Towyn and Kinmel Bay Town Council secures £67,262 from the UK Government Community Renewal Fund to strengthen Community Connections and develop a Community Place Plan for the area
The Community Connections Project is funded by the UK Government through the UK Community Renewal Fund which aims to support people and communities most in need across the UK to pilot programmes and new approaches in preparation for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The Fund invests in skills, community and place, local business, and supporting people into employment.
The funding is being used to strengthen community connections in Towyn and Kinmel Bay and develop a Community Place Plan for the area with the active participation of its residents and visitors which stands the test of future generations and has the support of young people.
Councillor Kay Redhead, Mayor of Towyn & Kinmel Bay Town Council says:
“We are delighted to be one of the projects to secure funding from the UK Government’s Community Renewal Fund. The Community Connections Project is reaching out to the community – voluntary and community groups, local businesses, residents and visitors. We will be running a postcard campaign, inviting people to tell us what they love about Towyn and Kinmel Bay, how it can be improved and what their hopes for the future are. From this we hope to really engage people in developing solutions and priorities that will form our Place Plan for the area. From 1 March, we will also be actively seeking expressions of interest from local people to join the TKBVOICE Community Partnership that will guide the development of this Place Plan, as we recognise that this needs to be community led.”
Chris Jones, from Chris Jones Regeneration is leading on the development of the Place Plan with a team of place experts. The project will benefit from Chris’s wealth of experience with him involved in the development of Abergele’s Place Plan so he knows the area well and will ensure the vision complements the broader area.
Chris says:
“We always recognise the responsibility we have when we work alongside a community like Towyn and Kinmel Bay, so that local residents and groups shape their place that brings about well-being now and in the future. The Plan will help people understand where TKB wants to be, identify a common ground for working together and attracting funding for all types of projects.”
Helen Wilkinson, from Wilkinson Bytes Consultancy, is leading on community engagement for the project. Educated in Mold, North Wales Helen returned to North Wales in 2010. Her first visit to Towyn and Kinmel Bay was as a baby and then again as a toddler, when she and her family stayed in Browns Holiday Camp. (They were living in Liverpool at the time). She is delighted to have the chance to work with local people and regular visitors to listen to their views about its future.
Helen says:
“My role is to build confidence, and self sufficiency among the community, making myself redundant by the end of June when the project comes to an end with the TKBVOICE Community Partnership in place, a Place Plan which has been developed in partnership with local people, with input from visitors to the area and hopefully everyone energised and ready for action.”
A grass roots poster campaign and leaflet drop by councillors and volunteers is planned in March to generate awareness, ensuring that information about the project is widely known and that the initiative reaches older people, those who are housebound, and those at risk of social isolation and digital exclusion. The postcards and information about the project will be made available in community information points. Information about the project will also be promoted by other Towyn and Kinmel Bay facebook groups, like Towyn Talk, Kinmel Bay News and Views and Welcome Back to Towyn North Wales who are all giving their support to the Project.
Helen is looking for more volunteers – people who can help get the message out and can support the leaflet campaign and engagement events around the development of the Community Plan. It’s a great opportunity for people to learn skills and meet people (social media, website and good old fashioned community development and public relations).
Helen can be reached via email info@tkbvoice.wales or mobile 07713 997 075. She is happy to pop in to coffee mornings, meetings, other social activities and community and business venues to listen to people’s ideas and get people involved. Please get in contact and book her up.
This grass roots outreach campaign will be supported by a fun, friendly and engaging interactive website, www.tkbvoice.wales, a community website updating people on the project, news, and ideas which will be launched at the end of March. The launch video is available on the TKBVOICE’s You Tube channel, and will be shared widely on social media.
The project will also be deploying and using an innovative digital application, Create Communities, which will be a Welsh first, with the potential to reach people who visit TKB and stay in TKB for holidays at Easter, and as summer approaches or are thinking about visiting as well as appealing to local people, especially the young. The learning from this will be shared well beyond TKB.
Kay Redhead, Mayor of Towyn and Kinmel Bay Town Council says:
“The holding page for the new website, www.TKBVoice.Wales, is already available so sign up to be kept informed as this exciting initiative progresses, follow our socials to take part in the conversation, share information about the project with friends, family, neighbours and your local community and get in touch with Helen to find out more. This is a great opportunity for us all to come together and celebrate what we love about Towyn and Kjnmel Bay and the things we want to improve. Our second TKBVOICE #WednesdayWellbeing Walk and Talk will be on Wednesday 2 March. We are meeting at the Community Resource Centre, The Square, off Foryd Road at 10am and will walk and talk, for a couple of hours. The aim is to make connections, spark conversations and energise each other. Think of it as rambling with purpose.”
Notes for Editors:
Press and media enquiries
Helen Wilkinson, Wilkinson Bytes Consultancy for information on the community engagement campaign - info@tkbvoice.com; 07713 997 075
About the UK Community Renewal Fund
The UK Community Renewal Fund is a UK Government programme for 2021/22. This aims to support people and communities most in need across the UK to pilot programmes and new approaches to prepare for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. It invests in skills, community and place, local business, and supporting people into employment.
About TKBTC
Towyn and Kinmel Bay Town Council has 15 Councillors representing the two wards Towyn and Kinmel Bay which combine to a total of some 8,500 residents and rising to almost 50,000 visitors in the holiday season. Towyn and Kinmel Bay is situated between Rhyl, and Pensarn and Abergele on the North Wales coast.
Social media hashtags
Sign up to be kept informed - www.TKBVoice.Wales
Like or follow TKBVOICE socials, share, and retweet to friends and followers using the following hashtags.
#CommunityConnections #UKCOMMUNITYRENEWALFUND #TKBVoice #LOVETKB #WellbeingWednesday #TKBWalkandTalk #people #place #wellbeing #futuregenerations