But, as they began the story, their trusted story engine went on the blink and they were forced to tell all four stories at once!!! ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, ‘Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs’, ‘Hansel & Gretel’ and ‘Goldilocks & the Three Bears’ were all told, much to the delight of the audience.

It was a full house with all seats in the auditorium taken by local children & their families, even Assembly Member Jane Hutt enjoyed the show.

The feedback received was extremely positive, the children were delighted with the performance, especially when some of the children and adults were encouraged to play the seven dwarfs and local resident Steven made a convincing bear.

Gibbonsdown & Court Communities First were  extremely pleased with the success of the evening and thanked the Likely Story for their modern version of the fairy tales.

The day was very successful and began with a large group of children from Gibbonsdown Children’s Centre summer play scheme who attended the allotments to paint pots and pick locally grown vegetables. The group learnt about different types of vegetables and the ways they are grown and got to take a healthy goody bag home.

The open day also brought several families into the allotments that took part in a potato digging treasure hunt and also learnt about growing different fruit and vegetables.

The Allotment Group has big plans for future, including a wildlife area for children to take part in activities, a pond, poly tunnels and a larger social space and shelter, including an outdoor pizza oven! We hope with these changes in the up and coming 12 months that the garden becomes more of a social space where families, individuals and groups can come and join us to learn more from each other and meet new people.

If you would like to know more or would like to join the Allotment Group please get in touch. With a membership you will gain access to the site for six months, receive a full induction with a health and safety and tour on your first visit. At the moment Thursday is a regular day down the allotments

and we hope to see you there in the future!

Contact Rachel or Michelle on 01446 732406 to join up or know more

We’d like to express our gratitude to all those who returned surveys to us. We had a fantastic response. We are currently compiling a report which will analyse the findings. We will then look to address issues raised, and develop actions to target your concerns. The CF Cohesion report will be uploaded on to the CF website in due course.

The lucky winner of our survey prize of £50 high street vouchers was Marina Jones from Court ward

This year Communities First introduced Activate, a fun and interactive 3 day event for local youths from the CF wards held at Barry Comprehensive school.

The youngsters, aged 9-15, engaged in football, martial arts, rounders, cooking classes and several creative pop-art and cartoon drawing workshops. The young people also undertook a Victim Empathy awareness workshop discussing issues around the potential impact of anti social behaviour on the victim/wider community.

The event was hosted and organised by Communities First, through funding provided by the Welsh Government Community Cohesion funds.  The event was supported by the Gibbonsdown, Court and Castleland PCSOs, local artist Neil Alexander, Art group Pink Diesel, the Community Wellbeing Coaches, Penarth Youth Project and Vale Youth service.

The week was a resounding success with both staff and young people having a great time, and appreciating the opportunity for positive interaction. The young people demonstrated their talents throughout the week. Communities First hope to have ‘Activated’ some inspiration for the young people to carry on and progress with their skills.

The sessions will run on a Wednesday from 11:30 – 12:30 and then from 1pm – 2pm

Credit Union can help with issues concerning money, such as:

SAVINGS

Save as little or as much as you can afford

Members automatically recieve Free Live insurance

Your money is safe (they are regulated by the Finacial Services Authority)

Withdraw at any time, Providing you have no loan

Choice of saving by standing order, post office or paypoint – benefits accepted

Loans:

The Credit Union provide affordable loans with affordable interest rates  – Maximum £500 for new members. Borrow with them and see how much you can save!!

For more information Call the office on 01446 732406 or drop in on Wednesday between 11:30 – 12:30 and 1pm – 2pm

Aberaeron Close, Gibbonsdown, CF62 9BT

www.cardiffcreditunion.com

Gibbonsdown and Court and Castleland Communities First, in partnership with Job Centre Plus and the Vale of Glamorgan Council hosted an employment fayre on Friday September 9^th which was attended by over 700 people.  The event which was held at the Barry Memorial Hall saw over 12 employers advertise and promote their existing job opportunities available to the public. The attendees included TLC (The Listening Company),Argos, Armed Forces, Newydd Housing and Vale of Glamorgan Council. (include full list?? YES please)

The fayre exceeded expectations and proved extremely successful with a lot of attendees completing application forms on the day for the jobs available. The fayre was also a great opportunity for resident’s to access advice and information from a variety of agencies such as Want to Work, Careers Wales, Rathbone and the Money Advice Service as well as being able to meet face to face with representatives to discuss any questions and queries they may have about job prospects.

Both Communities First areas hosted stands and welcomed people to the event, whilst promoting the work they do in the areas of Gibbonsdown, Court and Castleland. They had a lot of interest in various community groups including, Playtime; the Youth Forum; the Allotment Group and Luncheon Club (Gibbonsdown and Court), and Football sessions; Welsh taster courses and Environment Action Group (Castleland). 

