You know I am always keen to celebrate the achievements of our staff, particularly when they go the extra mile for our residents. A particularly good example of this is the annual Together at Christmas event in Brangwyn Hall, which I was pleased to be part of on Tuesday. By common consent it was one of the best ever, and you can read about it here. Alongside JR Events, many of our councillors and council teams made a contribution this year. The feedback as always was excellent and one example of what it can achieve was a gentleman who came to offer support because last year he was a homeless single parent, who had recently lost his wife, and didn’t know where to turn. In 2023 he walked through our doors, was greeted by our warm volunteers, and left with housing support and employment options. This year, he has a full time job and a safe and secure family home – all of which he says he can pinpoint to when he joined the event last year.
The event is just one part if the our #HereForYouThisWinter campaign which is helping support 1,000 families and individuals with shopping vouchers so they don’t go without the essentials on Christmas Day. Targeting those most in need of support is an important but challenging task, the turnaround time to meet the deadline was extremely tight and has seen various teams within the council work hard to deliver it. So thanks to the schools, ward members, social services, partner organisations and Cabinet members who were involved.
Also this week I am also indebted to our Cultural Services film unit and a number of other teams who’ve stepped up to answer the BBC’s DIY SOS call for help to transform a family’s home in Waun Wen. You can read about what our staff – including two apprentices who gave up their time to get the plastering done – contributed here.
Taken together what these three initiatives do is demonstrate how our staff and councillors are making a difference in our communities every day – and it’s boosting our reputation with the people we serve.
On Wednesday evening I was among the guests for the formal launch of City on the Beach by Urban Splash, our partners in ambitious plans for the next phase of our city’s regeneration. Urban Splash have a brilliant track record in helping revitalise and re-invent cities for the 21st century – with tangible transformation delivered in places like Manchester, Salford, Liverpool and Plymouth, to name just a small number. We’ll be working with them to reimagine our City on the Beach at seven strategic sites, building on the success we’ve achieved so far. I’ll keep you posted in future blogs.
Well done to all officers involved in creating the base for Penderyn at the Hafod-Morfa Copperworks. It’s been selected as a regional finalist in the 2025 Civic Trust Awards. Judges say the scheme contributes to the quality of the built environment, is sustainable, accessible and provides a positive civic contribution. It’ll now be considered for national Civic Trust Award recognition. If previous performance is anything to go by, it’ll be yet another win for the copperworks.
Our Chief Legal Officer, Tracey Meredith is retiring next week and the Appointments Committee has agreed to name Debbie Smith as interim Chief Legal Officer while the recruitment process goes ahead. I’d like to thank Tracey for her many years of service to the council and for the advice I have personally received over the years and want to wish her well in retirement. Also thanks to Debbie for stepping in to lead the team in the short term.
Finally, if you can, please join in the Christmas Hamper raffle being organised by the revenue and benefits team for a former colleague, Rachel Davies. They’re raising funds for Rachel so she can have secondary breast cancer treatment not available on the NHS. You can learn more and play a part in the fundraiser here.
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