CSP grant will help keep young people safe

LLANELLI’s first under 18s music venue and coffee bar has received almost £4,500 from the Carmarthenshire Community Safety Partnership (CSP).

The Vestry in Cowell Street is an alcohol free, live music venue for 11 to 18 year-olds giving them somewhere safe to hang out.

Run by a group of volunteers, the project has been funded by the Presbyterian Church of Wales, Carmarthenshire County Council’s Community Fund and County Collaboration Fund and CAVS Community Development Fund.

The CSP grant will now be used to improve security at the venue, for example, the installation of CCTV, and will allow it to open on Saturday evenings as well as Saturday afternoons.

Susan Hughes, Chair of the Presby and Children Youth Scene (PCYS), said: “We are very grateful to the Community Safety Partnership for this grant as it will help us to improve security and pay for a doorman to be employed on Saturday evenings. We have received a lot of support from the police and they advised us to have a doorman if we are opening during the evening as town is quite busy.

“We have live bands, DJs, street dancing, football and rugby on the big screen; and we’ve held curry and ‘spag bol’ afternoons. We have linked in with the council’s youth service and as well as providing youth workers to attend they are helping to spread the word that we are here. It is going really well.”

The Community Safety Partnership, which includes the council and police amongst others, was set up to make Carmarthenshire a safer place.

Community safety manager Kate Thomas said: “We are pleased to support this project which gives young people somewhere safe to go to meet up and enjoy themselves.

“The volunteers are doing a great job and I was really impressed with the venue and the activities they are providing. I think the town really needed somewhere like this and I would like to congratulate the management committee on what they have achieved. I hope Llanelli’s young people make the most of this fantastic facility.”

Collaborative Communities, which is part funded by the EU’s Convergence European Regional Development Fund, through the Welsh Government, helped the group to access the CSP funding.

Helen Martin from Collaborative Communities said: “We are delighted to have had the opportunity to work with a community enterprise such as PCYS by supporting them to access this funding which will enable them to continue to develop this exciting project for the young people of Llanelli.”

For more information on Collaborative Communities visit www.collaborativecommunities.org.uk and to find out more about The Vestry go to www.vestryllanelli.co.uk

CAPTION: Pictured (from left) are Community safety manger Kate Thomas, Diane George from the PCYS Management Committee, PCYS director Carol Slade, PCYS chair Susan Hughes and Helen Martin from Collaborative Communities.

Picture: Jeff Connell.