My family and I enjoyed another fantastic North Wales Blues and Soul Festival in Mold. This top class event deserves wide promotion and support.
I spent a busy ‘Housing Matters Wales Campaign’ Day of Action visiting homelessness and housing related support services in North Wales. Ten national housing and support organisations in Wales have joined forces and called on the Welsh Government to safeguard homelessness and housing-related support services for over 60,000 of the most vulnerable people in Wales by creating a ring-fenced grant.
It was a privilege to visit Clwyd Alyn Housing Association (CAHA) Women’s Aid in Flintshire, supporting women and children who need to escape from domestic abuse, CAHA’s Greenbank Villas in Flint, supporting homeless adults, CAHA’s Isallt Project in Llandudno, supporting homeless young people, and CAHA’s Norfolk House Project in Colwyn Bay, supporting homeless adults who have issues with substance misuse.
The Supporting People Programme has been a ring-fenced grant for years, meaning that local authorities have had to spend their allocation on homelessness and housing-related support services which help people in crisis to move on with their lives. However, the Welsh Government is threatening to remove the existing ring-fence - and therefore the guarantee that this funding is spent on these services. If funding goes elsewhere it will be dwarfed by the millions added to the cost of public services as they pick up the pieces.
It was a real pleasure to attend Wrexham Playday 2018, supporting Children’s Right to Play and highlighting the importance of positive attitudes towards playing children. Wrexham once again celebrated National Playday with an event on Queen Square and the Guildhall field. Gratitude is owed to everyone who contributed, bringing fun and happiness to so many children.
I attended the AGM in Rhyl of Community Transport provider Dial A Ride (Denbighshire) Ltd, a charity providing accessible, door-to-door transport for disabled people who find it difficult to access public transport. A big thank you is owed to everyone involved, with particular thanks to outgoing Chairman Barrie Scholfield and best wishes to incoming Chairman Duncan Stewart.
Data obtained from the Welsh Government Education Secretary reveals that Children with ALN (Additional Learning Needs) are being significantly over-represented in permanent and fixed term exclusions from Wales’ schools. Behind its rhetoric, the Welsh Government has failed to ensure pupil-centred support, exposing the need for an urgent overhaul which recognises that the behaviour of ALN pupils is often dictated by their condition, not choice.
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