National Lottery Grants 3-Year Funding Extension for North Wales Communication Passport Service
The North Wales Communication Passport Service team received some fantastic news just before Christmas. The National Lottery Funding Committee approved our application and agreed to fund our project for the next three years with funding starting from Spring 2024.
This means the project will be able to continue providing communication passports to children and young people who have communication difficulties in Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, and Gwynedd until at least the end of March 2027.
We just want to say a huge thank you to the National Lottery for helping us to continue to provide this much needed service.
Quote form a social worker from Gwynedd:
“What excellent news. I’m so glad your service has received the funding. What you do is so important, and the feedback from parents is always so positive. Thank you again for such a cheery update.”
To learn more about the North Wales Communication Passport team, follow the link >
Parent Advocacy Team Meets for First Time
The Parent Advocacy Team recently held a training day where they discussed the regional role of Parent Advocacy in North Wales, Mid and West Wales and Cwm Taf Morgannwg, which will provide Independent Professional Parent Advocacy to parents involved in the Child Protection Arena.
This was the first time the team came together and all in met in person as they are located in different areas in Wales. After some team discussions and planning they had food together at the Moody Cow in Aberaeron – delicious!
The team are excited and very passionate about making Parent Advocacy accessible to as many eligible parents as possible.
Meet our Parent Advocacy team: Ruth, Pam, Emma, Ellen, Anne, and, team manager, Zoe, joined by our Director of Advocacy Services Sarah.
Team Around the Tenancy Manager Raises Money by Skydiving
Team Manager for Team Around the Tenancy, Tracey, opted for an unconventional method of raising funds for her team, by skydiving 13,000ft!
After two delays, Tracey finally got her chance to skydive for charity. ‘The skydive was completely insane and I loved every second’ she said of the experience.
Thank you to the Red Devils Army Parachute Display Team for making this happen, and thank you Tracey for raising the funds.
Video:
TGP Cymru Selected as Finalist for WCVA ‘Champion of Diversity’ Award
We have been selected as one of three charities as a finalist for the ‘Champion of Diversity’ award in the Welsh Charity Awards, hosted by WCVA.
The award, sponsored by Hugh James, is awarded to an organisation or group that has made ‘exceptional efforts to promote equality, diversity and inclusion within their community’. On their website, WCVA state they wish to ‘recognise and celebrate those who have worked tirelessly to create a more inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of society, regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability or background’.
TGP Cymru has been selected as a finalist alongside WEN – Women’s Equality Network and Môn CF. The awards ceremony will take place in Cardiff on 11 October 2023.
We are thrilled to be recognised for the inclusive environment we foster.
Thank you, WCVA!
CEO Jackie Murphy to Retire, Rhiannon Beaumont-Walker Named as Successor
TGP Cymru wish to announce that Jackie Murphy, the current CEO of TGP Cymru, will be retiring at the end of June 2023. Many of you will know that Jackie has been with the organisation since its inception in April 2002 and became CEO in 2013.
Jackie started her career as a residential social worker for Mid Glamorgan and has been a tireless campaigner for Children’s Right s throughout her career. She has championed the need for independent advocates to regularly visit the many children’s homes in Wales following the Waterhouse inquiry in 2000. She was instrumental in helping to set up TGP Cymru after the withdrawal of The Children’s Society in 2002 as it was felt that Wales needed its own home-based children’s charity that could better respond to the cultural and linguistic needs of the children of Wales.
Jackie will be greatly missed by TGP Cymru and would like to thank all those she has had the privilege of working with over the years.
TGP Cymru are pleased to announce that Rhiannon Beaumont-Walker will be taking over as CEO. Rhiannon has been with TGP Cymru since 2006, initially joining the organisation as Team Leader to develop the “Be Heard” Advocacy Service in Newport. Rhiannon quickly progressed to Service Manager and set up the innovative Team Around the Family Service in Cardiff, a family support service underpinned by restorative engagement principles. More recently Rhiannon has undertaken the Director of Support Services role managing the finance and HR functions for the organisation.
The trustee board have every confidence in Rhiannon being an excellent CEO and we are sure you will join us in congratulating Rhiannon on her appointment and wishing her every success as she leads TGP Cymru in the future.
Generous Donation Made by Veterans’ Foundation to Benefit Veteran and Family Services Team
TGP Cymru are grateful for the substantial contribution from Veterans’ Foundation to support our Restorative Approaches Veteran and Family Services team.
