RYAG
RHYL YOUTH ACTION GROUP

73 – 75 WELLINGTON RD

The first phase of the development involved:
Regeneration of a building in the centre of the West Rhyl ward in Denbighshire, which is one of the most deprived areas in Wales (WMID 2001) and also a priority area for Rhyl Going Forward, Denbighshire Council Regeneration Unit and Communities First amongst others.
This 250 year old; well known prominent local building had stood empty for more than 25 years on a key site in Rhyl. It is an eyesore; boarded up, run down, and semi derelict. The building stands on the main thoroughfare into the town centre from the county of Conwy . within the ward of West Rhyl, which covers both an extensive residential housing community, the promenade section with the majority of tourist attractions in the town, and also covers the town centre commercial community.
Hence the rundown appearance of the building has had a huge impact not only on the morale of the local residential community, but also the image and commercial prospects of the town. Its development benefits both the local community and the strategic prospects for the regeneration of Rhyl.
One of our main aims in developing this building has been to provide a high profile facility for the Rhyl City Strategy “Virtual Shop”. This is a joint project between local companies/employers, Working Links, Rhyl College, DWP, Job centre, WAG, LHB, local community groups and ourselves which aims to develop Rhyl as a regionally competitive business location, where the majority of residents are in work and making a positive contribution to the local economy.
Individuals will be able to fulfil their full potential – moving up the ladder of opportunity regardless of the point they enter. The project will consist of a virtual shop within the town which will give people of all ages the opportunity to train and learn all aspects of the retail trade.
Individuals will have the opportunity to train in a number of aspects of the retail business, namely; Cash Handling, Customer Service, Health and Safety, Manual Handling, Stock Control, Stock Rotation, IT Skills.  Linking local jobs with trained local people will be a fantastic opportunity for Rhyl residents and businesses.
The aim is that:

1. All those enrolling on the course will move into either employment or further education following the short course in the virtual shop. This process will be strongly supported by the Rhyl City Strategy through their strong links and extensive network of employers in the town.

2. The HUB will also house an arts and craft centre and shop. To develop this we are working in partnership with the Rhyl Create group (a partnership of existing arts & crafts groups) to house a training and taster session facility for people of all ages to get involved in arts and crafts. We believe strongly that the arts can help to engage sections of the community which are otherwise marginalized from participating in mainstream service provision.
Items created will be sold from a small shop front and income will be divided between all groups involved to help each move towards sustainability.  The shop will also provide valuable work experience for young people who will be supported, mentored and training by retired business owners

3. The construction work has provided a live work experience site for young people not in employment, education or training (NEETS) and Rhyl College construction students have been onsite to develop real work environment skills. Such hands on practical training have proven to be especially valuable in the engagement and development of disaffected young people, the value of this onsite learning towards the learning outcomes has been extremely valuable to the college.

4. Homeless accommodation will be developed on the second floor of the premises for youngsters in the community, which will be furnished by ourselves and managed/supported by Nacro Housing and North Wales Probation Service.   We aim to provide “stepping stone” accommodation to the homeless and provide them with training and mentor support while housed to move them into education or employment and then private housing so that we can reuse the facilities over and over.
Each flat will be pre-furnished and have a computer with internet access to enable users to search for jobs, create CV’s on our portal and undertake online training courses.  This project is being developed in partnership with Nacro and the Probation Service. All income from the project will be reinvested into RYAG to enable us to repay our loan arrangement with WAG and the WCVA.

5. Office space and a meeting room are being created to house and support the work of several key Partner Agencies involved in lessening youth unemployment in Rhyl. Very importantly, this includes the Princes Trust who have been a core partner helping us develop this project. Other organisations such as Want 2 Work, Remploy, Working Links, Secro are being engaged to achieve, a much more active role in Rhyl.

1 ELWY ST & 69 WELLINGTON RD

The second phase of the development involves:
Developing the premises at 1 Elwy Street & 69-71 Wellington Road into the second Phase of the HUB, creating a facility where a true one stop shop public service is available and significantly accessible. Organisations will work with a co-ordinated approach collectively and deliver singularly providing the most effective partnership approach to engagement.
The development will be built using local labour and provide further and enhanced skills, training, work experience and jobs in the area at a critical time for the Welsh and specifically construction industry.
Together with Rhyl College, James Cuthill Construction, Rhyl City Strategy, Princes Trust, North Wales Probation, Nacro, Rhyl Going Forward and other groups we will train and employ five NEETS through the life of the project and develop their capacity through intensive training and work experience, we will also continue our placement programme for Rhyl College construction skills and with the current financial market in mind, ensure we work closely with small local business’s.
The Facility, once complete, will house:
1. The first info-shop in Denbighshire ;

2. A HUB hot desking facility & meeting rooms for up to 30 agencies working collectively but delivering singularly;

3. A new Gwireddu digilab;

4. A focal point for the flexible New Deal;

5. Office space for National organisations working in Rhyl such as the Princes Trust, Want2Work, DVSC, WAG, OXFAM;

6. A basic skills training centre;

7. A static hub office for the SWRCF mobile project;

8. Training Facility for a new out of school programme we want to run in partnership with Rhyl High School.; and

9. A base for RYAG to run its own established projects

Through developing the second phase we want to :

1. Create a flagship regeneration project that can be highlighted across Wales as an example of sustainable community development which is evidence based and led by the needs of the community and supports the aims of the strategic regeneration area action plan.

2. Move closer to RYAG’s business plan goal of becoming the first youth group in Wales to be fully self financing and sustainable by generating income from renting office space, facilities and accommodation and again to market this approach across Wales;

3. Continue to support and be a part of the work undertaken by Rhyl City Strategy (RCS) that is bringing together groups in Rhyl and creating an unprecedented shift in attitudes towards partnership working. The project supports RCS aim of raising the employment rate in Rhyl by supporting the engagement of people without work and through the provision of training, particularly young people.

4. A project which is environmentally friendly and serves the needs of our local community today without jeopardising the opportunities of the community of tomorrow.

MEDEOR HOUSE B&B

The third phase of the development involves:
Working with Nacro Housing and North Wales Probation Service we plan to buy another building which is adjacent to our current premises to increase further our services to those who are disadvantaged in Rhyl and increase our sustainability.
Our main aim for this project is to ensure the long term sustainability of our group and all its projects by providing services that are identified and needed by local people that provide educational, social, leisure and capacity building for those involved. This will be achieved by generating income from providing housing to homeless young people in partnership with Nacro Housing and supporting people.
We will again develop the project using construction skills development which will create 8 apartments for Nacro’s client group, in what will by this time be a prime location for support services, leading to a wealth of support and guidance to those housed in the premises which we hope will then deliver fast and effective outcomes for the clients.
Our first stage application to the Big Lottery Fund has been accepted and we are currently developing the full application with the support of our partner agencies and a group called Tribal Consulting who have been appointed by the National lottery is supporting us in pulling the final pieces of documentation.
We are expecting a decision from the National Lottery in April 2009, if successful we will start work on the development in May with aspirations of having the premises occupied by October 2009.