Community groups in Ely and Caerau including Communities First and ACE (Action in Caerau) have teamed up with South Wales Police and Cardiff Council to launch a new project called Community Pride.
The project was officially launched at the Church of the Resurrection on Grand Avenue, Ely, yesterday (Thursday), with a large turnout attending to help kick the scheme into action.
Community Pride aims to get members of Ely and Caerau actively involved in helping clean up the local area and focus on quality of life issues such as litter and dog fouling.
The scheme is a holistic approach to tidying up Ely and Caerau and involves mobilising residents into volunteering to help in return for time credits, a currency which can exchanged for activities within the area.
Dave Horton, a community development worker at Communities First, has been one of the driving forces behind the project and is glad to see it get off the ground: “The majority of PACT meetings we have had in Ely and Caerau in the past have been focused on issues regarding anti-social behaviour.
“However recently levels of anti-social crime have been much lower and this has enabled us to concentrate on quality of life issues. We have finally been able to mobilise the community and deal with problems such as dog fouling.” He said.
Ely councillor Jim Murphy has welcomed the project, he said: “The scheme is all about community involvement and instilling a sense of pride in Ely and Caerau.
“ACE and Communities First, alongside the police, will be able to make a real difference tackling issues such as dog fouling, littering and graffiti.”
Those who get involved in the project will be rewarded with time credits under an initiative launched by Spice Innovations alongside ACE.
Anne-Marie Laurence, who works for Spice, said: “Time credits are essentially a community currency which residents receive for volunteering in their local area and can then exchange for activities.
“The aim is to get communities to be self-sufficient, and by putting something into their community people receive things such as theatre tickets, fun-days and fishing trips in return.
The next Community Pride event, the second initial litter-pick, takes place on April 15 at Ely Babtist Church at 10pm.
