Pen y Cymoedd Wind Farm Community Fund is making emergency, fast-track funding available for organisations in the Fund area. There are two strands:
•Survival Fund: to provide emergency cashflow funding for organisations at risk of closure
•Project Fund: to support additional services that meet immediate community needs
In the first two weeks we have supported 10 organisations with Survival funding totalling £121,858.09 and 6 organisations with Project funding totalling £51,719.63
Our funding will not replace any Government support available – we will ask you to tell us what other assistance you have explored or will be receiving from all other sources, and we may signpost you to other more relevant and applicable funding support. The application process will be as simple as we can make it and decisions will normally be made and funding released within 7 days.
Get in touch with the Pen y Cymoedd team now if you want to discuss these funding schemes – enquiries@penycymoeddcic.cymru or call us on 07458 300123
We have been thrilled to see new Project Fund applications coming through from organisations who are responding creatively to immediate community needs and supporting their communities in these most difficult times. So far, we are proud to have supported:
- Cymer Afan Community Library – a grant of £13,176.00 for a food delivery service
“We have turned the community library building into a Community Help Hub. From this building we are:
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Providing support and coordination across the upper Afan valley for volunteers seeking to support people who are self-isolating at home;
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Providing essential support services to isolated people using a team of specially recruited volunteers – the tasks will initially include the purchase and delivery of groceries and other house-hold items, cooked meals, and the collection of prescriptions;
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Reopening the Food Bank which has operated in the valley for several years until last week when it was forced to close.”
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Dragon Savers Credit Union – a grant of £15,000.00 for an emergency loan scheme
“The project is an underwritten loan scheme to help individuals access short term reasonably priced credit. Currently our loans policy requires that the first deposit equal to the loan repayment is made before funds are released. Where someone is waiting for their usual income to come in or has used current income to cover emergency items in order to self-isolate, this is a barrier to lending. The risk to the organisation is too great for us to lend without knowing that repayment is set up. It is the savings of other members that is the loan capital. This grant would mitigate this risk and allow use to release funds right away, helping those most in need.”
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Vale of Neath Practice Participation Group – a grant of £4,000.00 for a Drive-through ‘Red’ area
“The Practice has approximately 10,000 patients, mainly from the communities of Glynneath, Cwmgwrach, Resolfen and Pontneddfechan. It operates from the newly opened Vale of Neath Health Centre at Aberpergwm, which has the advantage of excellent access and a large car park. The Patient Participation Group was established in order to provide a representative community link for the Practice, and this group has in the past successfully completed a number of projects that provide supportive services to the Vale of Neath Practice. The project will deliver an additional medical facility that will allow patients to access medical services specific to the Coronavirus pandemic, whilst remaining in the comfort and safety of their own vehicles. The drive-through style canopy with adjoining working space “cabin” will be entirely separate to the Medical Centre building, enabling patients who are suspected of being COVID-19 positive to receive essential medical care in a controlled isolated area – reducing the risk of cross contamination to other patients and practice staff members.”
- SNAP Cymru – a grant of £12,670.00 to provide crisis support to vulnerable families
“Most children with Additional Needs and Disabilities are in mainstream classes without dedicated 1:1 support and don’t qualify for schooling at this time. We will be able to purchase essential equipment and resources to increase our capacity and provide services differently. Friendly voices, listening ears, trusted people with the knowledge of additional learning needs, helping families with worries and concerns, working together to reduce stress and anxiety. Structuring time and activities, finding the right resources, identifying local support, signposting, gaining consent, referring to locally for practical help liaising with partners as their keyworker. Our current caseload is around 300 families per worker and this is unsustainable in this time of lockdown as many families need not just advice and support but properly researched resources suitable for the ages and abilities of the children and young people. We already have staff trained in positive behaviour support who can talk parents through strategies and support them to take these forward to try to calm the difficulties before they escalate.”
- SRCC Stores – a grant of £5,000.00 to contribute to the purchase of a van
“Delivering a key service for people in isolation and need through this Pandemic, we want people to stay at home and be safe. Cwmgwrach Stores have been delivering groceries, fresh fruit and vegetables and meat to residents of Cwmgwrach and Glynneath from the very start of the COVID-19 crisis. We are currently completing anything up to 25 deliveries a day – to all – young and old alike. We have also started delivering to Rhigos on a Tuesday and a Friday and again anything between 10-12 deliveries on each day. We have many requests from Resolven and down as far as Clyne, currently we are unable to help due to logistics. Having our own van will open a world of opportunity, reducing time and enabling us to be more productive and offering additional employment and a much further reach.”
- The Refreshment Rooms – a grant of £1,873.63 for a new food delivery service
“Due to Covid19 our business unfortunately closed – however as a 3rd of our business is food based, we have been contacted over the past few weeks to ask if we are able to both assist the more vulnerable people in the area in supplying a delivery service for food and also there has been a large demand for a general take away food and drink service. As we are an already established restaurant the catering element is able to take place at The Refresh kitchen, we have an established 5* rating and a staff rota system in place so that the transition will be easily achievable. After detailed business planning we are confident that we can operate a delivery/drop and go service within the local areas.”