Saundersfoot celebration to feature choirs, raffle and charity fundraising evening

SAUNDERSFOOT Rotary Club is set to celebrate its golden jubilee with a special community concert later this month, marking 50 years of service to the local area.

The event will take place on Thursday (Mar 26) at The Regency Hall, Saundersfoot, running from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, and will feature performances from Tenby Male Choir and Côr y Môr.

Founded in 1976 by a group of like-minded individuals committed to the Rotary principle of “Service above self,” the club has spent five decades supporting a wide range of charitable causes and community initiatives.

Over the years, members have raised around £500,000 through events such as the popular Saundersfoot Duck Race and annual hog roasts. In addition to fundraising, volunteers have contributed thousands of hours supporting projects across the community.

These include work with the Tenderfoot Disabled Sports Club, organising interschool competitions to promote writing, environmental awareness and the arts, assisting the Saundersfoot Wombles with beach cleans, and planting purple crocuses throughout the village to raise awareness of the global fight against polio.

The anniversary concert will also include a raffle, a silent auction featuring a painting of Saundersfoot titled The Beach Front donated by local artist Andrew Phillips, and a display showcasing the history of the Rotary Club.

Tickets are priced at £10 for adults, with free entry for under 16s. The price includes a hot drink and a Welsh cake. Tickets are available in advance from The Regency Hall and The Shoe Box in Saundersfoot, or can be purchased on the door.

Funds raised during the evening will go towards future Rotary activities, including replacing essential equipment and purchasing first aid kits, helping ensure the club can continue its work in the community for years to come.

A CALL to back feasibility funding which may ultimately see new leisure centres in both Milford Haven and Pembroke, as well as a multi-million grant to keep Tenby’s pool running for at least a decade, has been backed by senior councillors.

At the March 16 meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet, members were asked to approve a leisure investment programme including feasibility funding for new leisure centres in Pembroke and Milford Haven, along with works at Tenby leisure centre, with the aim of extending the lifespan of the trust-run swimming pool by at least 10 years.

A report for members said of Pembroke and Tenby leisure centres that “the advancing age of the buildings, combined with the end-of-life cycle of a number of key components, has now resulted in the need for a significant replacement programme across both sites”.

To replace Tenby pool on its current footprint would be approximately £27.47m, with efforts to identify a viable alternative site within the town’s catchment area unsuccessful.

For Pembroke Leisure Centre, it says costs to extend the lifespan of the 1974-built pool by 10 years would be £8,288,418.

For Milford Haven Leisure Centre, the report said a condition survey “highlights significant areas that require attention, including, for example, building structure (metal cladding, roof) and mechanical and electrical works,” with an estimated cost over a 30-year period to address all findings at some £12,677,279, £5.6m of that over the next four years.

For Tenby, the aim is to extend its lifespan by at least a decade, with a grant to the charitable trust running the pool.

Members backed a long string of recommendations, subject to future decisions of Cabinet in accordance with the governance arrangements in the Capital Strategy to approve individual projects and put them into the capital programme.

For Pembroke this includes a detailed feasibility study for a new-build Leisure Centre in Pembroke, on the current school site, providing a feasibility budget of £195,000 from reserves.

For Milford Haven,  members backed £1.2m (at risk) in the capital programme to develop a high-level leisure brief into the tender of the new English Medium primary and secondary school project in Milford Haven, and the preconstruction services to develop the project designs (to RIBA 4, Detailed Design) for a new leisure centre at the same time as the school.

For Tenby, members backed a grant of £4,606,667 to the Tenby and District Swimming Pool Association, as owner of the asset, for works to extend the lifespan of the current swimming pool by at least 10 years.

Members also backed other recommendations including £50,000 from reserves to procure external funding consultants to identify and secure as much funding as possible towards the delivery of the investment programme, and to establish a leisure operations review board to undertake a formal review of the leisure services operating model.

Community organisations in Pembrokeshire encouraged to apply for new grants supporting skills and job access

LOCAL Senedd Members Samuel Kurtz and Paul Davies are urging charities and community groups across Pembrokeshire to apply for a new round of funding aimed at helping people gain skills and access employment.

The latest round of the National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED) Community Matters Fund has opened, offering grants to grassroots organisations supporting people who are struggling to find work or return to employment.

Delivered in partnership with Localgiving, the spring funding round will distribute £250,000 to projects designed to build skills, confidence and experience in an evolving jobs market.

Funding can support initiatives such as CV workshops, interview coaching, work placements and training opportunities. Projects helping people develop practical skills in sectors including construction, engineering, digital industries and clean energy are also eligible.

The fund is targeted at those facing barriers to employment, including young people not in education, employment or training, individuals with health conditions or disabilities, armed forces veterans, people from ethnic minority backgrounds, and those returning to work after time away due to caring responsibilities or illness.

Registered charities and non-profit companies limited by guarantee can apply for grants of up to £5,000. Constituted community groups without a charity number can apply for up to £2,000.

The funding is available to eligible organisations across the Midlands, South West England and South Wales.

Samuel Kurtz said: “This fund offers a valuable opportunity for local groups to secure support to help people gain confidence, training and work experience. I would encourage any eligible organisation in Pembrokeshire to consider applying.”

Paul Davies added: “Helping people into work and supporting them to develop new skills is vital for both individuals and our local economy. Pembrokeshire has many excellent community groups delivering this kind of support, and I hope they will take full advantage of this funding to expand their work.”

The application window opened on Monday (Mar 16) and closes at 5:00pm on Thursday (Apr 23). Successful applicants will be notified in May, with funding distributed later that month.

Further information is available via the National Grid Electricity Distribution Community Matters Fund website.