Community
Meals on Wheels St Davids celebrates success at Ystadau Cymru Awards
A COLLABORATIVE project involving St Davids Befriending Group and Pembrokeshire County Council has scooped the ‘Delivering Social Value’ award at the prestigious Ystadau Cymru awards for its Community Meals on Wheels (MoW) project.
Ystadau Cymru encourages excellence in active management of the Welsh public sector estate through strategic collaboration and good practice guidance.
The MoW project, which has been running since April, has provided people with a hot meal and helped the vulnerable in the community through the pandemic.
In total, the St Davids Befriending Group is made up of local individuals who work together on a voluntary basis in collaboration with Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi.
The Award was presented to the winners by Minister for Finance and Local Government, Rebecca Evans MS. The judging panel hailed the project for being an inspiration to bringing a collaborative effort to life and realising what can be done when the public sector and resilient communities come together.
A Meals on Wheels service was last operated in St. Davids in the late 1980’s when it was run by the Royal Voluntary Service.
And although Pembrokeshire County Council tried twice to re-establish this in the early 2000’s – it was without success.
But, come the autumn of 2020 the St. Davids Befrienders got together to try once more to restart the service. After an initial meeting held last January between the volunteering group and local authority staff, the service launched in April 2021 – and it has gone from strength-to-strength.
All the meals are cooked by the staff at the Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi canteen as it’s a suitable venue to mass-produce the food in a safe environment with trained staff.
The Head teacher was supportive of the concept as the school is at the heart of the community.
Cllr David Lloyd said: ‘I am honoured to be part of such an incredible team that time after time delivers a wonderful service to people in St Davids.
‘This is a true team effort from the St. Davids Befrienders to our friends at Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi school.
‘The delight on the people’s faces when the food arrives, or when someone knocks on the door just for a chat, is something to behold. As one of those who deliver the food I can’t express the excitement and pleasure on the faces when I knock on their door, it is absolutely moving.
‘It makes everything worthwhile and brings the community together in ways that sometimes can be slightly missed. I want to take this opportunity to thank Sarah Oliver at Pembrokeshire County Council, Ystadau Cymru for this marvellous award and Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi’s school for enabling the St. Davids Befrienders to provide the amazing Meals on Wheels service.’
Applications were encouraged to demonstrate how the projects achieved social value through collaboration with multiple partners – and this is exactly what the Meals on Wheels realised.
Cllr David Simpson, Leader of Pembrokeshire County Council added: ‘This is a hugely successful and significant project for the people of St David’s – and I’m delighted it has been celebrated in this way.
“The St David’s Meals on Wheels is a great example of collaboration between volunteers, stakeholders and the local school.
“It has breathed new life into a voluntary service that was lost decades ago. This is an incredible achievement.’
Since April, the MoW team have delivered meals, ensuring some of the most vulnerable in the community receive a hot, healthy and delicious meal.
Chief Executive Will Bramble said: ‘This collaborative project, involving the public estate, has made a significant impact on the community they serve.
‘I am immensely proud that this partnership approach has enabled this Authority to help provide a Transformative way of working which benefits those who need it most.
‘This recognition is a symbol of what can be achieved when communities pull together, utilise local resources to solve problems – and more importantly, show they care.’
Community
Connecting the Coast project celebrates significant achievements in nature recovery
CONNETING THE COAST, an ambitious three-year Nature Recovery project backed by Welsh Government funding, is drawing to a close, having taken impressive strides in protecting and enhancing the fragile ecosystems of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.
The project, designed to safeguard coastal habitats and enhance biodiversity in farmland adjacent to the iconic coastline, works in close collaboration with local farmers and landowners, to restore habitats, strengthen ecosystem resilience, and promote sustainable land management.
Connecting the Coast has yielded impressive results, with land management changes creating flourishing habitats for wildlife. This is evident in the reappearance of coastal wildflowers like centaury and sheep’s bit where conservation grazing has been implemented and the appearance of scarce arable plants, such as weasel’s snout and bugloss, in crop margins that have been left unsprayed.
New hay meadows are also thriving, offering sanctuary to pollinators and birds, while species-rich pastures are helping to secure soil health and protect carbon stocks. These biodiversity-rich areas form vital buffers in the coastal ecosystem, offering increased resilience against the impacts of climate change.
Connecting the Coast Project Officer Clare Flynn said: “At the heart of Connecting the Coast is a strong partnership with the local farming community and landowners, ranging from large dairy farms to smallholders with just a few fields – and we’ve been met with overwhelming support and a warm welcome from everyone.”
Throughout its duration, Connecting the Coast has achieved several significant milestones in its mission to restore and protect habitats. These include installing almost 19,000 meters of fencing to improve conservation grazing and safeguarding over 80 hectares of coastal slopes to protect iconic coastal species. In addition, over 50 hectares of hay meadows and 50 hectares of species-rich permanent pasture have been created, enhancing biodiversity and supporting soil health.
