CYCA WINTER CYCA WINTER CYCA WINTER NEWSLETTERNEWSLETTERNEWSLETTER

201120112011

www.cycaonline.org

INTRODUCTION

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Christmas is a time of reflection, particularly for those of us who are parents,

wanting to make children feel special and loved. This year CYCA and CYCA Wales Limited have reached out to

hundreds of children and their families, many who have been experiencing some difficult times. The staff continue to work

tirelessly to provide care and support in all our settings from babies through to young adults. The Trustee board also continue to promote our services and provide free advice and expertise when needed. Our mentoring programme for Looked After Children has been particularly

successful enabling the young people to receive some special time with an adult who can provide emotional support.

We can not continue this work without help from funders and are

especially grateful to those who have provided such this year. Local businesses have donated gifts for families so we can ensure that none

of our children are forgotten. We are delighted that Mike Doyle has agreed to be our Ambassador next year who will be a positive role model for our young people and has agreed to provide a

fundraising event for us in October which will help raise much needed funds.

2012 will continue to bring new challenges but as always we are seeking to

extend our services to those feeling vulnerable, by offering internet and e mail support provided by a

team of skilled practitioners.

My heartfelt thanks to everyone who continues to use our services and help our Charities provide the highest quality of

expertise and support. Our work is now extending beyond Carmarthenshire to other parts of Wales recognising the

innovative projects and training we deliver.

A Happy Christmas and Healthy New Year. Nadolig Llawen

a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda.

Manager

CYCA & CYCA Wales Limited

Tracy Pike

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CONTENTS

WINTER 2011

3—4 NEWS ROUNDUP 5—6 TEDDYBEARS NURSERY 7—8 JELLITOTZ NURSERY 9—10 LITTLE SERAPHS NURSERY 11—12 YOUTH & FAMILIES IN CRISIS 13—14 FIT 4 FUN 15—16 STAFF IN FOCUS

NEWSROUND

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Mike Doyle to become CYCA Ambassador

Local comedian and singer Mike Doyle has agreed to become an ambassador for CYCA. Manager Tracy Pike is

delighted with the news "We are absolutely delighted that as we come to the end of our 30th year as a Charity the very talented Mike Doyle has agreed to be our Ambassador. Mike will be a

wonderful role model for all the young people who use our services and especially since he was born in Carmarthenshire.” Mike himself stated "I am delighted to be the new Ambassador for CYCA , a very worthy Charity that does outstanding work in my home County of Carmarthenshire. I am looking forward to

learning more about all the work they do over the coming year.”

As part of his ambassadorial role, the talented performer will host a CYCA Ball on Friday the 5th October at the

Diplomat hotel in Llanelli. More information will feature on website closer to the time.

2011, saw us celebrate our 30 year anniversary

and we marked the occasion with a Llanelli‟s Got

Talent event in September at the Diplomat Hotel. Tens

of young people took part in auditions throughout the day

and 12 finalists were chosen to perform in the evening

showcase event. As well as the competition, we also ran a

sports auction and raffle. Overall, over £3,000 was raised,

which will go someway in helping us retain some

valuable services for local children and their families. We are

grateful for everyone who supported the event and we

would like to say a special thank you to Dominos Pizza

for helping us arrange the event, the Diplomat Hotel

for donating the venue for the day and to Helen

Enser Morgan for hosting the event.

£3000 raised in 30 year anniversary fundraiser

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WINTER 2011

New support club for young people opens

Thanks to support from both Children In Need and

Carmarthenshire County Council, we have set up a new

early intervention mentoring club for young people who are

in need of emotional support. Running since September, the

club is held at our Training Centre, The Palms and is targeted at

11-13 year olds. As well as the emotional support and guidance

offered by our highly skilled mentors, the young people have the

opportunity to take part in a range of activities, including cookery

classes, debates, arts and crafts, digital media projects and life

skill work. The young people also receive regular sessions from

our holistic therapist who performs a variety of

relaxation techniques and can also achieve an ASDAN

accreditation through the work they do on a weekly

basis.

Goodbye to CYCA Staff

During this period we have had to say goodbye

to two valued members of staff. John

Collard who worked with us for nearly 3 years as a

vital member of the Fit 4 Fun team, left at the end of

September to take up a new role with CBSA for

Business and Social Action. Also Liz Bell will be leaving us

at the end of December to start a Masters Degree in

Birmingham University. Liz has been working with us for

over a year on a number of projects and services; as

administration support on the Fit 4 Fun project, as a

Mentor as part of our work with looked after children and

as a support worker in our youth club.

