At the Greenfields Awards in December 2019, the Foundation was delighted to have supported five community grants submitted by the Greenfields team. Each has been awarded a grant of £500 to support the community work they are doing in the area.
FACE
FACE is a youth and community charity which seeks to support people of all ages to meet and exceed their potential and make a positive difference in their community. They do this through informal and social education activities and events to bring people together, develop confidence, and grow skills. Much of their work is focused on those with added vulnerability due to their age, disability or impairment, but they seek to challenge all their members to focus on their skills and talents and what they can do or change to make and reach their own goals.
Two children from our of the Greenfields services currently attend youth clubs within the local community run by FACE. Face provides a safe space where the children can make new friends and be themselves.
The Foundation’s donation will enable FACE to purchase new resources or plan fantastic days out for the children.
BCLB
BCLB is a local church situated in Cefn Cribwr and serves the local community through breakfast clubs, offering free school uniforms through a donation and old school uniform scheme. They offer coffee morning for the elderly people in the community and various school holiday schemes for disadvantaged families.
The Treasurer of BCLB (picture above with Mark Lazarus from Greenfields), said that the Foundation’s donation will be used to support families and children through a daily morning breakfast prior to going to school, and the food bank. To date they have supported over 544 children and adults through this initiative. The church also runs a uniform scheme where they launder old uniforms and provide these to local families who are not able to buy the relevant school uniforms.
Sparkle
Sparkle, is the official charity of the Serennu Children’s Centre in Newport, and Nevill Hall Children’s Centre in Abergavenny.
The guiding principle for Sparkle is to ensure that children and young people with disabilities and/or developmental difficulties and their families are fully supported and able to participate in valued childhood experiences, with access to the same range of opportunities, life experiences, activities and community services as any other child and their family.
Elizabeth, from Greenfields, was able to visit the service and was privileged to see the fantastic 3D MediCinema at the Serennu Children’s Centre, which shows films every Tuesday evening and Saturday morning. The viewings are free to children, young people and their families who meet the criteria. The cinema improves the difficult reality of being in hospital and places of care for patients and their families by bringing them genuine movie-going experiences. The centre does this by installing and managing permanent, state-of-the-art-cinemas that screen the latest releases Hollywood has to offer. The cinema has 51 seats and has been specifically designed and built within the centre to comfortably accommodate children and young people who have a disability and/or developmental difficulty as well as their families and friends.
Swimming Lessons:
Swimming lessons offer an opportunity for children & young people with a disability and/or developmental difficulty aged 5+ to learn to swim. Lessons take place in the purpose built hydrotherapy pool, which is at a constantly inviting temperature. Family Swim offers an opportunity for children & young people to spend quality time with their family in the water. The first session (12-12.30) has a fun and friendly atmosphere and the second session (12.30-1) has a more relaxed atmosphere, to ensure we can meet everyone’s likes and needs. 72 children currently attend swimming lessons per week and these run 3 times a week.
Sensory Room:
Sparkle offers families the opportunity to book a bespoke 45 minute session in the state of the art sensory room, which contains specialist equipment, and facilities that provide fun and stimulating play. Each session is supported by a Sparkle play worker.
Sparkling Sibs Club:
This is a club open to siblings of children and young people with a disability and/or developmental difficulty who share similar experiences. The club provides a range of leisure activities for the siblings in addition to bespoke sessions relating to coping with emotions/feelings, and developing the children’s knowledge and understanding of their sibling’s disability. Sparkling Sibs is just one of the groups available within the Helping Hands service.
Independent Living Skills:
Supports young people with a disability and/or developmental difficulty with their transition into adulthood. The club provides an opportunity to learn and develop new skills such as communication, cooking, cleaning, managing finances, confidence and working as a team. This club runs on Wednesdays between 5.30pm-7.30pm in the purpose built ADL flat in Serennu.
The Foundation’s donation will be spent on activities for the after school clubs, including play sessions, outdoor play, fun with food and messy play. The funds will also enable the centre to fully train four of the volunteers to support the children and young people in their activities.
The Family Crisis Centre
The Montgomeryshire Family Crisis Centre (MFCC), aims to reduce the risk of domestic abuse and to positively change the lives of their clients by providing specialist support and guidance; encouraging clients not only to survive, but to thrive from their experiences, enabling them to move on to develop healthy, respectful relationships in the future.
The Foundation’s grant will support local young people and children who live close to the Greenfield homes in the area who have experienced adverse childhood experiences, witnessed domestic violence and sometimes need to have a safe place to go. The Family Crisis centre will provide support and will ensure that children can have as pleasant an experience as possible, good food, warmth and comfort, and a few gifts as well.
Cardiff City Foundation
Cardiff City FC Community Foundation are the official charity of Cardiff City Football Club. They use the unique appeal of Cardiff City FC to help children, young people and families across South Wales achieve their full potential.
The Foundation work to help the South Wales community live healthier, more active lives, provide education and employment opportunities and reduce offending and re-offending.
The Foundation’s grant will be used to purchase items to support the children and young people within their local communities. This will include a contribution to the funding of IT resources to support the children and young people in the classroom and outside in the community.
The money will help the children access information, which will support their literacy and numeracy development as part of the varied programmes run by the charity.