Community Focused Schools

There are two High Schools (Penydre & Bishop Hedley) and four Junior schools (Goetre, St Aloysius, Gwaunfarren & Gellifaelog) that are within the area that the 3G's work. The 3G's have formed close links with these schools and work with them on a daily basis, helping them find funding, improve the schools facilities, activities and just top help and support in any way possible.

We also work closely with Merthyr Council to develop the High Schools as community focused schools, helping them develop facilities that all the community can use. Recently we have helped secure £15,000 in funding for Penydre to improve their drama facilities, and over the past 2 years we have worked with Bishop Hedley to improve their facilities, bringing in over £50k worth of funding on various projects and facilities. These facilities include, a dance studio, small theatre lighting and PA, recording studio & PC recording.

Currently we are working with Bishop Hedley to develop the school further, these facilities will then have - Dance Studio, Theatre, Outdoor Learning, Community Library, Industry Level Recording Studio, Editing suite, multi media centre, community radio station, Hospitality training.

School Uniform Re-Cycling Project

3G's Development Trust in partnership with Hafal are operating a School Uniform Recycling Project. Unwanted / outgrown items of school uniform are taken to the participating schools (Gwaunfarren, Gellifaelog, St Aloysius and Goetre) where there is a designated recycling corner. The items are collected and taken to Hafal in Pant, where service users professionally launder them and bag them in size and school order, they look like brand new and are taken back to the school where parents / carers can purchase each item for just 25p! This cost is purely to cover the packaging and washing powder, it is a totally non-profit scheme for the benefit of the community. For further information contact Cheryl Hagerty on 385303.

Street & Break Dancing

Over the last 3 years the 3G's have held weekly dance lessons, these take place every Monday between 3.30pm and 6.30pm in our Dance Studio at Bishop Hedley High School. This is open to all from ages 7 and up. The lessons are taught by Liara Williams of Jukebox in Cardiff, who has teaches the current UK Hip Hop Champions, the 3G's dance team, Jukebox Kinetics practice here and are selected from the people who come to practice. The classes are currently free, if you would like to join or would like to more information please contact Lee on 01685 385303 lee.davies@3gs.org.uk

3G's Community Choir

The 3G's Choir practices out of Bishop Hedley school every week, and are made up of young people from the local community. The choir has been entering events over the last year, these include, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Castle and recently worked with the Welsh National Opera and performed before the opening night of their Opera Onegin at the Wales Millennium Centre. The choir have recently entered the BBC competition to find Britain's favourite choir. If you would like to join or would like to know more information please contact Lee on 01685 385303 lee.davies@3gs.org.uk.

Belly Dancing

Over the last year the 3G's have held weekly belly dance lessons, these take place every Monday between 7pm and 9pm in our Dance Studio at Bishop Hedley High School. If you would like to join or would like to know more information please contact Lee on 01685 385303 lee.davies@3gs.org.uk.

Songwriting / Recording

The 3G's are keen to develop the talents of people within the community and have found one of the best ways to do this is through songwriting and recording. We run regular songwriting and recording classes. If you would like to join or would like to know more information please contact Lee on 01685 385303 lee.davies@3gs.org.uk.

Singing and Drama

The 3G's have a great reputation for putting on excellent community shows, such as - Pop Idol, Moments in Time, Dic Penderyn, X Factor the Pantomime, and run weekly singing and drama classes. The next event is the history of Merthyr project, entitled 'Iron & Steal', this project will teach young people skills such as script writing, film making, editing, performance. The project will also teach them about the rich history that Merthyr has, and from this we will produce a education pack for the local community to view, plus a drama production based on what they have learnt. This project is funded by the Heritage Lottery and is in partnership with Merthyr Media and Cyfartha Museum. If you would like to join or would like to know more information please contact Lee on 01685 385303 lee.davies@3gs.org.uk

Golf

Over the last 4 years we have taught weekly golf sessions at schools within the 3G's, we are currently working with children from Bishop Hedley and Gwaunfarren Primary schools. We are trained PGA Level 1 tutors and work along side the professionals at Morlais Castle Golf Club We are also working with Merthyr Council to re develop the Pitch & Putt course at Cyfarthfa Park, plus working with Morlais Castle to develop a Golf Academy. If you would like to know more information please contact Lee on 01685 385303 lee.davies@3gs.org.uk.

Cooking

We have just started Adult and young peoples cooking lessons at Bishop Hedley High School. If you would like to join or would like to know more information please contact Lee on 01685 385303 lee.davies@3gs.org.uk.

Art Projects

We have done many art projects around the 3G's and have just set up a Art group that can work in with the community to develop areas that have become run down and an eyesore. If you would like to join or would like to know more information please contact Lee on 01685 385303 lee.davies@3gs.org.uk.