Communities
First is a programme established by the Welsh Assembly. It aims
to improve communities - to make them better places to live - by
drawing on the knowledge & strengths of local people. Short-term
fixes have been tried in the past: this is a long term plan &
runs for ten years at least. It gives us time & resources to
achieve our goals.
It will give us a chance to do things in new ways - especially through
working together on issues that affect our daily lives. Communities
First is being run on MaesG by a Partnership including representatives
of MATRA, the HLC, Social Club, Residents, Eglwys y Groes, Blodau
Blasus, Councillors & others with a stake in the estate.
We aim to ensure that solutions & developments are consulted
upon & not imposed on MaesG by someone in a distant office.
We don't want "one-size-fits-all" solutions: we can use
the insider knowledge of local people to get what is best suited
to our needs. An early example of this is the Multi-Use Games Area
-"the Cage" - the final form of which has been arrived
at by negotiation between the Partnership & Gwynedd.
As I mentioned above, funds are now available from the Assembly,
but this is only part of the picture: of principal importance is
the "human element" - the people on MaesG whose input
is vital. You can achieve a lot without money if you have to, but
you can achieve nothing without the drive & determination of
people who are committed to their communities.
Some Communities First workers in other areas have a huge job from
the very start: they have to get people in their areas talking to
each other - to try to build community spirit.
On MaesG, though, I'm very fortunate. There is a strong community
already in place for me to work alongside, with an active residents'
association & motivated individuals determined to secure advances
for the estate. So I have a headstart!
Having established the Partnership on a sound basis, we now need
to ensure that people here in MaesG are aware of what we are doing
& what we are about. This will be one of my main goals during
the months ahead."
