Last Year was a very busy year for Cyrenians Cymru and it's subsidiary company CET Ltd and this year looks like being equally busy.
Below are just some of the most recent stories.
There are links to archive stories from last year on the links to the right and we are also building an archive of material detailing the many initiatives and events in the Cyrenians 40 year history.
Cyrenians Cymru would like to wish everyone a ‘Happy Europe’ Day, May 9th! Here’s to all our friends and partners in the other Member States, and for the support we receive from the Welsh European Funding Office. This support helps deliver much needed European funded projects, which benefit the people of Wales.
Cyrenians Supported Employment and Training Project extended to June 2014.
We are pleased to announce that, following meetings with the Welsh European Funding Office, the CSET project has been approved for extension to June 30th 2014. The project helps vulnerable adults across the Swansea Bay region to overcome barriers, provides training, and support in finding and sustaining employment.
The extension has been agreed following strong success in supporting people furthest from the labour market. Since 2009 the project has worked with 6,380 people, helped 890 gain qualifications, and 1,109 find work.
Its success has been attributable to providing a coherent route towards training and employment, which includes support to address significant barriers arising from homelessness, substance misuse, social isolation and disengagement from mainstream services. An independent evaluation in 2011 found that it was a ‘good practice model that could be extended across Wales and the UK’ and a further evaluation in 2012 demonstrated its economic value by calculating a minimum cost-benefit ratio of £1.44 for every £1 spent on the project.
Conrad Watkins, CEO of Cyrenians Cymru, commented: “We are delighted that the Welsh European Funding Office have approved this extension to next year, and recognised the social and economic importance of this project for the growing numbers of people who are experiencing severe poverty and exclusion. The barriers, training and employment model is one that works for many, many people.
The contract extension runs from August 1st 2013 to June 30th 2014, and delivery is being procured through Buy4Wales. Information will be posted on www.cyrenians.co.uk/procurement/
Here is a request from Cyrenians supporters and staunch campaigners for Asylum Seekers and Refugees, Alan and Marilyn Thomas - the driving force behind Swansea’s ‘City of Sanctuary’,
Dear Friends,
As most of you know, Marilyn and I are planning to spend five weeks on the Wales Coast Path from 13 April. We are both 65 this year and it is also our 40th wedding anniversary in August, so we want to do something a bit different. We are not taking the car, just carrying what we need from place to place. In that time we hope to get from Benllech in Anglesey to Cardigan, a total of 342 miles of which we are aiming to walk at least 250 (and take local buses or trains for the rest).
We are trying to get sponsorship money to help destitute refused asylum seekers here in Wales. Half will be for the Welsh Refugee Council Hardship Fund and half for the SHARE Tawe voluntary hosting project. We are aiming at £5,000 (plus £100 per month for SHARE Tawe).
Please consider sponsoring us and please pass this on to your friends. We would love it if people sponsored us per mile up to our target of 250 miles - or even better if they committed to a regular contribution to SHARE Tawe - visit their webpage for how to do it. Or people can make a one-off donation through JustGiving on www.justgiving.com/MarilynAlan
So please help us reach our target!
Thanks, and do have a great Easter break.
Alan & Marilyn
Lottery grant will ensure future of support group for asylum-seekers and refugees, and help set up an emergency food distribution service.
Cyrenians Cymru’s Unity in Diversity Group.
The Big Lottery has awarded a grant of £33,238 to Cyrenians Cymru for its Unity in Diversity Group which is dedicated to the friendship, support and welfare of asylum seekers and refugees in the Swansea community.
The group meets in central Swansea two evenings a week, and offers a warm welcome, as well as practical help including hot meals, access to the internet, laundry facilities and English classes.
There had been fears about the future of the group, as it has relied heavily on donations, and the worsening economic climate has had an impact. This grant secures its future until at least 2015.
It will also support the establishment of an emergency food distribution service, to help people using Cyrenians services who are struggling to feed themselves. Recent figures from the Cyrenians Community Centre have revealed that up to 17% of service-users are not in receipt of any income. Two years ago the figure was 2%.
Sally McDonald of the Cyrenians Cymru charity said ‘We are delighted that this grant has been awarded to the Unity in Diversity Group. It means the service can be maintained and allows for new developments such as a volunteering programme and the Cyrenians Food Distribution hub.'
