The award-winning Lewis Partnership is playing a key role in the £2million refurbishment of Llanelli’s Coleshill Social Centre.
The centre is being transformed into an innovative ‘one stop shop’ for disabled and disadvantaged people.
“This is a very exciting project for Llanelli and we are very proud to be associated with it,” said Philip Lewis, managing director of the Lewis Partnership.
“As the architects for the project, we are closely involved with delivering the vision for the centre.
“When it is complete, it will be called a ‘centre for economic inclusion’.
“But that only goes a part of the way to describing the work which will go on there,
“It will play a huge part in helping disabled and disadvantaged people to live independent lives.”
Building work is progressing swiftly at the site on the edge of Llanelli’s People’s Park and should be completed by the end of May.
Mr Lewis added: “This is a very innovative project for Llanelli involving all sorts of partnerships and the centre will be a great asset for Llanelli for years to come.”
The new centre will be run by a committee drawn from all groups of people involved, with help from staff and volunteers.
It will provide all kinds of help, advice and information. Support will be available to improve people’s access to health improvement, training and employment, along with opportunities to socialise with other people.
It will also enable people to learn the skills necessary to create and run small-scale businesses.
The refurbishment work includes –
• Establishment of a one-stop Information shop
• Fully neworked IT suite with wireless hubs across the building
• Fully refurbished and equipped kitchen with adapted / disability friendly features
• Fully equipped woodwork workshop
• Demonstration area for daily living equipment
• Exemplar bathroom and toilet facilities
• Totally modernised and highly fuel efficient central heating system
• UPVC double glazed windows
• Training rooms for let
• Fully equipped pottery training facility with a working kiln
• A gym facility adapted for disabled people
The project is jointly funded through the Carmarthenshire County Council’s capital grant programme and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Previously, the Coleshill centre predominantly supported adults with physical disabilities and older people.
On completion, it will attract younger physically disabled people, and a wider group of disadvantaged people including people with learning disabilities and others.
The new Coleshill will continue to provide social, networking and peer support, but will also provide training facilities.
The aim is to improve the social and economic prospects of people who have been unable to find and retain employment or training for a long time due to longstanding ill-health or other severe disabilities.
Dr Brickchand Ramruttun, Carmarthenshire Health and Wellbeing Partnership manager, who help mastermind the bid for funding, said: “The vision for the new Coleshill Centre is that it will have something for all working-age adults to get the necessary help and support they need to sustain independent living, including work and training. The best thing about it is that it will be run by a committee made up of local people, representing disability groups and other interested parties.”
The users of Coleshill day centre, along with staff and volunteers, have been relocated during the transformation.
Cllr Pat Jones, Carmarthenshire County Council’s executive board member for health and social care, said: “This heralds a significant step forward in the range of support services we are able to offer to people who face barriers to training and employment.
”We have met with Coleshill’s current service users, and they are looking forward to the future, having had an explanation of the kind of facilities they will see on their return to Coleshill.”
Some of the activities at the new Coleshill centre will be part-funded from the 2007-2013 Convergence Programme, European Social Fund (ESF) for the approved Collaborative Regional Creating Opportunities and Skills Teams Alliance (COASTAL) project across six local authorities in the West Wales region.
For more information visit http://www.lewispartnership.co.uk
