Coffee Morning - Saturday 21st January
Our next coffee morning is to be held on Saturday 21st January at the Tourist Information Centre in Caerphilly town centre (opposite the castle). Enjoy a free cup of tea or coffee whilst finding out how our campaign to claim back the Miners as a community asset is progressing. Speak to committee members and volunteers who are helping to make the plan a reality. A presentation of the project will be held at 10.30am. We look forward to seeing you there!
NEWS!
Coffee Morning: Saturday 19th November
Thanks to everyone who attended our coffee morning at the Tourist Information Centre. The new location for the event was popular with visitors, with feedback commenting on the personal atmosphere at the event. The morning helped to raise much needed funds as well as continuing to raise public awareness of the current situation with the Miners Hospital and future plans for the Beeches building.
The event attracted over 70 visitors, which was a really pleasing turnout. New members signed up to be 'friends' of the project, adding to our ever-increasing database of local community contacts. We continue to look for support, with a £5 annual membership fee. In return for this support, the committee intend to keep members informed of forthcoming events and news stories through regular email updates. Membership secretary, Doreen Ellis, organises prize draws and every new member is welcomed with a greeting pack, featuring a photo of the original Beeches building and an informative leaflet regarding the nature of the project.
As always, the event was an opportunity to not only raise awareness of the project, but to also raise much-needed funds. Money was raised via a raffle, cake sale, and through sale of the Miners' Christmas Cards. These unique cards depict a photograph of one of the Miners' hospital wards, taken at Christmas in the 1930s. The image has generated much interest within the local community, with one resident identifying her 13 year old self in the photo!
Packs of 10 cards are available at a price of £2.99. If you are interested in purchasing a pack please contact our project secretary, Katherine Hughes, on 029 20886569. Alternatively, you can download a membership form - please see link further down this page.
Our next coffee morning is scheduled for the end of January (details to be posted here shortly).
Packs of 10 cards are available at a price of £2.99. If you are interested in purchasing a pack please contact our project secretary, Katherine Hughes, on 029 20886569. Alternatively, you can download a membership form - please see link further down this page.
Our next coffee morning is scheduled for the end of January (details to be posted here shortly).
Your Community Centre Needs YOU!
The Management Committee are looking for some additional volunteers. We are looking for people who:
have specific skills in supporting the committee particularly in developing and maintaining a contact list of friends and volunteers
can help to support our mobile exhibition taking it periodically to public spaces within the Caerphilly basin – whilst not heavy, a use of a car is necessary
sourcing funding to support our various project ideas
to maintain the website and Facebook pages
event and volunteer management
take over treasury duties
If you do wish to find out any more information please contact us either through the website contact form, our email address or by contacting Katherine Hughes on 02920 886569
have specific skills in supporting the committee particularly in developing and maintaining a contact list of friends and volunteers
can help to support our mobile exhibition taking it periodically to public spaces within the Caerphilly basin – whilst not heavy, a use of a car is necessary
sourcing funding to support our various project ideas
to maintain the website and Facebook pages
event and volunteer management
take over treasury duties
If you do wish to find out any more information please contact us either through the website contact form, our email address or by contacting Katherine Hughes on 02920 886569
Tell us what you want
As part of the Feasibility Study that is currently taking pace we want to hear what you would like to see at the Community Centre. Please pick up to four preferences by clicking on the boxes below. You can add your own suggestions too. Over the next month or so we want to hear what you think. After all the results have been collated we will let you know what your preferences are. These will be fed into the Feasibility Study and recommendations made on the viability of these preferred uses.
proposed concert in October at Mount Carmel, arrangments not yet finalised, watch this space.
Friends of The Beeches
The Management Committee has launched the opportunity to become a Friend of The Beeches. For just £5 a year you will receive a gloss photograph of The Beeches together with a short history, a quarterly newsletter giving you up-to-date information on progress being made to retain this historical building and your own Friend of The Beeches membership card.
If you are interested in becoming a Friend or would like more information download this form.
If you are interested in becoming a Friend or would like more information download this form.
Caerphilly Local Development Plan Examination
Katherine Hughes, Management Committee Secretary, and Steve Cranston, Head of Community Investment represented the Management Committee at a recent Hearing held for the Local Development Plan Examination. The Inspector, Mr Alwyn Nixon, is holding a series of round table sessions to discuss with various stakeholders elements of the emerging Plan where there have been disagreements with the Council.
Following our representations to Caerphilly Borough Council over the past 18 months, Katherine and Steve participated in discussions regarding the future of the Miners' Hospital site. The Inspector was keen to understand whether the emerging plan would be 'unsound' if the community facility was not part of the housing allocation for the site. The Inspector also wanted to know how realistic and deliverable the community facility is at the current time.
