Summer
CYCA
Newsletter
2010 www.cycaonline.org
Carmarthenshire Youth & Children’s Association
INTRODUCTION Welcome to our Summer newsletter with news about all our new initiatives. We welcome four new staff as part of our BIG Lottery funded People and Places programme supporting families in crisis. We shall be using the expertise of the team to assist other partners in the field of emotional health and well being within Carmarthenshire. We would particularly like to acknowledge and thank Bethan James Corporate Parenting Manager, and Jake Morgan Head of Children's Services for commissioning CYCA some work with Looked After Children, which has proved to be very rewarding for the staff who are supporting them. I am currently exploring developing some life coaching work for primary schools following a very successful scheme in England, there will be more information and dates for these in our Autumn newsletter. We thank the Gravell Trust for their kind donation of £2,000 to the charity, and also Chief Superintendent Stephen Mears of Dyfed Powys Police for a donation of £500. We have also welcomed Nigel Owens as one of our Ambassadors who will be visiting our centre throughout the summer clubs. Our training and support for the unemployed continues, seeing some of our clients secure employment or training. It is our intention to develop further training to offer ongoing support for employees to help them cope with changes and difficult situations if they arise. The rain heralds a start to our summer clubs which are now nearly full! We have an action packed summer of activities and have prepared for all weathers! I would like to thank Matthew Newbold again for the production and design of this newsletter. His development of this work has really enabled us to promote our services widely. Matthew has also worked very hard on our „new look‟ website. Please take some time to look at what we do! Have a relaxing break for those who are taking leave, and a huge thank you for your continued support to our much needed services.
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Tracy Pike, Association Manager
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SUMMER 2010
CONTENTS 3—4
NEWSROUND
5—6
FIT 4 FUN
7—8
FAMILIES IN CRISIS
9—10
CYCA WALES Ltd—OUR NEW CHARITY
11—12 LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN (LAC) 13—14 LITTLE SEARPHS NURSERY & CRÉCHE 15—16 TEDDYBEARS NURSERY 17—18 JELLITOTZ NURSERY 19—20
YOUTH
21—22
OUR WISHLIST & UPCOMING EVENTS
22—23 STAFF IN FOCUS
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NEWSROUND
NIGEL OWENS BECOMES OUR NEW AMBASSADOR We are delighted to announce that International Rugby Referee and TV Personality, Nigel Owens has become our new Ambassador. On a recent visit to our Dewi Sant Centre, Nigel had the opportunity to visit children and staff of our Teddybears Nursery and expressed his delight at his new role, “It‟s a great honour and a privilege to be an ambassador for CYCA. It's nice to be able to give something back into the community and help CYCA in the important work they do throughout Carmarthenshire in helping children and their families."
GRANT FROM RAY GRAVELL TRUST We are delighted to announce that we have recently been awarded a £2,000 grant from the Ray Gravell Memorial Trust Fund. Former Wales International Rugby Star, Derek Quinnell visited our Dewi Sant Centre to present the cheque to Manager Tracy Pike and some of our Teddybears Nursery children. Tracy was extremely grateful to the trust for their generosity, "We are overjoyed to be awarded the grant. It will go along way in helping us provide a valuable service to children and families throughout Llanelli and Carmarthenshire.
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SUMMER 2010
‘ALL GO’ AT CYCA’S CLUBS Our after school clubs have enjoyed a very busy past couple of months. The children were treated to a special visit from the fire brigade, who gave the children some safety demonstrations. The children then had the chance to sit in the fire and also got to see the equipment in action! Staff are now in the middle of putting together an exciting programme for the Summer holiday club. The club will run from July 21 to August 20 and children will be treated to a host of fun activities, including cooking and activity sessions from Fit 4 Fun providers as well as fun trips to local parks and beaches. The Summer clubs will be run by staff (new and old) who have been on some exciting training programmes and are raring to go!
Holiday club c hildren enjoy a fun co oking sessions.