As the project enters its final months, the team will continue to provide tailored support and advice to landowners, while closely monitoring the ecological outcomes of habitat restoration efforts. The project is committed to deepening conversations with both farmers and the Welsh Government to secure sustainable farming support and ensure that nature recovery remains a top priority in Pembrokeshire and beyond.
Connecting the Coast has received financial support from the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Landscapes, Sustainable Places fund.
Although applications for funding are now closed, further information about the project can be obtained by emailing Clare Flynn at [email protected].
Community
Haverfordwest quayside scheme approved by planners
A SCHEME to refurbish a quayside building in Haverfordwest’s conservation area, along with works to the existing Haverhub community hub has been backed by county planners.
The application, by Gitti Coats, for the refurbishment and extension of Haverfordwest’s Quayside Building to form multi-functional community spaces, along with an extension to the bar building to create a first-floor terrace at Quay Street was recommended for conditional approval at the November 5 meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning committee.
A report for planners said: “The application site comprises of two existing buildings and associated outdoor area located within the Quayside area of Haverfordwest. One of the buildings is known as the Quayside Building, which fronts the quayside and is currently vacant. The second building, which currently addresses Quay Street to the west, is known as the ‘Haverhub’ community hub.”
The Grade-II-listed Haverhub building, is a former post office, described as “a finely designed neoGeorgian Post Office in Bath stone,” built in 1934-6 for the General Post Office (GPO), and “is an example of the high quality neo-Georgian post offices of the inter-war period”.
A report for planners said the Quayside building would increase in height from approximately 7.9 metres to 11.7 metres with the creation of a second floor and accommodation within the roof space, the ground floor utilised for space in connection with a performance space within the Haverhub building.
To the first floor would be a multi-function room, which would also connect to a proposed bar area and associated first floor terrace which includes outdoor seating. The second floor of the Quayside building would include a second multi-function and meeting room.
The main Haverhub building would be extended to provide a gallery and entrance lobby. The existing bar and kitchen would also be extended.
The Haverhub building was granted a change of use to a community hub in 2018, with the use and building benefiting from a ground floor internal outdoor courtyard area, which is located below the proposed first floor terrace.
The report said that, as there is already an outside space for the community hub to utilise “the addition of the first-floor seating area would not create a significantly greater impact in terms of noise generation or impact on amenity than the existing outdoor area to the ground floor”.
Speaking at the November 5 meeting, Gitti Coates said Haverhub had spent the last eight years “recognising the real value of abandoned buildings,” with “a desire to see something positive happening for the town”.
She said the “iconic” quayside building had been purchased with “a significant contribution from Pembrokeshire County Council’s Enhancing Pembrokeshire fund”.
Committee chair Cllr Simon Hancock, who moved approval, described the scheme as “marvellous,” saying it would be “a distinct improvement” to the area, with Haverhub “doing the most remarkable job in trying to regenerate the town”.
Cllr Mark Carter said: “A wonderful scheme, something the town is going to be proud of.”
The application was unanimously approved by members.
Community
Neyland church which served community for 160 years to become homes
A CALL to convert a former Pembrokeshire church, which has served its community since almost the start of its town’s creation, has been approved.
In an application recommended for conditional approval at the Pembrokeshire County Council planning committee meeting of November 5, Mr and Mrs Davies sought permission for a change of use of the former Zion Presbyterian Church, High Street, Neyland to two dwellings.
Zion Presbyterian Church was one of the first built in Neyland and is evident on the 1862 Ordnance Survey (OS) map identified as a Calvinist chapel with the date above the north door. It was later extended in 1871.
A report for planners said the church, in the town’s conservation area, closed in July 2023 due to the condition of the building and the lack of funding to ensure its maintenance, and was bought by the applicants in June of this year; the only interested parties, the price being lowered during the marketing exercise due to there being no demand.
It would be converted into two units, the first in the original church building, and the latter in a rear extension of the building.
Members at the November 5 meeting heard the congregation was now attending Gilead chapel, Maidenwells and Ebenezer church, Haverfordwest.
Moving approval, committee chair, local councillor, and historian Cllr Simon Hancock said: “I know this chapel very well, it’s in my electoral ward.
“In some ways its quite sort of poignant, it was built in 1861 designed by W H Linsey who was a noted local architect at the time when Neyland had only been a town five years; it’s served the community for 160 years and closed in the summer of 2023, it didn’t create even the merest ripple in the community, which is really sad, but I believe there’s a chapel closing in Wales every week.
“It’s really, really, sad; all the generations that have been associated with and affiliated with this chapel and the contributions it has made to the social and religious life of the community.
“As things are, that’s the increasing trend, so a historic building will only survive if it has an end use, I’m really pleased the outside treatment of this building is going to be carefully maintained,” adding: “I think it’s really important the outside of this building remains as unaltered and authentic as it can be.”
The application was unanimously approved by committee members.
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