The ‘Feed the Homeless’ committee of the Swansea Freemasons recently approached the Cyrenians Cymru to see if we could use their help. Our staff met the members of the committee at the Cyrenians Community Centre so they could see that one of the main services we deliver is subsidised healthy meals from the Owl & Parrot Café run within the Centre.
Our services impressed the committee and they immediately gave us a cheque for £200 and pledged a monthly sum to provide on-going support.
It is much needed and very welcome in these straitened times.
Our most sincere thanks to all the Swansea Freemasons and the Feed the Homeless committee!
An innovative project which aims to develop new solutions to entrenched problems in Swansea was announced today.
CHAPS is a £795,000 three year project to engage with urban horse owners and residents and set up a community-led equine facility in one of the most deprived parts of Swansea. The project is being delivered by a local charity Cyrenians Cymru, who for forty years have developed schemes to help tackle poverty and deprivation in South West Wales.
The funding comes from the Big Lottery’s £ 2.2 million ‘BIG Innovation’ programme. CHAPS has a multi- purpose and will also work with a variety of other statutory and voluntary agencies to discourage the increasing trend in urban horse ownership, horse abandonment and provide a way for people on rehabilitation programmes for heroin addiction to engage in distraction activities with horses. Studies have shown that being around horses’ changes brainwave patterns and addicts become more centre focussed. This may help reduce the risk of drop out from rehabilitation programmes. The project will also act as an innovative means of engagement for people who may be missing out on accessing other vital services such as housing support, drug support and employment advice within the community.
Using animals as therapy is not new: the Greeks documented the horse's therapeutic value in 600BC and French physician Cassaign concluded in 1875 that equine therapy helped certain neurological disorders.
But the project is most certainly innovative for Wales. CHAPS follows models used by similar successful projects based in Europe such as the Fettercairn Youth Horse Project and the Dunsink Horse Project in Dublin who work on the ground with the local community, and Basta, a project which uses horses in the recovery of substance misusers and the inspirational foundation of San Patrignano in Italy.
Horse impoundments in the Swansea area went up from 71 to 129 between 2010 and 2011. Heroin addiction also increased 180% in the last three years. Both problems have placed an increasing financial strain on the local authority.
The project aims to set up a stabling block, provide training in horse care, woodland management and health and safety as well as developing micro businesses around bee keeping and worm farming with by-products. People on rehabilitation programmes will help out at the stables as part of their recovery process.
In order to engage with the youth in the community, the scheme will adopt riding ponies and work towards the long term goal of becoming a viable community led social enterprise as a riding school. It will also encourage youths to work towards career opportunities in the horse industry amongst others.
The location is still under debate but City and County of Swansea have committed their assistance in trying to approve land that is suitable for long term use to ensure the project is sustainable after the three year Lottery funding.
Cyrenians Cymru would like to express their heartfelt thanks for the £100 donation from Cronfa Ddyngarol, Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera, Swansea
The Gronfa Ddyngarol or Benevolent Fund is a striking feature of life at Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera since the early days.
Pupils organise various fundraising activities in order to alleviate suffering and assist needy causes locally and in disaster areas in many parts of the world.
Annually, between £6,000 and £7,000 is raised and distributed to needy causes.
Swansea homeless charity, Cyrenians Cymru is predicting a rise in people sleeping rough over the Christmas period.
Conrad Watkins, CEO said: “The impact of the welfare forms has not hit the people of Wales with its full force. More benefit cuts due in April 2013 combined with the rising cost of living and other austerity measures, will cause increased hardship and risk of homelessness.
There is no accurate figure for the number of people sleeping rough in Wales but national statistics estimate a 23% increase over the past year. The criminalisation of squatting will most certainly lead to an increase in homelessness, as will changes to housing benefit for under-25’s .
We must implement as many measures as possible to combat poverty and tackle homelessness; one of the worse forms of social exclusion. There is only one emergency bed space in the City and rents are on the rise. There is a need for more care services for older homeless people who may have long term substance misuse issues.
Heroin addiction and drug related crime has also increased dramatically over the last three years. There are over 6,000 registered addicts in the greater Swansea area and rising, and only 650 treatment places. We welcome a review of the current drugs policy which is failing a whole generation of alienated youth, and caused many, many deaths.
The stark reality is things are bad enough now – and unfortunately they are due to get much, much worse”.
Services such as those offered at Cyrenians Community Centre, High Street provide a lifeline to people who are homeless and at risk of homelessness not just at Christmas, but all year round.
