social responsibility Projects
Bonymaen Family Centre
Bonymaen Family Centre opened in spring 1999. It is situated in redundant classrooms in Cefn Hengoed School and is one of several community facilities that are now based in this community school.
From the outset the centre has been well attended and has offered a package of services for local families, other child and family organisations, both statutory and voluntary, and the community at large. As with all our projects it offers open access services however referrals are accepted from Social Services, Health Visitors and Sure Start Projects. Attendance figures at the centre continue to rise year on year, around 300 families have benefited form visiting the centre over the last year and average attendance is 75 people per day.
Activities on offer at the centre include, Parent and Toddler Group, Playgroup, After-School Club, Family Fun Days (Healthy Eating and exercise) Parenting and First Aid courses, vocational training, trips, holiday playschemes and subsidised family holidays. We try to offer a programme of activities which appeal to all members of the family and all activities are underpinned by the twin themes of person led life long learning and healthy options for family life.
We make our premises available to the community and other organisations. Such partnership activities ensure that we are able to provide a range of services at the centre that the staff team, working alone, would be stretched to manage. As someone once said “The power of the waterfall comes from a lot of drips working together” (Anon)
This year the centre has accommodated the Language and Play and Number and Play Teams, the Community Speech Therapy service and a particular success has been the re-siting of the Youth Advisory Service within The Family Centre. This runs twice a week over the school lunchtime with young people from the school queuing up for consultations.
Parents have completed a paper craft design course and have held a series of coffee mornings to raise funds for the centre and other good causes. As part of our vocational training programme we have had 1 parent and 2 local young residents undertaking Level 3 NVQ Childcare. We continue to offer placements for Social Care students and the High/Scope training programme is flourishing. 8 students completed High/Scope implementation training in April and received their certificates in July.
The High/Scope approach to child development has been fully implemented in all child ‘centred’ work at the project and is being rolled out to all our projects in Swansea and Powys. The approach, which concentrates on what individuals have achieved rather than what they have still to master, leads to fewer problem behaviours in adolescence and young adults maintaining more stable relationships.
- Staff Team
- Barbara Williams Centre Manager/Training Officer.
- Debra Jones Centre Deputy/Play Co-ordinator
- Jodie Hyett/Natalie Stevens Play Workers
- Lee Jones/Sarah Tyrell/Rachel Coutts/June Dacey/Daryl Jones Sessional Workers
- Lisa Clark Administrative Assistant
Glantawe Youth Initiative
Since its reopening in October 2006 this Project is now run as an outreach activity of the Bonymaen Family Centre. 3 members of staff run the group weekly in St. Margaret’s Church Hall. The project is provides a rolling programme of activities including modern dance and a healthy eating programme working in partnership with Healthy Directions and Tan Dance.
- Staff Team
- Lynne Arnold Youth Leader
- Amanda Collins Youth Worker
- Natalie Stevens Youth Worker