Gwynedd Council has supported plans for a family support centre in Maesgeirchen, Bangor.
Having set aside £500,000 for Gwynedd council’s contribution towards the scheme, the development would see several agencies, including Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board and Adra housing association, join together to provide primary care, community, family health and therapy services for Maesgeirchen’s 4,000 residents.
Partneriaeth Maesgeirchen Partnership and the Maes-Ni Group have been engaging extensively with the community locally to develop the programme for almost 2 years.
A national programme tackling poverty ‘Communities First’ ended in 2018 and Maesgeirchen remains in the 10% most deprived communities in Wales.
£5m was invested in a new school building for Ysgol Glan Cegin in 2017. Due to site and budget constraints the school is unable to accommodate services beyond education.
The area remains one of 6 ‘Flying Start’ areas in Gwynedd. The programme provides more support and opportunities for families with children under the age of 4, namely an increased Early Years health service; Childcare; Parenting Support; and Early Support with language development.
Maesgeirchen has also been designated as one of 13 communities throughout Wales that the Big Lottery has identified for the Invest Local Programme. The programme is managed by Building Community Trust and is a 10 year programme that uses the strengths, skills and talents of people, groups and societies of the communities to change things for the better. Each area has £1m to spend on local priorities, with the people of the community themselves deciding how to develop the community, how to use the money, which organisations they work with, and how to make those decisions.
In 2017, the Targeted Regeneration Investment Programme (TRI) was launched by the Welsh Government which promotes economic regeneration, with activities that focus on individuals and areas of greatest need. As part of the programme arrangements, a regional strategy has been prepared for North Wales, which identifies the city of Bangor as a priority area. The programme may be extended beyond the initial 3 year period (2018-21), and if so, a potential opportunity to target additional resources from this
programme may arise.
Although the Council currently has a presence on the estate, employees and service users have reported that the services available are not easily accessible, and there is no suitable, friendly, comfortable and less formal space on the estate where services and the community can come together to work together. Despite the barriers, residents and workers report that there is a good relationship between workers and families on the estate, with evidence showing that families repeatedly turn to workers when needed.
Councillor Nigel Pickavance said: “As one of the local members for the Marchog ward I can’t express enough the need for such a Centre in Maesgeirchen.
“At the moment we have some great services in Maesgeirchen and partners,
however it is concerning that whilst work is often carried out in partnership,
communication often breaks down with residents having to move from building to building, leaving the estate to travel for some of these services which often fails logistically.
“We have also identified the need for community cohesion since the loss of the Maesgeirchen Social Club. The Community felt a great blow with this loss and this multi-function building could have this element included.
“Given the population of Maesgeirchen and the Community first classed status, it goes without saying that there is a huge need for such a hub in our Community. I can only see this being of great benefit to our Community.”
Councillor Dylan Fernley added: “Our community has done much work on bringing people together to address the limited facilities we have within our community.
“Developing a community hub that could include space for agencies to work from, and a leisure and wellbeing aspect would greatly benefit our residents.
“We are a large community, with a variety of needs and aspirations, and this project is an opportunity for us to work together to improve our community”.
Following completion of feasibility work on the needs, costs and models of service delivery and site management, a further report will be submitted to the council before moving on to the next stage of the development.