Come along and celebrate World Mental Health Day at Cyrenians Community Centre. The event will offer advice on 'food and mood' - healthy nutritious foods for mental well being, and an information stand from MDF the Bipolar Organisation.
An introduction to Mindfull Meditation will take place from 11.00a.m. - 12.20p.m. Please call or visit the centre to book as spaces are limited.
The Nine Carrot’s Food co-operative based at Cyrenians Community Centre in High Street, Swansea are pleased to be celebrating their 6th Birthday Party on 9th August.
They are currently delivering around 75 bags a week of fruit, vegetables and salad to one of the most deprived areas in Wales. Each bag costs £2.00.
Clare Evans the Healthy Living Coordinator at Cyrenians Community Centre said “this represents excellent value for money ensuring the local community have access to fresh, seasonal produce and assisting them to eat healthily on a tight budget.”
The Community Centre will have demonstrations on “cooking on a budget” at 11am and 12 pm on 9th August. All are welcome.
Orders can be placed via Cyrenians Community Centre on 01792 470127 or for regular customers on the new Nine Carrot’s Food Co-operative e-mail nine.carrots@hotmail.co.uk
Local food co-operatives can be found at www.sustainweb.org/foodcoops/
Come along to our Designed to Smile event. The event offers advice and information on cleaning your teeth and oral hygiene.
FREE toothbrushes and dental health leaflets will be available.
The event runs from 10.00am - 1.00pm on Thursday 19th July. If you would like to attend please phone or visit the centre for details.
Cyrenians Community Centre is hosting a 'Let's Talk About Sex' event 10am - 1pm on the 1st August. The event offers advice, information and tackles issues on STI's, contraception and condoms, risk taking behaviour, self esteem and chlamydia testing. A chance to talk on related confidential issues is available and a sexual health nurse from ABMU will be in attendance.
If you would like more information on the event please contact the Cyrenians Community Centre.
Cyrenians Community Centre is hosting a 'Physical Activity Awareness Day' on the 30th July 10am - 1pm.
Advice and help is available on how to stay physically fit, healthy and how to incorporate activity into your daily lifestyle.
All are welcome to learn and join in the fun. For more information please contact the Centre.
Health Care Service for homeless people ‘unique in Wales and essential to Swansea.’
The latest report on the health care service at Cyrenians Community Centre has been released, covering the period from April 2011 to April 2012, by Jan Keauffling and the High St. Swansea GP Practice. Jan was awarded an MBE for services to homeless people earlier this year, and this report demonstrates that the health service at the centre is now a key resource for Swansea Bay. Conrad Watkins Cyrenians CEO said ‘The health service links with the support, food, and training on offer at the Cyrenians Community Centre not only to provide opportunistic health interventions but also planned treatment programmes for homeless and disadvantaged people. It is a service that is unique in Wales and absolutely essential in Swansea.’
Along with the day-to-day primary care and counselling services, notable developments over the past year have included: a community dental team starting a clinic for treating homeless & vulnerable people, a clinical audit related to the care of homeless & vulnerable people, more homeless people immunised against influenza than in any previous year, and the start of a Hepatitis C support group.
Read the Review of Health Care Services at the Cyrenians Community Centre. (PDF Format 600kb)
The service is a partnership between Cyrenians and Abertawe Bro Morgannwg health authority. The Cyrenians Community Centre is funded by the Welsh European Funding Office.
Cyrenians Community Centre is hosting a 'Love Your Liver' event. Free tips and advice will be available, informing you of what the liver does within your body and how you can keep it healthy.
Advice is also available on alcohol and your liver, alcohol and your love life, Hepatitis C and Hepatitis A and B immunisations for 'at risk' patients.
The event runs from 10.00am - 1.00pm on Wednesday 18th July. If you would like to attend please phone or visit the centre.
CESA are holding a community a event/jobsfair in the Morriston area on Wednesday 11th July at Sherwood’s in Morriston from 10am – 3pm (formally Room at the top).
We have sent personal invites to over 1000 local residents in the Morriston, Clase and Clydach areas and the event is also being advertised by Jobcentre Plus in Morriston. As this is the first such event in Morriston in a number of years we are hoping to attract up to twenty employers and local providers who can assist local people with employment and access to training.
We will be providing refreshments and food for the employers in attendance. I would be really grateful if you could attend as we are looking to attract as many nationally recognised employers as possible.
For more information contact Chris Stephens on 01792 464229.