Both Communities First Groups are working in partnership with the Construction Youth Trust to put on a construction taster course, due to start in October. The course will be run by a qualified trainer, covering all aspects of construction from carpentry, to plumbing and even general DIY. The course is aimed at anybody who is looking for a career change, a school leaver who is interested in a career in construction, or anyone who would like to do a bit more around the house. All sessions will be flexible and moulded around the interests of the group. If you would like to sign up to a course or wish to have a little more information please contact your Communities First team on 01446 732406 (Gibbonsdown and Court) or 01446 709170 (Castleland).

Have you just left school and not sure which direction to take??

Are you thinking of starting a career in Construction but unsure about what area to specialise in??

Would you like to improve your DIY skills around your home??

Then you may be interested in the Construction Taster Courses!!! The Construction Youth Trust in partnership with Communities First Gibbonsdown, Court and Castleland are offering a FREE construction taster course, giving you a chance to have a taste of the different areas of construction such as Plastering, Carpentry or even General DIY!!

The Course will be started early October and the sessions will run between 1pm – 3pm for 6 – 8 weeks. Venue and date To be Confirmed.

For more information please call

Castleland – 01446 709170

Gibbonsdown and Court – 01446 732406

 Iolo Park, just off Treharne Road, was opened on Thursday 15 September by Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council, Cllr Gordon Kemp, and AM Jane Hutt. The council has been working with the Welsh Government Barry Regeneration Board and the Gibbonsdown and Court Communities First Partnership to refurbish the open space.

Before work began, local residents and young people were consulted to find out what they would like to see in the new park. A joint application was then made to the Barry Regeneration Board for £204,490 to create a multi purpose play area that would provide a wide range of activities for different age groups.

Cllr Kemp said: “This new play park will provide children of all ages with a fun, safe environment where they can socialise with friends and enjoy themselves. We hope that it will become a focal point of the community and that it will encourage children to get more active by taking advantage of the new sports court”.

The new multi-sports court will be illuminated until 9pm each day. The park also has new swings, slides and the latest roundabouts. There is also a special shelter for young people, more paths and additional seating.

An urban art wall, designed and painted by young people who attend the Gibbonsdown and Court Youth Forum, also features in the park. Its creators wanted to promote positive messages around some of the issues young people face today, including drink, drugs, bullying and relationships.

Housing, regeneration and heritage Minister, Huw Lewis, said: “This project goes beyond the physical regeneration of Barry to help develop the social regeneration of the town, particularly where young people are concerned. They need their own space to meet friends and socialise outside of the home. I hope this new sports and play area will be a welcome addition to the town”.

On 26^th August The Communities First People’s Allotment Group opened up their gates to the local community for an open day. The aim of the open day was to allow people to come in and see the site, show local people what the Allotment Group does, plans it has for the future and to encourage more volunteers to attend the project.

The day was very successful and began with a large group of children from Gibbonsdown Children’s Centre summer play scheme who attended the allotments to paint pots and pick locally grown vegetables. The group learnt about different types of vegetables and the ways they are grown and got to take a healthy goody bag home.

The open day also brought several families into the allotments that took part in a potato digging treasure hunt and also learnt about growing different fruit and vegetables.

The day brought greater awareness of the project in the community and we hope that more families and members of the community will attend the allotment project and take advantage of the space and resources to grow home grown produce and take some home at the end of the day. The project has big plans for the future and we hope the project will grow into a ‘social hub’ for the local community.

For further information please contact Gibbonsdown and Court Communities First on 01446 732406 or go to www.gibbonsdownandcourt.org

So far the CWC’s have engaged with around 200 members of the public at community events and coffee mornings etc.

From this the CWC’s have had 54 people referred onto the programme as 1:1’s.

8 of which have gone through the entire programme and the CWC’s have seen some great results including:

One client gaining the confidence to attend and complete training needed for employment

One client achieving their goal of loosing a whole 10 pounds for a holiday by changing their lifestyle to a healthier one by adjusting their diet to a more balanced diet and being aware and in control of portion sizes. The client also now enjoys going for walks with her partner as part of her new lifestyle change.

One client needed support with confidence to join a fitness class so the CWC went with her and now she attends on her own.

The CWC success stories so far mainly involve goals of weight loss, changes in dietary habits and an increase of physical activity. However they are currently seeing a few clients who wish to give up smoking so they are trying hard with that!

The CWC’s encourage clients to phone Stop Smoking Wales who advise them of where their nearest smoking cessation class is and can offer them the best help and advise. It is still early days with these clients but they are confident they will have many success stories!

All CWC training has been completed except the Health Trainer Qualification which will be completed by the end of September.

The CWC’s are now in the process of engaging more individuals, schools and are looking to establish an outreach provision at both Communities First area buildings.