GVS Projects
Glamorgan Voluntary Services has helped run a variety of different projects set up to benefit the residents of the Vale of Glamorgan.
Current Projects
Foodshare
Our FoodShare Pantry is a project that is open to all and aims to prevent food insecurity and food waste. Many people living in the rural Vale of Glamorgan find it difficult to access cost effective food and healthy options. At FoodShare Pantry Llantwit Major our local community can join us each week to top up their weekly shop at a fraction of supermarket prices, while also doing their bit to stop surplus food going to landfill.
The pantry is open every Thursday between 12.30 and 2pm, and for £5 our customers can choose items totalling at least 3 times this value from our fridges, freezers and shelves, as well as fresh fruit, vegetables and end of day bakery items.
We have an amazing team of loyal volunteers and our pantry has proudly become a social hub for many in the community. We share healthy and seasonal recipes and partner with local organisations and projects, signposting customers to advice services that may be useful to them. There is no eligibility criteria for shopping with us so whether you are experiencing a need to access food or would like to help stop food waste, everyone is welcome.
FoodShare Pantry Llantwit Major is funded and supported by GVS, The Vale of Glamorgan Council, Public Health Wales and The Moondance Foundation. As well as purchasing food ourselves to restock the pantry directly from the weekly £5 that our customers pay, food is sourced from:
FareShare Cymru who receive in date pre-Supermarket food ‘waste’
FareShare Go which enables us to collect end of day supermarket waste, from Tesco and Waitrose stores, that is past it’s best before date but still perfectly edible
Our local Co-op supermarkets
In Kind Direct, a charity that sells hygiene goods to other registered charities
Local producers
Individual donations
FoodShare is held at the CF61 building in the centre of Llantwit Major (Station Road, CF61 1ST) every Thursday from 12.30-2pm. If you would like to shop with us or support this project in any way please pop in and see us, or contact us via our Facebook page and we can arrange a timeslot for you.
Previous Projects
ReBuild
ReBuild is a new project funded by the National Lottery Community Fund to support people living in the Western Vale into volunteering to help rebuild their confidence, self-esteem and reduce isolation.
Connected Carers
The Connected Carers Project helps and supports family carers of people with a life-long and/or life-limiting condition.The Connected Carers Project is funded by the National Lottery Community Fund for three years, until August 2020. The project is managed by Glamorgan Voluntary Services and delivered by Cardiff & Vale Parents' Federation and Touch Trust.
Pave the Way
Pave the Way was funded by the Big Lottery Fund to support people into volunteering to achieve wellbeing.
Operating throughout Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, it was led by Cardiff and Vale Action for Mental Health (CAVAMH) in partnership with Glamorgan Voluntary Services (GVS) and Voluntary Community Services (VCS).
Co-Creating Healthy Change
Co-Creating Healthy Change, funded under Community Voices by Big Lottery, was a portfolio of ten projects working across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan so that people were able to influence decisions about health and well-being services and co-create change in health and social care public service delivery.
Managed by Cardiff Third Sector Council in conjunction with Glamorgan Voluntary Services, the portfolio will operate from 2013 until 2017 to develop people’s skills, enabling them to influence decisions about the delivery of health and well-being services in their area.
Vale Youth Forum
This is still operating and supported but not managed by us.
The Vale Youth Forum (VYF) is a registered charity that works with young people who either live, work, or attend an educational establishment in the Vale of Glamorgan. The VYF is made up of young representatives aged 11-25 from all over the Vale of Glamorgan who have normally been elected or nominated from their school council, youth club, church group, scout group or any other youth facility.
If your organisation works with young people aged between 11-25 or if you are a young person who is interested in being represented on the Vale Youth Forum then contact the Forum by e-mail: valeyouthforum@hotmail.co.uk or telephone: 07526 449720.
Friendly AdvantAGE Project
The project offered a range of befriending services to reduce loneliness and isolation and improve the well being of older people in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. The project funded by the Big Lottery for four years was delivered through a consortium of service providers experienced in supporting older people.
Barry: A New Community
Barry: A New Community was a heritage project identifying the people, families and events that shaped modern Barry from 1881 to 1945. During that time Barry was an economic hub that helped drive the growth of Wales. The Project concluded at the end of June 2015.
Get the Vale Online
Funded by the Welsh Government’s Communities 2.0 programme and delivered by GVS, Get the Vale Online was a digital inclusion project aimed at improving the quality of life for people in the Vale of Glamorgan by helping them to make the most of the Internet and new technology. It reached a successful conclusion in March 2015.