CET will be attending a Swansea Recruitment and Careers Fair at the Evening Post Theatre, High Street, 12pm - 3pm on Tuesday 3rd July.
A range of exhibitors will br present and Jobcentre Staff will be providing job searches.
Apprenticeships, training opportunities and careers advice will also be available.
For more information contact CESA on 01792 464229.
CET will have a stand and be attending a "Money Matters" support and advice event at the Swanses LC. The event will be held by Julie James AM & Geraint Davies MP 12.30pm - 3.00pm with advice on benefits, pensions, utilities and any financial issues.
Come along to our Sun Awareness Day at the Cyrenians Community Centre. The event takes place on the 27th June and offers advice and information on how to keep safe in the sun.
BBQ foods and free smoothies available.
For more information contact the Community Centre on 01792 470127.
Congratulations to Janet Keauffling who has been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to homeless people in Swansea.
Jan is no stranger to awards, having picked up the prestigious Queen’s Award for Nursing in 2010, and Shelter Cymru’s Val Feld award the previous year for her work with homeless women. And the High St. Surgery, which partners with Cyrenians to provide the service in the community centre, was named practice team of the year for 2010 by the Royal College of General Practitioners. Jan’s work at the Cyrenians Community Centre began six years ago, initially funded by the Cyrenians and then after 18 months paid for by Iechydd Morgannwg Health authority (now Abertawe Bro Morgannwg). It is a unique service in Wales, that depends for its engagement with homeless and vulnerable adults on the partnership with Cyrenians, and the trust, support and goodwill built up by the work of staff at the centre. This work is made possible by ESF funding from the Welsh European Funding Office, and helps vulnerable members of the community overcome barriers so that they can move on towards training and employment.
Home from Home? Seeking Sanctuary in Swansea.
A new exhibition at Swansea Museum 16th June- 31st August 2012.
The Refugee Week celebrations start with a special preview evening on Friday 15th June 2012 from 7pm - 9pm. Refreshments, Lebanese snacks and a special performance by Tan Dance based on a Refugee story.
On Saturday 16th June, Refugee Week Wales will be at the Waterfront Museum (front lawn) with this year's Global Village Fair celebrations. Bring all the family and friends and take part in International sports, traditional UK sports day activities, community dance and music performances, exhibitions, stalls, interactive display or enjoy and sit back with a picnic and globally inspired food.
All week you can also vist The Container (an interactive outdoor exhibition) at the National Waterfron Museum daily 10am - 5pm.
The exhibition is a collaboration between Swansea Museum, Swansea City of Sanctuary, Swansea Bay Asylum Seekers Support Group, Asylum Voices and Displaced People in Action.
Evaluation hails success of Cyrenians Supported Employment and Training (CSET) project.
An independent evaluation carried out by Wavehill Ltd. has hailed CSET as an ‘exemplar project’ of significant economic and social benefit to Wales. Funded by the Welsh European Funding Office, the scheme has worked with over 5,000 disadvantaged people in the Swansea Bay area, supporting over 850 into employment, with help to remain in work.
The project is tailored to people who are disengaged from mainstream services, including those who suffered homelessness or social isolation. It offers an integrated network of services that:
1. Help people overcome barriers.
2. Provide a wide range of accredited training.
3. Help people find and stay in employment.
Economic benefit to Wales - £1.44 for every £1 spent.
The evaluators undertook a rigorous cost-benefit analysis of the £5.9 million project, and calculated that for every £1 spent the return on investment for Wales was £1.44, adding that this was likely to be a ‘conservative estimate’.
‘Good-Practice Model’
The evaluation summarised CSET as a ‘good practice model that could potentially be extended across Wales’.
Cyrenians has joined forces with Caer Las Cymru, Cymorth Cymru, Cadwyn Housing Association and Shelter Cymru to form the Places of Change Consortium. The POCC consortium is looking to develop the model across Wales, in areas of acute need, under the 2014-20 structural funds programme.
To read the full evaluation report by Wavehill Ltd. click here (PDF Format 1.1Mb).
Come along and celebrate this historic event with all the friends and family on Friday 1st June 12.00pm - 4.00pm. Have fun and enjoy our music through the decades - live band and old fashioned tea party with food provided. Fancy dress welcome, information and advice on healthy eating also provided.
For more information contact the centre on 01792 470127.