Not having had any previous experience in taking part in such Hearings, Planning Aid Wales members briefed Katherine and Steve who then did a fantastic job of representing the Management Committee. The Inspector will take into consideration all the views expressed at the Hearings and made by written representations and prepare a report for the Welsh Assembly Government and will determine whether the Plan is Sound. The Inspector's decision will be binding on the Council. It is expected that the report will be issued towards the end of this year and adopted sometime in early 2011.
For more information on progress of the Local Development Plan, look at these pages on the Council's website.
Following our representations to Caerphilly Borough Council over the past 18 months, Katherine and Steve participated in discussions regarding the future of the Miners' Hospital site. The Inspector was keen to understand whether the emerging plan would be 'unsound' if the community facility was not part of the housing allocation for the site. The Inspector also wanted to know how realistic and deliverable the community facility is at the current time.
Not having had any previous experience in taking part in such Hearings, Planning Aid Wales members briefed Katherine and Steve who then did a fantastic job of representing the Management Committee. The Inspector will take into consideration all the views expressed at the Hearings and made by written representations and prepare a report for the Welsh Assembly Government and will determine whether the Plan is Sound. The Inspector's decision will be binding on the Council. It is expected that the report will be issued towards the end of this year and adopted sometime in early 2011.
For more information on progress of the Local Development Plan, look at these pages on the Council's website.
Feasibility Study - Appointed Consultants
We thought it would be interesting to tell you all a little bit about the appointed consultants, Gareth Kiddie Associates, for the feasibility study...
GKA was set up in May 2002 to provide high quality consultancy services within the community and social enterprise sectors. Since then GKA has been working with a wide range of organisations helping them with; research & development, feasibility studies, business plans and capacity building activities. Gareth Kiddie, GKA's Director and Senior Consultant has spent the last 17 years working on community regeneration projects. Immediately prior to establishing GKA, Gareth held the post of Assistant Director for Groundwork Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot an organisation he worked with for over ten years. Before that Gareth trained at the Welsh School of Architecture and worked for two South Wales based architectural practices as an Architectural Assistant. Gareth has undertaken volunteer roles for a range of voluntary and community based organisations and is currently a Director of the Development Trusts Association in Wales.
GKA was set up in May 2002 to provide high quality consultancy services within the community and social enterprise sectors. Since then GKA has been working with a wide range of organisations helping them with; research & development, feasibility studies, business plans and capacity building activities. Gareth Kiddie, GKA's Director and Senior Consultant has spent the last 17 years working on community regeneration projects. Immediately prior to establishing GKA, Gareth held the post of Assistant Director for Groundwork Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot an organisation he worked with for over ten years. Before that Gareth trained at the Welsh School of Architecture and worked for two South Wales based architectural practices as an Architectural Assistant. Gareth has undertaken volunteer roles for a range of voluntary and community based organisations and is currently a Director of the Development Trusts Association in Wales.
Community Centre in the Press!
As a result of our recent Coffee Morning, the local Press has been keen to keep the Community up to date with the latest from the Management Committee. The Caerphilly Campaign and Caerphilly Observer have published articles online and in print. We are very grateful for the support of these two media and the role they have in communicating our vision to the wider Community. You can find a selection of these articles by clicking the links below.
Community Centre Plan for Caerphilly Miners Hospital
Community Centre Plan Gathers Pace
Group Aims to Buy Hospital Building
Community Centre Plan for Caerphilly Miners Hospital
Community Centre Plan Gathers Pace
Group Aims to Buy Hospital Building
Endorsement from the Health Minister
Following ongoing discussions with the Welsh Assembly Government, the Local Health Board and Welsh Health Estates, we are overjoyed at the recent letter sent by Edwina Hart AM which endorses the goals of the Management Committee to provide a community use on the Hospital Site. The letter gives backing to the Committee's work with United Welsh Housing Association and supports a vision for the site. This letter now enables the funds to be released for the feasibility study and has also been sent to the Council for the Local Development Plan Inspector to consider at the Examination which will take place over the next couple of months.
Thank you for your support at our recent Coffee Morning
It was fantastic to see so many people attend our first coffee morning in January. The event was a great success with about 60 attendees, 23 new members of the group and 8 new stories to add to the digital library which is hoped to be placed in the building in 2011. We also asked for your thoughts including what respite means to you? and what would you like to see at the Centre? All your responses have been collated and will be considered by the Management Committee and passed to the feasibility consultants to use during the Study.
Local AM Jeff Cuthbert said “I thought that the event was a great success and am very pleased with the engagement we saw from the community. Not only was the coffee very good but the website looked very professional and will provide an opportunity for many people to keep updated on the project from the comfort of their homes. I think this has been a very effective means of raising awareness about the future of this important building.”
The Committee’s Secretary and local resident Katherine Hughes said “We have to demonstrate that the community really wants to retain the original hospital building and will make full of it as a community centre for the future. The Key Fund grant we were recently awarded will help us to do this, but public support is vital – and it was great to see this at the Coffee Morning on Saturday.”
