Community Hubs Video Transcript

0:32  Gwydion ap Wynn - Project Manager : We’re right in the middle of Blaenau. This is one of the offices for environmental workers but we are next door to the 'drop in' centre we have which is an extremely busy centre.

0:47 Then we have other community venture projects working in the same building. Y Dref Werdd was a project that came out of the Communities First program back in 2006/2007 and there was an opportunity to get a job, part-time to work with Y Dref Werdd. So, I was fortunate enough to get the job and that’s how I came into it, in a way.

1:08  We set it up because there wasn't any provision for people to be able to approach to get support and help in the community as many of the other services had been taken away from the area. So, through help from the community fund, through the national lottery, we received a grant for four years to set up the 'drop in' centre.

1:29  What we do there is help people with whatever comes through the door, We try and help them ourselves or refer them to another service to help them.

1:51 Rhian Williams - Wellbeing Officer : We open the office three days a week. So, that means people are coming in for help be that with food or energy bills or all kinds of things to be honest.

2:07 People come to us for help with 'bus passes', blue badges, anything they need help with, they come in. 

2:17  Very often, there are three of us working in the office downstairs and we are all with someone throughout the day. We stop for lunch, and then there is a queue outside waiting for us to reopen.

2:30  On Tuesday and Thursday during the week, we have 'green prescription' sessions where we take people out into the woods or out to different sites to hold sessions. May that be crafts or sometimes walking tours, things about the history of the area, the culture of the area, and that brings people out, especially after COVID-19, people have been isolated, therefore, we help people.

2:59  There's no point asking people to come out if they don't have heat at home, so, we make sure that everything is in place for them so that they are warm, food in their bellies and then that they are happy to come out and socialise.

3:24 So, here we are at Maes y Plas Gardens, near Manod Road in the centre of Blaenau Ffestiniog.

3:30  What are the gardens? Well, it's a market garden and the idea behind it is to have a site that grows fruit and vegetables on a large scale to be able to provide them locally to businesses, and the dream, to local schools as well.

3:46 We have had the land on lease from Gwynedd Council to develop but it was a brownfield site where it was overgrown, lots of rubbish and lots of fly-tipping and it didn't get any use except for the occasional person taking the dog for a walk.

4:00  By today, we have done a lot of clearing work to develop the site, a lot of clearing work. There is a sensible entrance into the site, there is also a cabin here which works as an office but like a posh potting shed to be honest.

4:15 There is space to cook outside here too. Then, where all the growing takes place, obviously there will be 'raised beds' being built where I stand and there is a polytunnel which is 20 meters by 5 meters so that we can grow fruit and vegetables all year round.

4:33 I think, specifically, one of the important things to remember is that it is a space for the community and it’s a place that people of the community can come and spend time with each other, to socialise to volunteer, to lend a helping hand to the work that is needed here.

4:47 And the dream, in the short term, is producing fruit and vegetables that people come here to use it and that, more or less, is already happening.

4:56 But in the long term, that it stands on its own two feet, we hope and, who knows, maybe one day it will feed the children of primary and secondary schools in the area within the school system.

5:29 Charlotte Jones - Volunteer : I was coming to Dref Werdd to fill in forms and for help with electricity bills and things like that and when this place started, I came in to have a look to do things with my children and I clicked with Emma who is here and started coming in more often and ended up volunteering and doing work for them. I feel different, a lot more comfortable with people a little bit more confidence and even though I still struggle with anxiety I can deal with it much better that I have somewhere to come to and when it comes to bills and things, I know I have the support at Dref Werdd and I have people to talk to too if I need help with anything.

6:26 Well, simply put, what would happen if Dref Werdd ended is It would a bit of a catastrophe in the community, I think. We are rooted in the community, by today, so much, there is so much reliance on the services we offer and give and that is across the whole project. I think, in this area, if Dref Werdd would end tomorrow, I don't know what would happen to all the people who come through the door, because we have around 300 people coming through the door a month and it's, there's no point thinking about what will happen if it came to an end.

7:00 The difference in the town and for me personally is there was nowhere for us to go to get the help. Someone like me, just stuck in the house I think, I would struggle with anxiety and with nowhere to go and do things.

7:16 The community of Bro Ffestiniog or Blaenau Ffestiniog is something unique. The people are unique. The area is unique. The history, heritage is all unique. I'm originally from Croesor, over the mountain, so I'm not far. So, Croesor is, more or less, part of that. But certainly, the people. You feel like you want to keep doing things to better and to build on what is already here.

7:44 It's a unique place, the people are unique.But I also have to refer to staff members I work with. They are so hard-working, their hearts are in the work to help people, to help the environment, to help the community.

7:58 So, it's something that makes you want to come to work every day.There is a big difference. I've had help with my eldest daughter starting college. My middle daughter, likes to come here. She has applied for work experience here. So, that will help her too.

8:17 And with the 'community fridge', my son has discovered that he can get things so, after school on Friday, he pops in to see if there are snacks here for him.

8:27 I've learned so much, just in the first two months, I think for all the things that are out there, all the grants to be had all the help that is out there and people don't know about them. And it has created a little family of people who come to Dref Werdd everyone is friends with each other, everyone helps each other and it's a nice feeling, working here.