Town Centre Wardens initiative improves local church grounds

St David's Church was grateful to receive support to revitalise their yard and garden area recently, with the help of Merthyr Tydfil CBC Town Centre Wardens and members of the community.

Whilst patrolling the town over the last few months, our dedicated Town Centre Wardens, funded by SPF (Shared Prosperity Fund) were receiving reports of antisocial behaviour taking place on the church grounds.

Unfortunately, this space is often visited by drug and alcohol users and had become a litter dumping spot, which is something everybody wants to stop. Our wardens saw this as a great opportunity to change the narrative.

Taking initiative, they engaged with community members, some of whom were regularly gathering on the church grounds, and asked them to make a positive change. Together, they worked hard to clear the vegetation and weeds, improving the space, and bringing it back into use for the church.

Community Warden Team Leader, Huw Wilson, said:
“We have listened to the community’s frustration around antisocial behaviour within our town centre. To combat this, we decided to engage with some of the individuals and offered them the chance to clear the vegetation in the rear of the church and community hall. We thought this was a great project to give back to the church, for the behaviour that had taken place, giving them something productive to focus on.

“Engaging with the individuals, we were able to work in partnership to clear the overgrown yard and now it has been transformed into a much-improved space that the church hall can make use of for future events.”

Councillor Michelle Symonds, Cabinet Member for Public Protection, said;
“I would like to extend my gratitude and thanks to our inspiring Town Centre Wardens. Their creative thinking and partnership working will make a huge difference to the church and is a great step in reducing anti-social behaviour in the town, as well as working with our communities to make positive, lasting improvements.”