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FIT 4 FUN
Healthy cooking at Penyfan Sports Day
It has been yet another busy period for the Fit 4 Fun team, staging a host of FREE fun activities within schools and communities across the county. Firstly we staged Circus Skills workshops in Bryn School, where the children learned some amazing tricks and techniques. At the end of May, the team played a major part in Penyfan‟s Sports Day staging workshops and demonstrations in Skateboarding, Dragon Sports, Footballs Skills and Healthy Cooking. We then began staging Dance Workshops with Tŷ Enfys Family Centre, where parents and children both got in the groove! Parents and toddlers from Llwynhendy ICC were also given some Fit 4 Fun Cooking Sessions. Back in schools, children at Bryn were treated to a special Relaxation Day, where they were given Massages and took part in other relaxation activities. Meanwhile, throughout June, the pupils from Pentip took part in the Fit 4 Fun Dance Programme. Fabian and the team also attended some community festivals, including the Brewery Fair in Felinfoel, Tesco's Community Fair, Carmarthen‟s Football Festival and Llwynhendy Carnival. www.cycaonline.org
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SUMMER 2010 Fabian's Online Games....Coming Soon! - We are Circus skills workshop currently in the process of developing new online Fit 4 Fun games in partnership with Tinopolis. The fun and exciting games, see Fit 4 Fun hero Fabian come up against arch nemesis, Dr Slob in a battle to save 'Fitville'....will you be able to keep Fabian strong and healthy enough to save the day? The games are nearly complete and look out for them on our website at the end of the Summer.
Win a Nintendo Wii & Wii Fit this Summer - Fabian and the the Fit 4 fun team are staging a special competition this summer where you'll have the chance to win a Wii & Wii fit. It's FREE to enter and all you need to do is sign up to the Fit 4 Fun email database. If you would like to enter all you need to do is fill out our 'Email Form' at any of the events we're attending before September (see our online events calendar) or just give us a call on 01554 757599 or email fit4fun@cycaonline.org
For further information, please contact the team on 01554 757599, email fit4fun@cycaonline.org or visit our new website Fabian Gameand characters: his arch www.fit4funwales.com nemesis Fabian and „Dr Slob Dr Slob where youâ€&#x;ll find a host of fun information including images from all of our events and activities.
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FAMILIES IN CRISIS We would like to welcome the team for our new 3 year lottery funded project „Families in Crisisâ€&#x;. The project provides a rapid response, early intervention programme for families who are escalating towards crisis or who are currently in crisis by offering them Psychological support for situations such as: Serious Assault; Domestic Violence; Substance Misuse; Relationship Breakdown; Bereavement; Trauma; Debt Crisis, Environmental and Housing issues. Vanessa Evans-Case Manager A Qualified Integrative Counsellor, Vanessa has many years experience working in the Substance Misuse field in various projects supporting and counselling clients with presenting and underlying difficulties. Providing Stress Management and Counselling for employees of Swansea City Council, Vanessa offers a broad spectrum and focused interventions to Clients, Colleagues and Professionals. Vanessa has a wealth of experience working in multi disciplinary teams, working at HMP Swansea with Adult male offenders; Young people in secure settings and helping families with Psychological, Emotional, Physical, Housing, Financial and Social needs. Vanessa is hoping to secure a placement at University of Wales Newport to gain a PG Diploma in Counselling Children and Young People. Jo Ede-Arts Psychotherapist Jo is a qualified Integrative Arts Psychotherapist with 20 years experience of working with Children, adolescents and families. Trained at the Institute of Therapy Education and Arts in London, Jo is interested in the creative process in relationships providing personal, social and emotional development, enhancing human potential in children, adolescents and families. Working in Child and Family teams for 12 years with a variety of Social and Psychological difficulties Jo specializes in attachment and life story work using the arts modalities with children. Jo is available to deliver training in Therapeutic Communication skills inspired by Kids Company and the Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education. www.cycaonline.org
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SUMMER 2010
Julie Bezant -Counsellor Julie trained in Bereavement Care with Cruse while working towards gaining her PG Diploma in Integrative Counselling. Working with Families in the community for 5 years delivering the Stepping Stones Behaviour Management Programme, and on a Youth line service for 11- 25 year olds, Julie has worked as a Counsellor for Carmarthenshire Counselling Service and more recently as a facilitator on the new Strengthening Families Programme. Leighton Evans -Counsellor Leighton has a MA and PG Diploma in CBT Therapeutic Counselling and is about to embark on a course at University of Wales, Newport to gain a qualification in Consultative Supervision. Practicing as a Counsellor for various organisations including: Child line, Cruse and New Pathways, Leighton has completed ASIST and Suicide Intervention Training and has over 30 years experience in Public Services working closely with families assisting them with the Psychological and emotional effects resulting from Traumatic events. Leighton is interested in incorporating his knowledge and expertise in this area to support families in crisis. Tracy Pike-Association Manager Tracy is available for short term interventions over the life of the project.
