A NUMBER of local community schemes could benefit from a share of a £60,000 funding pot seized from criminals.

The Your Community Your Choice scheme was launched to reward local schemes a share of the seized proceeds of crime in North Wales.

Up for grabs are three grants of up to £2,500 for groups in each of the six counties of North Wales and three grants of up to £5,000 for organisations working in three or more counties.

The grants are awarded based on the number of votes each project receives, with people able to vote here. 

Up for a share of the funding are several community projects in Flintshire and Wrexham.

Flintshire area nominees:

Penyffordd/Penymynydd War Memorial - Music Room Project

The Penyffordd & Penymynydd War Memorial Institute (WMI) building is a facility used regularly by many local organisations, catering for a wide range of interests and age groups. In recent years, the number of organisations offering music-based activities has increased markedly.

The grant is for a contribution towards the cost of purchasing and fitting out a shipping container to serve as a secure store. The key output from this secure storage project is that it then enables work to commence in re-purposing the garage as a music room. This project will enable the institute to create a permanent, dedicated music room for the community to use.

TAEKWONDO - Revival and Rebuilding of TAEKWONDO classes project

The project is aimed at supporting classes and providing, much needed equipment.

The project will be particularly focussing on the inclusive element and will enable the organisation to promote in the community the benefits of physical exercise through the medium of TAEKWONDO. The organisation hopes to return to Deeside Leisure Centre when it becomes available.

Castell Alun Colts - Youth Football Club project

The project is seeking funding for activity team building weekend, a month of professional football coaching and waterproof jackets for the team.

This will be through a program that includes sports coaching and a team building weekend whereby they intend to develop the members enabling them to build skills through participating in sport. The key areas which will be addressed are reinforcing values that develop members to help support their local communities.

Shotton Boxing Club - Refurbishment of Gym Equipment and Safety Flooring project

Currently the organisation is restricted to train due to Covid restrictions in respect of utilising all the space that is available within the building.

When the restrictions are lifted they need to purchase safety flooring and equipment so they can open up more available sessions to members.

New Dragons Mynydd Isa - Adventure weekend at PGL Shropshire project

New Dragons youth club, for 10-18 year olds, would like to arrange an adventure weekend for our young members who have communication difficulties.

The Covid 19 crisis has had a detrimental impact on these young people that already experience social isolation and acceptance from their peers, along with low confidence and self-esteem. This support would provide an opportunity for the young people to build self confidence in a challenging and safe environment.

Holywell Town Girls and Ladies Football Club - Girls football and clubhouse project

The aim of setting up this independent community girls’ football team is to be able to give females from the tender age of 5 years onwards a fantastic opportunity to play the great game of football which is forever evolving within the girls/ladies world.

Together with developing the existing clubhouse which will enable them to hold activities that enhances their social interaction with others and ensuring the feeling of a safe place for all girls, somewhere that they can be creative; interact before, after and during their football training/matches.

Royal Buckley Town Band - Buckley Youth Brass Band project

This year because of Covid the Youth Band has been disbanded and will need to be re-established.

The organisation relies on its ability to recruit and train young people. The funding would enable them to recruit an experienced music professional to form and develop a Youth Band which would assist the organisation to continue to be part of the community.

Top to Toe Fitness - 2021 activities project

The organisation is a martial arts and fitness centre for the community of Holywell and the surrounding areas.

To enable the organisation to continue and provide new projects this funding will be used to update all of the boxing bags that have been in use since 2016.

Carmel and District Cricket Club - All Stars & Dynamos Social Project

The project will offer children the opportunity to try the game and access all the personal benefits from participating in cricket, however the cost may be a barrier to children enjoying and benefitting from the experience.

This funding would be used to pay for 10 All Stars and 5 Dynamos places each year over a four year period and to use it to offer the places to those who find the main restrictions to their child joining is the cost and/or children who would benefit from a structured approach.

Ysgol Maes Hyfryd, Specialist High School - 14-19 Entrepreneurial Community Gift Project

The project will support and work with vulnerable children so they will feel valued as part of a group within their communities/establishments.

The children involved will be actively involved in designing, purchasing, building, assembling and selling to the wider community flower/planter boxes and gifts. This will then raise funds to reinvest in this project enabling it to be self-sufficient and sustainable.

Wrexham area nominees:

Brymbo Cricket Cub - Brymbo Community Cricket Scheme

By developing this project, the club is seeking to work with police and local schools to address problems of anti-social behaviour in the local community by offering free cricket sessions at Brymbo Cricket Club to pupils aged between 8 and 14, from 12 local schools during the afternoons of school summer term.

Funding will support the cost of transport for the youngsters from and back to schools together with refreshments to pupils during the sessions, and a cricket tournament will be organised for all participating schools at end of the sessions and the club will provide certificates, awards and trophies to pupils.

Brickfield Rangers FC- Sport and Football for All project

Brickfield Rangers is a well-established and positive organisation that engages with young people to develop a sense of teamwork and community pride. Its project will provide free for all one hour per week sports sessions for twenty weeks aiming at 8 to 16 year olds to include boys, girls, disability and BME on the astro at Clywedog Sports Centre on Sundays.

The centre is a dual leisure centre Ysgol Clywedog in the day in Wrexham with easy access. The sessions will be football based but not exclusively, with emphasis on fun sporting activities. All the sessions will be organised by FAW qualified personnel DBS checked.

Funding will support pitch hire and equipment to enable the project to engage with young people.

Chirk Town Council - Outdoor Gym project

The council would like to install outside gym equipment for utilization by young adults, adults and senior citizens which we anticipate will have a high level of usage. There are approximately 3,500 – 4,000 adults in the local community. The equipment would be installed on Chirk Recreation Ground.

Given the impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the mental health, and general well-being of people of all ages, it is hoped this equipment would provide the community in general – but especially young adults – with a focus, and an activity should Wales enter any future lockdowns whereby gyms and leisure centres are forced to close – and also provide a valuable activity and release day to day.

It will also future-proof the community under the Future Generations and Well-Being Act, helping to provide everyone with a free to use form of exercise – lack of access to a gym or leisure centre because of cost is a leading cause of increasing obesity in those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, as such outdoor gym equipment should help with the health, mental health, and well-being of all.

Providing the community with this equipment would provide focus and help avoid increases in anti -social behaviour, domestic violence and self-harm, the town council says.

Wrexham Against Business Crime project

It would see the creation of a Business Crime Reduction Partnership across Wrexham, led by the local business community and supported by North Wales Police and Wrexham County Council.

The implementation of an effective information sharing system between retail outlets will transform the existing string of ‘shop watches’ to a fully functioning Wrexham wide ‘Business Crime Reduction Partnership’ amid the restrictions businesses have experienced over the past 12 months.

Funding would support the introduction of a new digital radio communication system between retail outlets in the town that aims to increase the safety of shoppers and protect shop-keepers from theft and anti-social behaviour. As well as increasing the safety of shoppers it will also act as a communication system for situations such as missing/lost children.”

Rhostyllen Football Club project

The club wishes to renovate and develop an old unused hard court paying area that has been left to rack and ruin of many years and is unsuitable for any sporting use as it is dangerous to use.

Funding would help them turn this into a fully gated and secure 4G training facility which would be ideal to host winter training on for its youth teams and also create proper draining on its second pitch that is unplayable from Mid-November to March each year.

"Not only would this benefit our young people but also provide a valuable community resource in our village," the club said.