Small grants for community groups and money for benches, fencing and fresh paint are being looked at by the board spending £20m across north Swansea.
The North Gate Swansea Pride in Place board says its first staff are on the way, and it has set a date for residents to come and meet it.
The programme covers Dyfatty, Hafod, Waun Wen, Brynmelyn, North Hill and the upper end of High Street, with £20m of UK Government money to spend over ten years.
Give to Gain: small grants for community groups
Under a scheme called Give to Gain, the board is exploring small grants for community groups and organisations it says are “already doing brilliant things”.
The grants would also give board members a way to come alongside those groups and “listen and learn from the people they serve”, the board says.
Lift Up Fund: painting, fencing, signs and benches
A second pot, the Lift Up Fund, would pay for small improvements to community spaces.
The board lists painting, fencing, signage and benches among the “practical projects that could make a real difference”.
No amounts or dates have been given for either scheme yet. More details will follow “over the coming weeks and months”, the board says.
Three staff to be employed through Swansea Council
The board is recruiting a programme lead, a full-time programme officer and a part-time programme officer, and hopes they will be in post within the next month or so.
They will be employed through Swansea Council but led closely by the chair and board, it says. The three will be named once they are appointed.
Meet the board at North Hill Community Gardens and the Farmers Arms
People from North Hill and the neighbourhoods around it can meet several board members on Friday 13 November, between 2pm and 4pm.
The drop-in is at North Hill Community Gardens and The Farmers Arms, with food on offer and a chance to share ideas.
The board’s website and email are back up and running, at northgateswanseapip.co.uk and hello@northgateswanseapip.co.uk.
The Matthew’s House chair and four local residents steering £20m
The board’s latest meeting was held in the Harbour Room at Matthew’s House, the High Street charity co-founded by its chair.
Thom Lynch was named chair in June, with building the board itself as his first job.
Four local residents joined him in August, among them Hafod Primary School headteacher Timm Dadds and Heather Allen, a Brynmelyn volunteer of more than 30 years.
The board’s work runs alongside Building a Better Dyfatty, which pairs regeneration with a police crackdown on serious and organised crime.
North Gate is one of three £20m Pride in Place areas locally, alongside Llanelli and the Upper Afan Valley.
In the Afan Valley, the board has been sending a survey to every household asking how its £20m should be spent, with forms due back by 31 October.
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