CESA will be attending a job fair held by Gower College Swansea at the Tycoch Campus on the 24th May 2012. Offering help, advice and information about our services to the annual college leavers looking to enter the jobs market for the first time. The event runs from 10.00am - 3.30pm.
For further information contact Cyrenians Employment Support Agency (CESA)...
Cyrenians Cymru would like to wish everyone a ‘Happy Europe’ Day, May 9th! Here’s to all our friends and partners in the other Member States, and for the support we receive from the Welsh European Funding Office. This support helps deliver much needed European funded projects, which benefit the people of Wales.
More information about Europe Day...
Following the recent harrowing series on homelessness ‘Swansea Living on the Streets’, which featured the efforts of the Cyrenians Community Centre and Hostel in helping increasing numbers of homeless people in the city, we have received many offers of assistance from kind-hearted volunteers. The South Wales Evening Post looked at the difference that volunteering can make.
This 3-part series on BBC One Wales follows the personal journeys of some of Swansea’s rough sleepers over the three months up to Christmas 2011. Hard-hitting and poignant, it shows the daily challenges and struggles faced by those who have lost everything, and who rely on support from charities and church groups. The Cyrenians Community Centre, where much of the filming took place, appears regularly. The series does not seek to make judgement on its characters, or the society that tolerates this level of deprivation; it only seeks to tell their stories. It is through these stories, inevitably, that the question is posed – how can this still be happening in 21st century Wales?
The first episode is on Monday March 5th on BBC One Wales at 10.35 pm - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01db84y and will be on iPlayer.
Julie James, Assembly Member for Swansea West, has formally opened Sir John Morris House on 30th January; a supported living project for older people who have experienced difficulties with substance misuse. It comprises 6 single-person flats and one 2- person shared flat.
The project is a further extension of the partnership between Cyrenians and Family Housing Association (Wales), which has existed since the late 1980s.
Pictured from left to right: Jeff Evans (CEO Family Housing Association), Gaynor Jenkins (Project Manager), Julie James AM (Swansea West), Clive Scarlett (Cyrenians Quality and Business Development Manager).
Edwina Hart AM, Minister for Business Enterprise Technology and Skills, visited the Cyrenians Employment Support Agency in Mansel St.,
Swansea in the week before Christmas.
She chatted with staff and those who had recently been helped from homelessness and difficult circumstances back into permanent
employment; one of whom, thanks to start-up help from the Cyrenians, is now running her own successful catering business in Swansea.
A new report published by Crisis in December 2011, and based on research from the University of Sheffield, ‘Homelessness – the Silent Killer’, determines the average life expectancy of a homeless man as 47 years, and a homeless woman as 43.
The full report can be read here.
Please click on the period you wish to view
An independent mid-term evaluation of this unique project, which is funded by the Wales European Funding Organisation and which aims to help some of the most marginalised people in Swansea Bay participate in training and find work, has recently been carried out by Wavehill Ltd.
They have found that
‘The mix of life skills, with work experience then a dedicated employment agency is the whole-person package that makes the Cyrenians model a success, and with a bit more time could prove to be a good practice model for similar charities across Wales and the UK’
To read the full report click here (PDF - 3.7Mb)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for those tendering for this contract can be found by clicking the following link Final Evaluation Report FAQs.
Cyrenians Cymru Registered Charity and Cyrenians Employment and Training participated in a road show on Monday May 9th 2011 to celebrate Europe Day, in Castle Square in Swansea.
The event will brought together many employment and training projects in Swansea who receive funding from the European Union to deliver services to those most in need and furthest from the labour market in all 27 member states.
There were arts and crafts activities, talks on environmental awareness, healthy living advice and practical job coaching and employment support was on offer, as well as live music and entertainment.
The event was accessed by many people who came down to join in the fun and some of whom were able to seek our assistance on their journey towards accessing training and finding employment!
On Saturday 7th May Cyrenians Cymru Community Centre held an Open Day to celebrate its 5th Birthday!
All were welcome for birthday cake, healthy smoothies, free sunflowers, free face painting for the kids and information on our new range of courses.
Join in the celebrations and check out our exciting new courses starting in May.
Celfi Retail Training Centre hosted an exhibition by renowned local artist Carl Chapple from 28th Feb – 18th of March from 10-4PM Monday to Friday.
The exhibition was supported by the Arts Council of Wales and featured a number of paintings by Carl Chapple, predominantly portraits.
For more information phone 01792 467 926.
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