The Mayor and Leader of Wrexham Council recently paid a visit to a local social enterprise to recognise and celebrate a prestigious award they received.
Glyn Wyfla, which is based in Chirk near the Chirk Aqueduct (part of the World Heritage Site), began trading as a social enterprise hub back in 2013 and has been going from strength to strength over the past nine years.
Starting from scratch
The original building was once a private house built in 1899 which had been stood empty and in a state of disrepair. A team got together and created a business plan to take to the board at Wrexham Council with their vision for the site. The council backed the project and gave it the green light.
After securing funding from the lottery, the team set about obtaining the house with its grounds and began the renovation of the site.
The site now boasts an 80-seater café with a newly added outdoor gazebo seating area while the house itself is now used as commercial offices for eleven local companies who have created 30 jobs collectively.
All profits made from Glyn Wylfa are either put back into improving the building and services further or funding the local charity groups in the area. This includes groups such as the youth football team, bowling and cricket clubs, to Nightingale House Hospice and Hope House plus many more.
Hard work paying off
The hard work and dedication from all involved in making Glyn Wylfa has paid off and has been recognised many times.
For the past two consecutive years, Glyn Wylfa has made it to the Natwest Top 100 Social Enterprises in the UK list. They were finalists in the Welsh Social Enterprise Awards which was where they were put forward for the UK Social Enterprise Awards 2021.
Finance and Operations Director for Glyn Wylfa, Brian Colley was invited down to the Guildhall in London for the awards where they found tremendous success. It was here that Glyn Wylfa were the winners of the UK Social Enterprise Awards 2021 – Category 13 – Transformative Community Business award.
Mr Colley said: “We owe our success to our amazing employees and our fantastic manager, Chris who has been with us for five years now. A huge thanks to our voluntary directors who give up so much of their time to help us and a big thanks to Wrexham County Borough Council and the wonderful community of Chirk. We really do have a great community and it’s a pleasure to be a part of”.
Mick Ramsey, Chairman of Glyn Wylfa Limited said: “ The success we’ve achieved is far beyond anything we anticipated at the start of this project which is fantastic. It’s superb for the community and we receive great support from the people of Chirk. We’re very pleased with all we’ve achieved”.
The guided tour
The Mayor of Wrexham, Councillor Ronnie Prince and the Leader of the Council, Councillor Mark Pritchard, paid Glyn Wylfa a visit to thank them for their continued work in the community and to congratulate them on their award win.
During the visit, they got to meet members of staff and see what goes on. Councillor Terry Evans was also in attendance who said: “This is something myself and former councillor and Mayor, Ian Roberts, fought for. We had a vision for a community hub and we got local people in to come and help run the show.
“The success is absolutely phenomenal. They’ve gone from strength to strength and put money back into the building to keep improving and also into the community for a positive difference. I’m thrilled to bits and so proud of what has come of Glyn Wylfa”.
After taking in all the different elements that bring the community hub together, Councillor Mark Pritchard said: “Can I firstly congratulate everyone on the success of obtaining and renovating the building for community use. It has been a very successful community partnership between themselves and Wrexham County Borough Council.
“I’m delighted and pleased to be here to celebrate their great achievement on winning the award and seeing the excellent work that goes on here. I would like to thank and congratulate the organisation for working tirelessly with commitment and dedication to fulfil all their goals.”
“I’d also like to thank Brian and Mike for their guided tour of this wonderful place. It was great to see such good work in the community first hand”.
The Mayor was very impressed to see what goes on in the day-to-day operations of Glyn Wylfa and said: “It has been marvellous to come here today to meet the amazing staff that work so hard to bring such a positive impact to the community and celebrate their well-deserved award win.
“I’ve had a look around and the work that goes on and has gone into this project is outstanding. I look forward to being a frequent visitor in the future”.