We are able to receive referrals from organizations or individuals. For further information contact Vanessa Evans on 01554 757599 or email vanessa@cycaonline.org
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CYCA WALES Ltd—OUR NEW CHARITY We are delighted to announce that we have recently established a second charity—‟CYCA Wales Ltd‟. CYCA Wales represents the training arm of our work and through its 'AAID training' service we have developed a unique training programme offering a host of courses, seminars and workshops in the field of emotional health & well-being, which include stress coaching sessions and self help workshops. The programme is delivered by a highly skilled and professional team from our brand new training facilities - The Palms Centre, which is just a stone's throw away from our Dewi Sant Centre headquarters. The Palms Centre offers a host of state of the art facilities, which cater for a variety of needs. These include: Bilingual crèche with superb outdoor play area—Little Seraphs Training room for up to 35 people Private and comfortable counselling 2 fully equipped meeting rooms
We congratulate our manager, Tracy Pike, who has recently received approved training status from ISMA (International Stress Management Association UK).
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SUMMER 2010
The brand new Palms Centre
In order for us to achieve our full potential we first need to explore our behaviours and how that impacts on how we feel and behave. We have two new workshops running at present: Self Awareness—this set of workshops helps individuals identify participants strengths and perceived weaknesses and uses strategies to develop self worth. The workshops are particularly useful for those coping with new changes such as returning to work . Conflict Management—these workshops help participants identify anger triggers and use strategies to deal with those triggers appropriately. AAID Training The workshops are delivered in small workshop groups so allow individuals to reflect and share experiences. All training is delivered in a confidential setting where individuals can access trained counsellors if needed. We are able to take referrals from organisations and devise a package of support to suit individual needs. Some charges will apply .
The Palms Centre is OCN accredited, has full disabled access and ample car parking. For more information about CYCA Wales and its AAID Training services, as well details on how to book, contact Tracy Pike now on 01554 757599 or email tracy@cycaonlone.org www.cycaonline.org
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LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN (LAC)
The Looked After Children (LAC) Project, in partnership with Carmarthenshire County Council (CCC) has been supporting nine young people within the care system. The project, which commenced at the beginning of November 2009, and is part of the „Team Around the Childâ€&#x; model being championed by Bethan James, Corporate Parenting Manager CCC, aims to support young people within the care system to develop key, life and social skills, together with helping to cope with and deal with any personal issues or problems that may arise, through a single point of contact. CYCA are very much involved within the ground floor development of the programme, and have developed a support team, comprising a team of Mentors, a Counselling & Support Team, of Arts Psychotherapy, Family & Relational Integrative Counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapist (CBT), Holistic Therapies and Overall Support Management. Young people are introduced to the programme through the mentors and made to feel comfortable, getting to know them informally and building trust and relationships with the mentoring team prior to developing a bespoke support programme in discussion with young people attending and the team.
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SUMMER 2010
Since the start of the New Year, CYCA have started some more focused work with the young people attending, utilising a mix of Digital Media, using film & music to allow young people to express and explore issues that they are not able to talk about. Children also work on building self-esteem, self-confidence, self-awareness, self-worth, motivation and goal setting. Life skills are also taught including social skills, cooking, shopping, tea/coffee making etc. Of the young people attending at present, four have begun to explore very personal issues, encompassing detachment, personal crisis, self and anger, which is hugely encouraging, and CYCA will now continue to develop a programme of support over the coming months, in the hope that this can be seen as a model of good practice for the way forward, and ultimately result in further work of this nature developing at CYCA. The programme has also recently linked with Coleg Sir Gar (CSG) and the Engage Support Team and this link has seen two of our young people that were identified as having low aspirations and educational issues enrol for college courses. The link with the CSG Support Team will further ensure that our young people are afforded every opportunity and support to succeed.
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LITTLE SERAPHS NURSERY & CRÉCHE The children and staff at Little Seraphs Nursery have been very busy over the past weeks. Tatty Bumpkin Sessions have continued on Monday afternoons at the nursery. The children very much look forward to the visit from Jean and Tatty and the staff and parents have noticed a great improvement in the children‟s language skills and concentration. The children also received a special visit from Jo Yeo, our local road safety community officer who came to speak to the staff and children. Jo read a story to the children on road safety and handed the children glow in the dark wrist bands to wear when they‟re out with their parents at night. We have recently had some new raised beds installed and the children have been getting their fingers messy by looking after all the vegetables . They‟ve had some great fun picking up the lettuce, runner beans, courgettes and carrots. The sunflowers are growing very tall, but have yet to flower. The children enjoyed a taster session from our Maintenance Officer, Howard Pike and have been encouraged to take some home to share with their parents & siblings. Also, there has also been a very special addition to Little Seraphs Bubbles the Hamster, who‟s name was chosen by the children. Over the past few weeks, the children have enjoyed special lessons on how to care for Bubbles on a daily basis, and he has become a very valued member of the nursery. Since his arrival, both staff and parent s have noticed an improvement in some of the younger children‟s language skills.
