old grammar school site to unveil plaques

LORD Dafydd Elis-Thomas took a step back in time for a glimpse of the future when he visited the site of his old school.

The Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales unveiled plaques at Canolfan Crwst and Hafan Gwydir in Llanrwst last Friday after a tour of the state-of-the-art elderly housing and social services facility.

Lord Elis-Thomas spent much of his childhood in Llanrwst and was a pupil at the grammar school on the School Bank Road site where the first phase of the new health and social care development has been completed.

He chatted with staff and tenants and joined residents and representatives from the partnership responsible for the new facilities for a celebration afternoon tea.

“I’m honoured to open this site and congratulate the way agencies have worked together to make this project a success,” said Lord Elis-Thomas.

“I welcome the £5.84m grant funding awarded by the Welsh Assembly Government towards the Hafan Gwydir Extra Care Housing scheme.

“Integrating health and social care on one campus and providing good quality housing fit for purpose will be a big step in meeting tenants’ needs, will improve their quality of life and provide a safe environment for older people in our community,” he added.

Hafan Gwydir provides 40 one and two bedroom luxury self-contained apartments, including a guest apartment and two apartments used for respite care, together with high quality communal facilities such as a restaurant, lounges, hairdressing salon and cinema room.

Canolfan Crwst provides a convenient single point of access to an expanded range of health and social care services for Conwy’s rural communities. The facilities include consultation rooms, interview rooms and treatment rooms for visiting healthcare professionals and large group/ meeting rooms. The centre also provides a base for teams of health and social care professionals covering the area. A new GP surgery is also planned for the site.

Pupils from Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy also took part in the celebrations performing a number of songs. There was also a display of photographs celebrating the 400th anniversary of the foundation of Llanrwst Grammar School provided by historian Pat Rowley.