Both John and Liz will be missed by everyone, and

we wish them every success in the future.

TEDDYBEARS

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The past few months has been very busy at Teddybears, as children and staff have taken

part in many special activities.

As December arrived, the children and staff began their Christmas celebrations. Children have been busy

making decorations, posting cards and parcels in the nursery post office, enjoying role play as Santa and Rudolph and also learning about Christmas through

small world play with the Nativity.

At the beginning of the month, Teddybears staged their special Christmas concert and raised £55.00 to help

buy resources for the nursery. Parents and guardians came along and were treated to a fabulous festive

show. They also held a free raffle to win a Christmas mouse.

With the help of Flying Start , the nursery was able to stage a free trip for

parents and children to Gelli Aur Country Park to see Santa and his reindeers.

Everyone enjoyed and the children were treated to some special Christmas

presents from Santa himself.

The end of term was celebrated with a special Christmas party for the children,

as they say goodbye to those who are leaving to move on to „big‟ school!

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WINTER 2011

JELLITOTZ

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This has been a very busy period for all the children and staff at Jellitotz as they held many special activities to

celebrate various occasions.

For Halloween and Bonfire Night, the children dressed up and took part in a variety of art & craft activities.

To raise money for children in need, everyone took part in a sponsored

Toddle Waddle with support of family and friends, stopping off at the Flying Start office and the local community Police Station. They also made

spotty cakes to sell and decorated the nursery with hundreds of spots.

As winter came, nursery staff members Jo Williams and Julie Bates created a magical winter wonderland for the children to enjoy by having

Christmas and winter stories and making treasure boxes.

The children also made Christmas trees using their hands, twinkly stars to decorate the nursery Christmas tree and chocolate truffles. They also

enjoyed a fun day whilst playing with glitter, playdough, glitter water and sand., as they truly put the „sparkle‟ into the festive season!

The Nativity play took place in December where guests included

include Cllr John Jones and CYCA chairperson Pam Edmunds, as well as all the parents and guardians.

The children continue to enjoy Tatty Bumpkins yoga with

Jean every Monday and are now also doing Busy

Feet physical activity everyday.

WINTER 2011

LITTLE SERAPHS

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The children and staff have had a busy time this term so far, as there have been many special dates and themes to celebrate, as well as a new scheme

implemented at the nursery.

Throughout the term the nursery have celebrated many events. For Bonfire Night, the children created their own firework pictures and

learnt about how to be safe and the dangers of fireworks. For Children in Need, the nursery had a week of activities based on a

theme “spotty dotty”, being creative with circles making a collage, Pudsey and Blush masks, “spotty” cakes as well as a sponsored

“toggle” raising money for a worthwhile cause. In total, £144.80 was raised—well done everyone for their kind donations.

There has been lots of fun had by the children, staff and parents being involved in various activities, creating different crafts and learning and

developing new skills.

Another project introduced to the children was “Busy Feet”, which through songs, exercises and activities the children have been

learning how to look after themselves and have lots of fun!

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WINTER 2011

The nursery has various themes throughout the term. They

have recently created an Autumn dis-play, learning what happens to the trees and different animals including hedgehogs. In the

build up to Christmas, the children have taken part in Christmas crafts, decorating the nursery in preparation for the Christmas fete. This proved to be a special day

where the children and their families can visited the nursery and the children entertained everyone by singing Christmas

Carols.

Little Seraphs continues to run crèche facilities alongside the main nursery, working alongside Community First, Genesis

and West Wales Chambers projects

The nursery continues to grow in numbers. Children

attending the baby unit (under 2‟s ) is full and the

over 2‟s section has good numbers too. Five

children will be leaving to start “big

school” in the New Year.

YOUTH

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This has been a very busy period for our youth drop in centre. Running

twice a week throughout autumn and winter, the centre has come on leaps and bounds with the aid of its highly skilled and motivated youth team.

The drop in centre is sustaining a considerably high

participation level every week with young people eager to get involved in the development of activities. This period has seen the attendance level shoot up where young people are taking

advantage of our excellent facilities, as we offer a safe warm place for over fifty different young people per week.