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SUMMER 2010
Circle time has been very popular recently, as the children have been enjoying some special Welsh and English stories featuring “Spot” the dog. Also, a new display wall has been created to show “Spot” having fun at the seaside, as well as some special artwork from the children. As a special treat to celebrate “Spot” books‟ 30th anniversary, the children enjoyed a day at the seaside, where they were told the special story, “Spot goes on holiday”. During this period, Little Seraphs had its very first C.S.S.I.W inspection and it passed with flying colours. The staff are looking forward to the summer holidays as they will be welcoming back some of their friends that have left to go to “big school”. A family & friends afternoon will be held one weekend during the summer holidays as a “thank you” to all the parents of the nursery. The date of the event is yet to be arranged, but the day will include a host of fun activities, including: Face Painting, Bouncy Castle, Free Play, and Displays of the children's work. Refreshments will include Strawberries & Cream and Tea & Coffee. Look out for further details on our website www.cycaonline.org For more information about the service and facilities at Little Seraphs, as well as availability, contact Emma Hughes on 07980400483.
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TEDDYBEARS NURSERY
This term, as usual, has been a busy one for the children in Teddybears Nursery. At the beginning of term the children visited the Flying Start Storybus to hear all about a very hungry caterpillar, they then we had their very own hungry caterpillars to look after as theystudied the lifecycle of the butterfly. They watched as the caterpillars grew and then built cocoons, before emerging as butterflies. The butterflies were released with the help of the children from Copperworks Schoolâ€&#x;s nursery class, in the school garden. The children have also enjoyed planting and growing their own vegetables and are looking forward to a bumper harvest of potatoes, beans and beetroot before they break for the Summer.
Children planting their vegetables
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SUMMER 2010
Teddi Twt and the children in „Planet Zorg
During this term, the children have also been learning about different forms of transport, and have spent four weeks 'travelling' the world. First they sailed to Italy with Luigi and thanks to the Dominos Pizza team they had lots of fun experimenting with pizza dough, as well as lots of fun eating pizza! They then flew to Kenya with Handa for an African safari, before travelling to France on the Eurostar with Claude, to sample grape juice and brie. Finally they floated in a hot air balloon to Egypt with Christina where they learnt all about the pyramids and ate crocodile curry! They still have lots of fun to look forward to before the Summer Holidays with a planned trip to Dai the Dragon's with Teddi Twt for a teddybear's picnic, and Teddi twt is travelling to Planet Zorg in his rocket! All the staff and children at Teddybears wish all the children leaving us to go on to 'big' school good luck for the future. They will miss you!!
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JELLITOTZ NURSERY
Family fun at the grand opening of Penymorfa Gardens
Jellitotz Nursery has enjoyed a very busy period of late. The children have been enjoying the weather in the outdoor play area and had a water splash day, with watering cans, magic painting and lots of safe water fun. The children have also been growing flowers and they were planted in the new community garden, next door to the nursery's present premises. The garden had it's grand opening on the 3rd June, which was attended by people from the community. The children have been treated to some sessions on the Storybus and from a visiting local artist Viven, who created craft activities for the children to take part in that came from the children's favourite book, 'Animal Boogie' and „Bright Stanley'.
Story time
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SUMMER 2010
Nursery Leader Dee, also enjoyed her very own special day, as she was invited as part of the Morfa Residents and Tenants Association to Cardiff Castle, to receive an Award from The WCVA for the groupâ€&#x;s work on the Spray and Play Project. The Project was completed on July 7th, and it coincided with the grand opening of the Spray and Play facilities at Havelock Park, Morfa. This Summer is promising to be an exciting time for Jellitotz, as the nursery will be on the move again into their new permanent premises in the new Maes y Morfa School. Jellitotz will then be apart of the new Morfa Integrated Childrenâ€&#x;s Centre.
