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We are in the Tesco vote!

Please give us your tokens when in the Newtown Store April to June 2023. Help us Change the Game for local young people who are struggling with their mental health following the pandemic.

Proceeds raised from this appeal will enable us to support those suffering from anxiety, depression and social isolation through animal and pet therapy at The Game Change Project.

Powys Business Awards 2022

We were thrilled to receive the Social Enterprise/ Charity Award, sponsored by Myrick Training Services, at the annual awards ceremony held at Dering Lines, Brecon on Friday 7th October.

Showcasing the diverse range of successful enterprises in the county, Powys Business Awards are organised by Mid Wales Manufacturing Group (MWMG) with support from sponsors.

Powys Business Award judges said: “The Game Change Project undoubtedly makes a huge contribution to the participants who attend activities at the farm.”

“The project has massive scope for sustainable growth if the funds and resources could be secured. In the future, we feel that this project model could be duplicated to additional sites if there is a desire to do so.”

It’s absolutely amazing to win this award and we are very proud of the team we work with and the young people we support. We would like to thank the organisers and sponsors for recognising third sector organisations in Powys.

Food Growing Garden

We recently partnered with Keep Wales Tidy to secure a development package to set up a food growing garden at The Game Change Project. The package was funded by Local Places for Nature and provided everything we needed to get started. Before the garden was installed, thanks to Localities Initiative funding, we were able to take two groups of young people, together with staff and volunteers to Cultivate in Newtown where they learned some basic horticultural and cooking skills.

Following on from the training our participants got stuck in building raised beds, constructing a green house and laying paths. They were joined by members of MenShed, Newtown who came to lend a hand on Tuesday 27th Sept and really enjoyed working alongside our young people out in the fresh air.

Under the guidance of the Keep Wales Tidy team, we completed the installation during the first week in October and planted our first crops. We are now looking forward to our third workshop delivered by Cultivate, this time at our brand-new food growing area at TGCP!

This session will give us the knowledge we need to get the most of our plot and also upskill our staff and volunteers to take the project forward. The project will enable us to share food growing and cooking experiences with people of all ages, many of whom would not normally engage in outdoor activities.

Our garden will be used by members of the veteran's community and other local groups who would benefit from social and wellbeing activities outdoors. An unexpected success of the project has been that it has made us much more aware of our environmental impact as an organisation. Almost all of our waste is now recycled, composted, or fed to the animals on our farm. Our aim is to become as self-sufficient as possible by using our own resources and wasting nothing!

We're in the customer vote at Tesco in October 2021

The organisation with the highest number of votes will receive a community grant of up to £1500! Please support us by giving us your vote next time you shop at Tesco Newtown.

Half term activities

We are now offering outdoor activity days during school holidays for younger children aged 10-14 years. The days will focus on building confidence and self esteem and whilst caring for, grooming and handling our ponies at our beautiful countryside location.

Teaming up with Morrisons

Morrisons have kindly agreed to donate snacks, drinks and supplies for our young participants as part of their “pick a pack” scheme. We are very grateful for this support – learning life skills is hungry work!

Mentors

We have been very fortunate to link up with Passport Rotary Powys who’s members have been sharing a wealth of experience and skills with our young people. This is a fantastic example of intergenerational team work and a win, win situation all round!

Digital heroes

We are looking forward to re launching our digital hero’s scheme which had to be stopped due to Covid-19 restrictions. Thanks to the Social Value Development Moving Forward Fund, administered by Powys Regional Partnership Board, Welsh Government and PAVO, we will soon be running “virtual” digital workshops so that our young volunteers can help older people to get the most out of technology.

Getting creative with Radiate Arts

We are looking forward to visiting Caffi Clywedog again soon where our young volunteers will be involved in the creating a sculpture trail around the lake

Revamp Project - Fundraising Appeal

This fundraising appeal has been created to help us refurbish and renew the workspace for young people at The Game Change Project so that they have a modern, state of the art centre to learn life skills and gain experience.

We have started from very humble beginnings with a small workshop area kitted out with some basic tools for small mechanical jobs and woodwork, we have a cabin which is used as a classroom area and has basic cooking facilities and a kettle, and an old wooden barn with wood slats on the outside and a tin roof. This is where the horses are kept over winter and also provides a covered space where the young people can have their lunch or hang out with the animals.

We have supported 24 young people since September. One of the young participants who had been struggling in a traditional classroom environment said “being involved in the project has taught me many things. I feel it has made a big difference”. Your donation could help us make a big difference for many more young people.

The new workspace would enable us to offer a wider range of activities and practical experiences to help young people raise their aspirations and reach their true potential. Any donation you make, no matter how small, will help us turn our vision to reality! Thank you.

New Rural Skills Module

Thanks to The Mondance Foundation we will be launching a brand new Rural Skills Module after Easter. Working with Montgomery Wildlife Trust, young people will be learning about wildlife and conservation as well as gaining practical skills in land management, wood work and much more ...