The Management Committee were pleased to welcome Wayne David, Labour MP for Caerphilly who joined the team in a photo. The Management Committee was able to get new ideas and hear the opinions of resident’s first-hand during the meeting. As a result they have decided that they would like to do a similar event again in two months time and hope to secure a stall at the annual Big Cheese Event in Caerphilly. We look forward to seeing everyone again soon, and meeting more members of the community.
Local AM Jeff Cuthbert said “I thought that the event was a great success and am very pleased with the engagement we saw from the community. Not only was the coffee very good but the website looked very professional and will provide an opportunity for many people to keep updated on the project from the comfort of their homes. I think this has been a very effective means of raising awareness about the future of this important building.”
The Committee’s Secretary and local resident Katherine Hughes said “We have to demonstrate that the community really wants to retain the original hospital building and will make full of it as a community centre for the future. The Key Fund grant we were recently awarded will help us to do this, but public support is vital – and it was great to see this at the Coffee Morning on Saturday.”
The Management Committee were pleased to welcome Wayne David, Labour MP for Caerphilly who joined the team in a photo. The Management Committee was able to get new ideas and hear the opinions of resident’s first-hand during the meeting. As a result they have decided that they would like to do a similar event again in two months time and hope to secure a stall at the annual Big Cheese Event in Caerphilly. We look forward to seeing everyone again soon, and meeting more members of the community.
Key Fund Awarded
We are delighted to announce that we have recently been awarded nearly £15,000 to undertake the Feasibility Study. There are a few conditions that we need to meet and we are working on those at this time. In the meantime, the Management Committee has appointed Gareth Kiddie Associates to undertake the Feasibility Study.
Feasibility Study
The Management Committee is preparing to commission a team of consultants to undertake a feasibility study for the Community Centre. Three organisations have tendered to undertake this work and each have been invited to an interview early next month to further discuss their tenders with the study's sub-committee. It is anticipated that one of the three organisations will be chosen to undertake the work and will report its findings to the Management Committee late in Spring 2010. More details on the feasibility study will be included on the website shortly.
Business Plan Published
In October 2009, the Management Committee published its Business Plan which sets out the vision for developing The Beeches. The Business Plan prepared by Katherine Hughes, Secretary of the Management Commitee and Planning Aid Wales volunteer, provides extensive details about how the Management Committee intend to progress its work over the next few years. Click on the image on the left to read our Business Plan.
Local Development Plan October 2009
Caerphilly County Borough Council has recently published a series of focused changes on the emerging Local Development Plan that is currently being prepared. Planning Aid Wales acting on behalf of the Management Committee has previously made representations to the Council stating that the hospital site and land to the south should be allocated for mixed use development rather than only residential uses.
The Focused Changes shows that the Council has agreed to this change and has invited comments on this amendment. Volunteers for Planning Aid Wales have made further representations to the Council and these were submitted in November. These can be found in the background information pages of this website.
The Focused Changes shows that the Council has agreed to this change and has invited comments on this amendment. Volunteers for Planning Aid Wales have made further representations to the Council and these were submitted in November. These can be found in the background information pages of this website.
October 2009 Management Committee Meeting
At the meeting in October it was announced that the Committee had received the first £2000 out of a £4000 award granted by the UnLtd fund. This money will be used in part to increase the profile of the work that we are doing beginning with an exhibition in the Miners Hospital. The exhibition which sets out the work that we have been doing and invites members of the Community to submit memories and ideas to the Committee. It also welcomes anyone who has a little spare time to volunteer to work with us.
A Memorandum of Understanding between United Welsh Housing Association and the Management Committee is currently being prepared and demonstrates the partnership and commitment that the two parties have in seeking to deliver the Community Centre.
A Memorandum of Understanding between United Welsh Housing Association and the Management Committee is currently being prepared and demonstrates the partnership and commitment that the two parties have in seeking to deliver the Community Centre.
September 2009 Management Committee Meeting
The Management Committee discussed a number of items at the September meeting including a strategy for applying for charitable status, an update on Caerphilly Borough Council's Local Development Plan progress and details on the further work on preparing the consultant's brief for the feasibility study amongst other matters.
The Committee also discussed the upcoming exhibition that we will be showing at the hospital. Work was underway on preparing the displays and more information would be available at the next meeting.
The first in what will hopefully a long series of fundraising events was also discussed at the meeting. Keep an eye out on our events page over the next two weeks for more information.
The Committee also discussed the upcoming exhibition that we will be showing at the hospital. Work was underway on preparing the displays and more information would be available at the next meeting.
The first in what will hopefully a long series of fundraising events was also discussed at the meeting. Keep an eye out on our events page over the next two weeks for more information.