Wales: First Minister to attend St Vincent's Ely Bridge opening

St Vincent's Ely Bridge

First Minister Mark Drakeford and Archbishop George Stack will be among dignitaries at the opening of a new community support centre in Ely, Cardiff, on 22 November. Run and managed by the St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP), St Vincent's Ely Bridge, formerly St Clare's church on Mill Road, will seek to address the multiple challenges facing parts of the community.

In-work poverty is a major issue in Ely with around 50% of children living in low-income households. Unemployment rates are also high - in approximately 15% of Ely households, adults with dependent children are unemployed, compared with around 5% in less deprived areas of Cardiff. Not surprisingly, Ely has among the lowest scores for life satisfaction and happiness and among the highest scores for anxiety.

Commenting on the need for a new approach to supporting the local community, St Vincent's Ely Bridge Manager, Nathan Harding, says: "There is a strong spirit of community in Ely, and it just needs a catalyst to really come together and prosper. St Vincent's Ely Bridge aims to be that catalyst and become the heart around which the community can strengthen its foundations.

"Our overarching ethos is to provide the building blocks for a secure future by giving the people of Ely the practical support they need to escape poverty."

During the consultation phase of the project, the local community placed services for young people high on the agenda, which has led St Vincent's Ely Bridge to take a different approach to supporting the local community, with many of its services empowering as well as supporting people in need. The new centre will provide parenting classes, an after-school club, a table service café, cooking classes, support for asylum seekers, and the Reaching Out food bank and distribution programme.

The centre will also provide white goods and essential furniture for vulnerable people, and there will be support through Citizens Advice on issues such as benefit applications, debt and rent arrears. The team will also host rehabilitation sessions for people on probation to reduce reoffending.

St Vincent's Ely Bridge is partnering with established training providers to offer employability courses, and it will house an IT suite to cater for training, benefits claims and other application support.

The opening ceremony will be attended by Mr Drakeford, Archbishop Stack, SVP National President Helen O'Shea, and members of local parish SVP groups, who have been instrumental in the creation of St Vincent's Ely Bridge.

The SVP has an almost 200-year history of supporting people experiencing any type of poverty irrespective of ideology, faith, ethnicity, age or gender, helping them to restore their dignity and self-worth. During the past 18 months, the SVP has expanded its services to meet the demands of the post-pandemic world, which has seen alarming increases in poverty, debt, loneliness and mental health decline. The volunteering organisation currently has nine St Vincent's centres across England and Wales, however the SVP plans to expand this to cover every diocese, totalling 22 centres.

SVP National President Helen O'Shea concludes: "Our centres across England and Wales have become the heart of their respective communities, and I'm sure St Vincent's Ely Bridge will provide a welcoming hub and a sense of belonging for local people. The centre will support struggling families, people who are disadvantaged, and those for whom isolation, for whatever reason, denies them a secure future.

"The SVP is well known for its acts of kindness, but it's through these acts that the bonds of community are forged, and the dignity of its people is restored."

St Vincent's Ely Bridge is at Mill Road, Ely, Cardiff, CF54AH.

St Vincent's Ely Bridge 'fydd calon y gymuned'

A Welsh language version of the above report follows:

Bydd y Prif Weinidog Mark Drakeford yn agor canolfan cymorth cymunedol newydd yn Nhrelái ar 22 Tachwedd. Yn cael ei redeg a'i reoli gan Gymdeithas St Vincent de Paul (SVP), bydd St Vincent's Ely Bridge, eglwys St Clare gynt, yn ceisio mynd i'r afael â'r heriau lluosog sy'n wynebu rhannau o'r gymuned.

Mae tlodi mewn gwaith yn fater o bwys yn Nhrelái gyda thua 50% o blant yn byw mewn cartrefi incwm isel. Mae cyfraddau diweithdra hefyd yn uchel - mewn oddeutu 15% o aelwydydd Trelái, mae oedolion â phlant dibynnol yn ddi-waith, o gymharu â thua 5% mewn ardaloedd llai difreintiedig yng Nghaerdydd. Nid yw'n syndod bod Trelái ymhlith y sgoriau isaf ar gyfer boddhad bywyd a hapusrwydd ac ymhlith y sgoriau uchaf am bryder.

