Reducing social isolation, loneliness and poverty in North Wales with Brighter Futures Rhyl

With a vision to be at the heart of a happier, healthier and more prosperous community on the North Coast of Wales, Brighter Futures Rhyl provides a range of activities and services designed to improve the lives of those in the town.

Shane Owen, Chief Officer at Brighter Futures offers an insight into the work being done by his organisation and how grant funding from the Greggs Foundation is being used to cover the costs of vital community engagement work to deliver on this vision.

Brighter Futures Rhyl was first established in 2018 to bring together a number of small community interest groups and charities under one roof. That roof happens to be an old pub on the town’s Wellington Road, which has been revived as an energy-efficient, flexible and cost-effective community space.

The venue now hosts everything from parent and toddler sessions to dedicated group activities – known as “Sheds” – for men, women, youths and kids. In addition, Brighter Futures runs a community café, a repair workshop and even an IT suite.

Providing community services, offering food and giving people a positive place to spend time is essential in a town with some of the most deprived areas in Wales.

As the charity’s Chief Officer, Shane Owen says,

“Ten years ago there were many small groups doing great work in Rhyl that were all individually paying rents, insurance and energy bills. We realised that we could be more sustainable as one big charity . . . and that became Brighter Futures. We moved into an old derelict pub, renovated it and started running our groups and activities from here. 

“Some of our most popular sessions are our Sheds. On a Monday, for example, we’ll have 30-40 guys come along to our Men’s Shed to get involved in one of our activities.

“The majority of them are living in poverty or unemployed and potentially feeling isolated or with low self-esteem. Our centre provides an outlet. It could be heading to our workshop where we have lots of tools and equipment, using our music room or getting involved in an arts and crafts project.

“There’s also the opportunity to get involved with our allotment, use the sports area outside or just hang out with friends. The kitchen is also very popular – we’ll often send our younger groups shopping with our youth workers so they can be involved in buying ingredients and then cooking something like a spaghetti Bolognese here.

“It sounds like nothing but some of them have never done a shop for proper ingredients. Most have never counted money or worked to a budget before.”

The consistent feature that underpins the charity’s offering is the provision of free hot drinks and biscuits. Beneficiaries can also pay a pound to have lunch at the centre. According to Shane, supporting the community always begins with meeting those basic needs of food and a place to stay warm. From there, people can begin to discover the charity’s other services:

“There are loads of examples of people who first came through our door because they were struggling to make ends meet and needed a warm meal but wouldn’t speak to anyone. Gradually, they got more involved and benefitted from the social interaction and sense of community.

“Today, many of those people are volunteers who work with us or leaders of projects. Some are trained as youth workers or have qualifications in sports development.

“It's amazing to see people progress on that journey and go from being the ones in need to those that help others in the community.”

Providing community resources

Beyond their premises, the Brighter Futures team have established the appropriately named “A-Team Rhyl” – a collective working with other community organisations to undertake tasks such as gardening and community greening, decorating, woodwork, PAT testing, litter picking and even computer repairs.

Among the many challenges undertaken by the team has been the creation of a nearby community garden – a particularly welcome addition for those living in flats overlooking the garden with no private outdoor space of their own.

“We put apple trees, strawberry plants, herbs and all sorts in there,” says Shane. “As a coastal town it’s one of the few areas of greenery that people can enjoy.

“Now, we see kids just walking home from school that are eating fruit they’ve harvested from the garden.”

In addition to running their own programmes, Brighter Futures also rent out the facility to other organisations and charities, as Shane explains,

“For just a couple of pounds we give the space over to Barnardo’s, Young Carers Group, Mindful LGBTQ and the Sea Cadets on some evenings when they need it. It’s much more affordable for these organisations than any other similar space available.”

Local not-for-profit groups are also offered ready access to Brighter Futures’ three minibuses for the fraction of the price of commercial van hire, as well as free access to the charity’s shipping container full of donated sports and events equipment. The clear purpose of these resources is to give organisations greater ability to deliver fun activities without prohibitive overheads.

Shane offers a recent example:

“The local RNLI wanted to run a fundraising event the other week and needed some equipment. So, we sent them our tables, chairs and a pop-up gazebo. Ultimately, we believe that all of the local not-for-profits can make their funds and resources go further by sharing what we have. By collaborating and reciprocating good deeds we can all achieve more.”

Awards, recognition and Community Action grant funding

Such is the impact of Brighter Futures Rhyl that the charity has gained national recognition for its impactful work. In 2023 the centre was visited by Prince William and members of the team were invited to meet King Charles to discuss their work in the town.

The charity has also won numerous awards for entrepreneurial work, for “Tackling Vulnerability and Exploitation” and for sustainability. The last of these reflects the incredible efforts made to make the premises low carbon and low impact. Shane explains,

“Over the years we’ve invested massively in solar panels, solar batteries and in rainwater collectors that go to the toilets. We’ve got an air-source heat pump fitted, too. There’s now no need for a gas supply to the building at all and much of the electric is covered by our solar panels. Although we’re cooking maybe 100 meals a day here and people are using the facilities all the time, we only have monthly bills of around £40.”

Despite the low overheads and efficient running of the centre, Shane acknowledges that there is one cost that still relies heavily on funding: staffing.

“The £34,000 grant we’ve received through the Community Action Fund will part fund the salary of our engagement worker for two years and help with the cost of running sessions in our core programmes,” he says.

“There are lots of funding pots out there. But to access many of them, we’d have to change what we do. We don’t really want that, so having core funding from the Greggs Foundation that can be used to cover core costs is perfect for us. It means that staff can then deliver what the community needs rather than us having to adapt things to suit project requirements.

“We’ve also worked with the Greggs Foundation team to access the Relief grant to get white goods for some of the people in our community who don’t have access to washing machines, cooking appliances or fridges. That’s been really beneficial for people who simply don’t have the money to buy these essentials.”

You can find out more about work being done at Brighter Futures Rhyl by visiting their website here.