Welcome to my new MATRA Website

by Cindy Hutchinson

This website has been a project of mine for the past 3 years, below you will find some information about how it all started.

My name is Cynthia Hutchinson but otherwise known (and preferred) as Cindy. My husband was among the founder members of the MATRA committee and at that time it consisted of between two and three members. They had to struggle to try to contact Council Officials, organisations, and to research legal issues involved in starting a Residents' Association and information regarding funding. As a Residents' Association their plans were to get some regeneration into the area for Lighting, CCTV Camera's, new playgrounds, pathway's etc. It was something that had been tried before as previous concerned tenants had also worked hard and put a lot of time into trying to make something available for the Maesgeirchen Community.

All work and search was tedious, hard going, and costly both in time and money. Cost was a big issue at this time since everything was coming out of our own pockets, when we could ill afford it ourselves. Stationery, stamps, ink for printing, all cost money. As I watched them fight against time to set up this association I thought why not use my newly self-taught ability on the Internet. I had heard how wonderful it was for finding out information and how email could make for quicker communication. You can indeed write to someone the other side of the world in minutes and get a reply if they are online, so Caernarfon would be "no problem".

I had in 1992 started to have health problems, and at this time my disability became more acute, so getting out and about became very challenging. Bob needed a computer for a course he was attending at Coleg Menai and put one together out of old bits and pieces that people had thrown away and thus started my interest in computing. I have since spent many hours at the computer, teaching myself how to set up email accounts, use Microsoft Office and create and upload websites as well as learning about computer viruses and how to get rid of them. The computer has become my eyes to the outside world and as a result I have made lots of friends and contacts worldwide.

And so MATRA was started with its own email account, logo, letterheads and website to show we meant business. Contact with Caernarfon and the powers that be, etc., was established and within days not months meetings were arranged, MATRA was up and running - Bob became Secretary so (if you know Bob) getting inside information was not a problem. The rest is history.

Unfortunately, in 2002 Bob had to resign from MATRA, as my health became more unpredictable and he was also looking after his Stepfather who is in his 80's - being available 24/7 was no longer an option. Although always keen to keep a hand in what's going on in the area, he still continues to do what he can within the various groups on the Estate. The website has been my contribution and it is totally independent; not funded by anyone except myself. I am happy with it this way because I feel I can play my part in helping the community. Thus the website is not obliged to keep within the confines of any particular organisation and I can share news or information as it comes to me. Here I can just give an official thanks to my hubby, Bob who you will often see around with a camera keeping you updated on the projects and events in the area.

It has not been easy, disability itself is a drawback but you also have other drawbacks within society itself, like all areas of life. Certain groups or organisations that move into areas can have attitudinal problems with people for one reason or another and this can make getting the information and co-operation to run an efficient website difficult. But I manage with what I can and have met some very helpful and friendly people on the estate who want to see the community develop. I appreciate all the emails I get, both the messages in the Guest books, forum and private mails sent to me worldwide. I also get photos and information sent from all over the world from ex pat's and people who are pleased to re live their memories, and show their grown up families their roots. All this is thanks enough for me and I hope I can continue to keep doing it for some time yet.