Wrth sôn am yr angen am ddull newydd o gefnogi'r gymuned leol, dywed Rheolwr Pont St Vincent's Ely, Nathan Harding: "Mae yna ysbryd cymunedol yn Nhrelái, a dim ond catalydd sydd ei angen arno i ddod at ei gilydd a ffynnu mewn gwirionedd. Nod St Vincent's Ely Bridge yw bod yn gatalydd hwnnw a dod yn galon y gall y gymuned gryfhau ei sylfeini o'i chwmpas.

"Ein hethos trosfwaol yw darparu'r blociau adeiladu ar gyfer dyfodol diogel trwy roi'r gefnogaeth ymarferol sydd ei hangen ar bobl Trelái i ddianc rhag tlodi ac adennill eu hurddas."

Yn ystod cam ymgynghori'r prosiect, rhoddodd y gymuned leol wasanaethau i bobl ifanc yn uchel ar yr agenda, sydd wedi arwain Pont Trelái St Vincent i gymryd agwedd wahanol tuag at gefnogi'r gymuned leol, gyda llawer o'i gwasanaethau'n grymuso yn ogystal â chefnogi pobl mewn angen. Bydd y ganolfan newydd yn darparu dosbarthiadau magu plant, clwb ar ôl ysgol, caffi gwasanaeth bwrdd, dosbarthiadau coginio, cefnogaeth i geiswyr lloches, a'r rhaglen banc bwyd Reaching Out.

Bydd y ganolfan hefyd yn darparu nwyddau gwyn a dodrefn hanfodol i bobl agored i niwed, a bydd cefnogaeth trwy'r Cyngor ar Bopeth ar faterion fel ceisiadau am fudd-daliadau, dyled ac ôl-ddyledion rhent. Bydd y tîm hefyd yn cynnal sesiynau adsefydlu i bobl ar brawf i leihau aildroseddu.

Mae St Vincent's Ely Bridge yn partneru gyda'r darparwr hyfforddiant sefydledig ACT i gynnig cyrsiau cyflogadwyedd, ac mae'n bwriadu gweithio gydag Ymddiriedolaeth y Tywysog a sefydlu cyfres TG i ddarparu ar gyfer hyfforddiant, hawliadau budd-daliadau a chymorth cais arall.

Bydd Mr Drakeford, yr Archesgob George Stack, ac aelodau grwpiau SVP plwyf, a fu'n allweddol wrth greu Pont St Vincent's Ely, yn bresennol yn y seremoni agoriadol.

Mae gan y SVP hanes bron i 200 mlynedd o gefnogi pobl sy'n profi unrhyw fath o dlodi waeth beth fo ideoleg, ffydd, ethnigrwydd, oedran neu ryw, gan eu helpu i adfer eu hurddas a'u hunan-werth. Yn ystod y 18 mis diwethaf, mae'r SVP wedi ehangu ei wasanaethau i fodloni gofynion y byd ôl-bandemig, sydd wedi gweld cynnydd brawychus mewn tlodi, dyled, unigrwydd ac iechyd meddwl yn dirywio. Ar hyn o bryd mae gan y sefydliad gwirfoddoli naw canolfan St Vincent's ledled Cymru a Lloegr, ond mae'r SVP yn bwriadu ehangu hyn i gwmpasu pob esgobaeth, sef cyfanswm o 22 o ganolfannau.

Daw Llywydd Cenedlaethol SVP, Helen O'Shea i'r casgliad: "Mae ein canolfannau ledled Cymru a Lloegr wedi dod yn galon eu priod gymunedau, ac rwy'n siŵr y bydd Pont St Vincent's Ely yn darparu canolbwynt croesawgar ac ymdeimlad o berthyn i bobl leol. Bydd y ganolfan yn cefnogi teuluoedd sy'n ei chael hi'n anodd, pobl sydd dan anfantais, a'r rhai y mae unigedd, am ba reswm bynnag, yn gwadu dyfodol diogel iddynt.

"Mae'r SVP yn adnabyddus am ei weithredoedd o garedigrwydd, ond trwy'r gweithredoedd hyn y mae bondiau cymuned yn cael eu ffugio, ac urddas ei phobl yn cael ei adfer."

Mae Pont St Vincent's Ely yn Mill Road, Ely, Cardiff, CF54AH.