Outdoor fun! www.cycaonline.org
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YOUTH CYCAâ€&#x;s Youth provision continues to go from strength to strength. There are currently over 35 young people regularly attending our Tuesday night drop in service at our main Dewi Sant Centre, in Nevill Street, Llanelli, and the youth group are actively developing a constituted youth forum, a fundraising committee and a team of Junior Youth Leaders. We also have a Digital Media pilot project operating across Whitland and Llandeilo, working with two groups of young people to develop an Interactive Youth Magazine and a Promotional, Information and Training DVD. If you are a young person living in Whitland or Llandeilo and would like to be involved then please contact Jamie Pike or Barry Johnson on 01554 757599. This is also linked to a wider consultation and evaluation programme, which is being undertaken in partnership with ContinYou Cymru. If you would like to input into this study then
Digital Media activities
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SUMMER 2010
Our Angling Participation Project continues to prove to be a huge success. We currently have six young people going forward to trials this year for the Welsh Junior Fly Fishing Four Nations Team, they are Jamie Baire; Jamie Philliips; Lewis Rumble; Wyn Jones; Thornton Boswell; Ryan Blakeway; We wish them every success for the trials and hopefully we will have some new names with Welsh Caps associated with the project. Three young people have also successfully qualified as Level One Angling Coaches, they are Jamie Baire; Jamie Phillips; Richard Pugh; As a development of the Angling Participation Project, we have secured funding from Environment Agency Wales, to establish a CYCA Angling Hub at our main centre in Nevill Street, Llanelli. This exciting new initiative, which will start September 2010, will see the three young people who are now qualified coaches passing on their knowledge to other young people. Also planned for September 2010 is our Alternative Activities Club, which will run on a Thursday evening and will be a mix of Streetdance, Skateboarding, BMXing and World Cultures. All these activities will be linked to accredited qualifications and will follow a programme that has been developed with young people. For further information on any of our youth services, please contact Barry Johnson on 01554 757599. www.cycaonline.org
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OUR WISHLIST & UPCOMING EVENTS
At CYCA, we rely heavily on the generosity and support of both the general community and local businesses., which can help us survive. Whether you are an individual whose voluntary work can help us deliver our projects and services or an organisation who can offer „in-kind‟ or financial support, your help will go a long way. Here‟s our wish list for the coming months: Volunteers— we are looking for volunteers to help us carry out our projects and services. We can offer a host of opportunities, from childcare and play leader experience to administration and marketing. If you would like to get involved get in touch now, to see how we can help each other.
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SUMMER 2010
UPCOMING EVENTS & CLUBS CYCA Holiday Clubs—Running throughout the Summer holiday between July 21—August 20 at Dewi Sant Centre. CYCA After School Clubs—We run a host of after school clubs across Llanelli every week night. Please note, these will be closed during school Summer holidays. CYCA Youth Club—Every Tuesday 6.15-8.30pm at Dewi Sant Centre. All 11-16 year olds welcome. 75p entry fee. Please note, club will be closed during school Summer holidays. Fit 4 Fun—Throughout 2010, Fit 4 Fun will be staging a host of FREE healthy living events in schools and in the general community. Visit the Fit 4 Fun pages of our website for more details. For more information about all of our events and clubs, contact us on 01554 757599 or visit our website.
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STAFF IN FOCUS
HOWARD PIKE—CYCA MAINTENANCE OFFICER How long have you worked for CYCA? Three and a half years, and it‟s flown by! What do you enjoy most about your job? The variation in the tasks needed to do be done—every day is different. Also the gardening project with all the nursery children. What’s the first thing you do when you get in to work in the morning? Prepare the centre for staff and children and plan my working day by prioritising tasks. What do you do to relax after a long hard day at work? I enjoy playing golf, gardening and fishing. I also have a season ticket for the Scarlets. What are your plans for the rest of the year? To continue to improve the centre. Have you got any holidays planned? More visits to sunny Spain!! CONTACT US For more information about CYCA and all of our services and projects get in touch with us on 01554 757599, email suport@cycaonline.org, visit our website www.cycaonline.org, or call in to see us at Dewi Sant Centre, Nevill Street, Llanelli, SA15 2RS.
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SUMMER 2010
OUR FUNDERS
This newsletter was designed by our Marketing Officer, Matthew Newbold. If you would like to use his services at a very competitive rate for the production of any promotional material or for any other marketing related activity, please get in touch with us now on 01554 757599 or email Matthew direct at matthew@cycaonline.org www.cycaonline.org
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