Our Veteran and Family Services team works tirelessly to strengthen familial relationships to make a positive impact on the mental health and well-being of all family members. With the support of Veterans’ Foundation, we can continue this service which makes a positive change in the lives of many.
Veterans’ Foundation formed in 2016 and is one of the nation’s fasted growing military charities, whose work aids hundreds of charitable organisations across Wales, England, Scoland and Northern Ireland. TGP Cymru is just one of over 370 unique organisations Veterans’ Foundation have supported since their inception.
We extend our heartfelt appreciation to Veterans’ Foundation, and we remain committed to our mission of providing essential services to veterans and their families.
Thank you, Veterans’ Foundation.
Empowering Young Voices: A Recap of Belong Project’s Recent Activities
The Belong Project has been actively working towards empowering the voices of young refugees and those seeking asylum. In their recent activities, the group have been able to express themselves and raise awareness about their experiences.
Voice-Over Sessions
Working alongside ProMo Cymru, several of the young people of Belong have provided their voice for a video providing guidance to Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC). The sessions provided a platform for these young people to share their stories and experiences in their own language. During the first session, scripts were recorded in English, Arabic and Kurdish Sorani.
NoFit State Creative Activities
Another recent highlight for the project was their collaboration with NoFit State Circus. The Belong Project and NoFit State provided a creative outlet for young people to express themselves through various activites, such as circus skills, street art and sculpting. The sessions not only helped the young people improve their creative skills but also boosted their confidence and self-esteem.
Meeting The Children’s Commissioner
The Belong Project also met with the Children’s Commissioner Rocio Cifuentes to discuss issues faced by their communities. The discussion provided an opportunity to voice concerns and explore ways to support young refugees in Wales. During these sessions the young people became a part of the Children’s Commissioner community ambassador project.
The Belong project is a part of our Refugee and Asylum Programme (RAP) team. To learn more about our team, visit their article ->
The Royal Hotel Cardiff Makes Generous Donation
CEO Jackie Murphy visited The Royal Hotel Cardiff last week to collect funds raised by the hotel. Jackie met with Eva, their events manager, who kindly presented a generous sum of £931.63 raised from customers.
TGP Cymru have a long-standing relationship with The Royal Hotel Cardiff, who have been supporting us over the last 10 years. The Royal Hotel Cardiff staff are friendly and always show us kindness when we work together.
We are incredibly grateful for their generous donation, which will make a significant impact on the lives of the young people we work with. Thank you!
Veterans and Family Services Team Attend Fighting With Pride Event
Last week manager of the Restorative Approaches Veterans and Family Service team, Tina Foster, attended an event hosted by Fighting With Pride.
Fighting With Pride is an organisation dedicated to supporting the health and well-being of LGBT+ veterans, service personnel and their families – with a particular focus on those affected by the ban on LGBT+ personnel prior to January 2000.
The event took place in Cardiff and was intended to widen the LGBT+ awareness within the veteran community.
In the afternoon Tina was joined by Learning and Development Officer Kelly Davies to host a partnership event on behalf of Adferaid Recovery for their Veterans’ Places, Pathways & People Programme (V4P). The Veterans and Family Services team have a long history of collaboration with Adferaid Recovery and were delighted to host another event on their behalf.
Sgiliau Project Christmas Super-Bowling Group Session
Here at the Sgiliau Project Newport we decided to hold a group session for our young people to help them gain more confidence in meeting new people and getting back into society. After receiving a vast amount of feedback, this is something a lot of young people have struggled with since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After working closely with our young people at Sgiliau, we felt that an afternoon of bowling at Newport friars walk would be a great way for everyone to get together interact and have some fun.
After weeks of planning, the Sgiliau team brought our young people together at The Place in Newport where we all settled down with a winter warmer (hot chocolate from Greggs) before heading down to the bowling alley. Each young person received 2 games of bowling, a box meal with unlimited squash and a 2 for1 voucher for next time they visit. In total there were 4 members of Staff another support worker and 6 of our young people. The day was a great success, and it was lovely to see everybody getting along so well and having lots of fun.
We played 2 games of bowling and had lunch at the venue before heading back to the Place for some Christmas creativity, making Christmas cards and Christmas gingerbread men with icing pens and sprinkles.
Towards the end of the session, we asked our young people for feedback on the Sgiliau project and how it has helped them. We had a lot of positive comments from them and each one of our young persons have really enjoyed coming to the Sgiliau project. Since Sgiliau they have engaged very well within the project and are hoping that it continues for the future.
It’s been great to see them progress, flourish and grow in confidence here at Sgiliau.
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