The centre has staged a variety of themed activity nights including movie nights, cooking workshops and a Halloween

party. The team also arranged a variety of fundraising activities for Children In Need.

The facilities at the centre currently included a new

pool table, table tennis, cooking workshops and communal areas to relax

and enjoy with peers.

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WINTER 2011

Throughout this period, the Families in Crisis team have been extremely busy, which

demonstrates the demand for service. They continue to develop their vital service throughout the County and to date,

the project has worked with 70 families, supporting adults, children, couples and families with their emotional,

psychological and practical issues.

During this period there has been a particularly increase in the support needed for debt issues. Referral to Solicitors Tŷ Arian

has also been on the increase. The team are increasingly recognising how stressful and emotionally worrying debt issues

can be for families, offering practical advice and emotional support for the worry and anxiety debt can cause. The team

aim to reduce this stress and worry by offering support via counselling and practical support.

Also the team has obtained a number of Christmas secret Santa gifts

which they will give to the most vulnerable families. A big thank you to Glenda Davies from

Marks and Spencer in Trostre, who works tirelessly with her colleagues, family and friends to make sure children

and young people in Llanelli receive gifts at Christmas. Without her support the team could not help these families.

Also during this time, there has been a major increase in the

referrals for mentoring support for young people and their families.

Project Case Manager, Vanessa Evans would like to thank all the Families in Crisis team members for all the hard work and enthusiasm they have shown over the last year to ensure a

unique, successful and essential service has been delivered. Also a special welcome to new team member, student counsellor, Zenas Cooper. Merry Christmas to

all of the team, CYCA staff and to the families we work with.

FAMILIES IN CRISIS

FIT 4 FUN

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This period saw the end of our Big Lottery funded project, Fit 4 Fun. Since 2009,

the Fit 4 Fun team has been working with children and their families across Carmarthenshire raising their awareness of the importance of healthy

eating and physical activity and offering them a host of fun and exciting activities to take part in.

The last few months has seen the team complete their work with schools in Carmarthen and Llanelli, by staging Healthy

Cooking workshops in both Rhydygors School and Stebonheath Primary School, and Winter Gardening

workshops in Myrddin Primary School. There was also the opportunity to work with Bryngwyn Secondary School as the team staged two activity days with

transition age children who visited the school from local primary schools.

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WINTER 2011

To celebrate the work and achievements of the project over the

past 3 years, the team staged a special Fit 4 Fun celebration event in Carmarthen

Leisure Centre, where hundreds of children throughout the county were treated to a

number of free activities including Swimming, Water Polo, Snorkelling, Aqua Course, Gymnastics, Trampoline, Street Dance, Circus Skills, Cooking, Climbing,

Badmington, Table Tennis, Squash, Martial Arts, Karate, Tatty Bumpkin Yoga, Gym

Tots, and Dance Tots.

Over the course of the 3 years, Fit 4 Fun has staged 77 small events and 17 large events

across the County. Of these small events, 660 individual activity sessions have taken place, which

3026 children have taken part in. As well as the Fit 4 Fun activities, the team devised and implemented a

host of innovative schemes to help raise children‟s awareness of the importance of healthy eating and

physical activity, which have included developing Fit 4 Fun Interactive Online Games, as well as fun and

educational Information Packs.

Fit 4 Fun activities will still be available to schools and community groups, however there will be a charge for

the sessions. For more information contact Matthew Newbold on 01554 757599 or email

matthew@cycaonline.org

STAFF IN FOCUS

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1.How long have you worked for CYCA? I have worked for CYCA part time „on and off‟ and also

between University since the age of 17 (5 years).

2. What’s the best thing about your job? I get to engage with a lot of young people. Also every day can be different.

3. What’s the first thing you do when you get to work in the morning?

Put the kettle on and eat porridge at my desk!

4. What do you do to relax after a long hard day in the office? Most nights I go to the gym.

5. What are you hoping Santa will bring you this year?

Free rent!!!

6. What has been the highlight for you in 2010? The completion of the young farmers digital enterprise project.

7. Do you have any New Year’s resolutions?

Get in amazing shape in the gym!

8. What are you looking forward to most in 2012? Progress with the Police keep developing our youth drop in

centre.

Jamie Pike Youth Development Officer

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WINTER 2011

OUR FUNDERS

CONTACT US

For more information about CYCA and all of our services get

in touch with us on 01554 757599, email cyca@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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