Reel Progress

Reel Progress Timetable of Activities

Monday
Gellifaelog After School Club, Penydarren. Arts and Crafts Activities. 3pm-4.15pm
Busy Bees Family Centre, New Gurnos. Cinema Club. 4.30pm-6.30pm
Mount Pleasant School, Merthyr Vale. Cookery Club. 4.30pm-6.30pm

Tuesday
Galon Uchaf Residents Centre, Galon Uchaf. NVQ Support Group. 1.30pm-3pm
Goetre Infants School, Gurnos. Art and Craft Club. 3pm-4.15pm
Galon Uchaf Residents Centre, Galon Uchaf. Art and Craft Club/ Cinema Club. 3.30pm-5pm
Pen y dre High School, Gurnos. Swimming Club. 5pm-6.30pm

Wednesday
Busy Bees Family Centre, New Gurnos. Community Regeneration Degree Course. 10am-12pm
Kevin Ryan Court, Georgetown. OAP Cinema Club. 2pm-4pm
Gurnos Clinic, Old Gurnos. Cinema Club/ Games Night/ Cookery. 5pm-7pm

Thursday
OAP, Twyn. Cinema Club. TBA.
Goetre Junior School, Gurnos. After School Club. Free Play. 3pm-5pm

Friday
Gurnos Clinic, Old Gurnos. Volunteer Support. 12pm-2pm
Cyfarthfa High School, Merthyr Tydfil. Cinema Club. TBA

All our clubs are free and aimed at 5-11 year olds.

The Reel Progress Project delivers its service across the communities of the 3GS, as part of the development of the club we deliver our service in other Communities First Areas, and to encourage them to adopt the same project in their own area.

The Club is aimed at the younger members of the community, the 5 – 11 year old age group, many parents of our members have become active volunteers getting involved in delivering activities for the children, some of these volunteers have gone on to take part in training and education programmes which has resulted in them entering into employment.

The club started in July 2003 as a film club but developed into much more than the showing of films, it provides a platform from which to address wider community issues with the education of children such as healthy lifestyles, health and well being.

Local Schools
The project has formed close links with local schools within the area working in partnership to deliver after school clubs at Goetre Infants and Junior School, Aloysius and Gellifaelog school and outside the area at Mount Pleasant School, Merthyr Vale.

Activities Include:

• Film Shows
• Swimming
• Cookery
• Arts and Crafts
• Trips
• Media Projects
• History projects
• Special Effects make up training
• Adult Education and Training

Film Shows
Over the past year we have screened regular film shows for both children and senior citizens. The children enjoy watching all the latest releases and the senior citizens always like reminiscing over the golden oldies.

Swimming
As part of our get healthy living development plan we organised swimming lessons at Aberfan Leisure Centre. During the 16 week trial both children and adults improved their swimming skills and made new friends socialising in the café afterwards. We are currently using the pool at Penydre School where children are getting fit and can achieve swimming awards like their Duke of Edinburgh certificate.

Cookery
It is the aim of the project to raise awareness about healthy eating, we have organised ongoing cookery lessons to teach children how simple a healthy meal can be prepared and cooked. Children have learned about the importance of eating five a day and the possible health effects of eating high fat and high sugar diets. This has been a very successful project to do with the children with high numbers attending every week. Hopefully it will have long-term effects with choices they make around their diet.

We are taking children on the Cooking Bus on the 21st May to learn further facts around nutrition and diet.

Arts and Crafts
Arts and Crafts is always a fun activity to do with the children, however the adults enjoy it as much as the children do. We try to make these sessions useful to the children by tying in to subjects they are doing in school for example we have learned the history about the Egyptians with mask making and about the Romans, by making various artefacts of the time.

Trips
Our young members love going on trips to visit places of interest and we recently visited The Big Pit in Blaenavon. 38 children learnt about the history of mining, they were amazed at the conditions people had to endeavour working underground. We have been on several trips, but the most popular was when we took the children to the Cinema at Nant Garw, over half the children had never been inside a cinema before and all wanted to return as soon as we can.

Media Projects
At the start of this year volunteers and our young members wanted to make a film about our club, everybody took part and learnt lots of new skills together. It resulted in a brilliant film being made which won the Merthyr Media Best Community Spirit and Skills Award. The children were excited to learn more about media projects and in particular how special effects make up was done. So we took the children to the Muni Arts Centre in Pontypridd where a team of special effects makeup artists showed them how it was done.

Adult Education and Training
Children, staff and adults have attended First Aid training at the Gurnos Health and Resource Centre and Ystrad Mynach College. We deliver training and education to our young members in a fun and informal way through cookery, arts and crafts, history projects and educational trips. Our volunteers are currently doing NVQ level 3 in childcare and a degree in Community Regeneration, we run support sessions for the course work where we help on another through the modules.

It anyone is interested in taking part in the Reel Progress Project please contact Pam, Sue or Emma on 01685 359999.