Swansea leads the way with Action for Children 150th birthday celebrations

• Time capsule burial ceremony at Ty Laura
• Penlan garden party with Children’s Commissioner for Wales

Swansea has been celebrating Action for Children’s 150th birthday (9th July) in style with parties and a time capsule burial event. Action for Children is a big presence in the city running a number of services including disability short breaks, tenancy support, Stepping Stones and the key Swansea SAIL project for young families.

Ty Laura short breaks kicked off the celebrations on Tuesday 9th by burying a time capsule at their Newton site as they celebrated on the big day with Stepping Stones holding a barbecue at their Mayhill base.

Swansea SAIL joined in the celebrations on Thursday 11th July with a garden party at Penlan Methodist Church. Families and staff enjoyed face painting, games, birthday cake and a special performance by detective dogs including the UK’s best sniffer dog, Scamp. The party was joined by Action for Children services from across South West Wales as well as the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, Sally Holland and Action for Children’s National Director for Wales, Brigitte Gater.

Swansea SAIL’s team leader, Alison Long, said: ‘It was wonderful to hold a garden party to celebrate our 150th birthday with our wonderful families and the staff who so proudly work with them. Our many Swansea services make a huge impact on people’s lives in the city and across Wales, so it was great to have Sally Holland here to enjoy the festivities.

‘Swansea SAIL is a shining example of how we support children, young people and their families who have faced extremely challenging circumstances in their lives. As our recent Choose Childhood survey showed, life doesn’t get any easier for our families and we will continue to do whatever we can to help, support and love those young families in the community that need it most.’

Brigitte Gater added: ‘It’s important we celebrate our 150th birthday in style and we’ve certainly done that. We’ve really made our mark on Swansea and our teams do amazing work there across the board. So it’s very fitting that Swansea has played such a central role in celebrating this landmark birthday and I’m delighted our Children’s Commissioner, Sally Holland joined in the fun.

‘I think Thomas Stephenson would be astonished and most of all, proud of how the charity he started 150 years ago has developed. I’m certainly proud as the Wales director and I know there’s much more to be done in these challenging times but today we pause to reflect and celebrate the work we do every day in our communities.’