Celebrating Geraint Thomas winning the Tour de France, at Beics Antur’s new site in Porth yr Aur, Caernarfon.

On Monday 10 September, Antur Waunfawr’s Annual General Meeting was held. It was a successful meeting held in Antur’s Ysgubor Fawr building, with attendance from Antur board members and staff.

It’s been a busy and successful year for Antur Waunfawr; we now manage 15 businesses across the Antur, and have several new projects on the horizon. Antur Waunfawr currently employs over 100 staff and supports 67 individuals with learning disabilities. Health and Wellbeing are central to the services we offer, and though our ‘Anturio Ymlaen’ project funded by the Integrated Care Fund, we have held 37 different activities during 2017-18, including cycling, walking, fitness classes, yoga and rebound therapy.

We manage nine residential houses, and 2018 saw the completion of two new residential properties on our site in Waunfawr, which are home to four individuals with learning disabilities who receive 24 hour support.

An accessible holiday bungalow is also under construction on our site in Waunfawr, and we have received funding from Arloesi Gwynedd Wledig to include digital items in the bungalow which would allow a person with disabilities to live more independently. Following a £20,000 grant from the Clothworkers’ Foundation, the bungalow will be furnished to 4* standards, and local textile artist Cefyn Burgess is working with us to provide quality soft furnishings.

Training and work experience continue to be of high importance to the Antur. The year 2017-18 saw us provide 2640 hours of volunteering, 30 work placements, and 1756 hours of work experience, in addition to our work with individuals with disabilities.

We continue to focus on sustainability and being an environmentally conscious organisation. In 2017-18, our Caergylchu recycling site sorted 1056 tonnes of plastic and recycled 400 tonnes of paper. Our Warws Werdd site has also saved 305 tonnes of clothes and furniture from going to landfill. We manage 7 acres of land and continue to provide home-grown produce to Caffi Blas y Waun and our residential properties. In 2017-18 we sold produce at several events, including Caernarfon Food Festival, as well as our own Summer Fair and Miri Siôn Corn Christmas fair.

Our bikes project continues to grow, and in 2018 the Antur invested £90,000 in a new site at Porth yr Aur, Caernarfon.

We have more exciting plans for 2018-2020, including the development of our Beics Antur project at Porth yr Aur, providing more inclusive cycling and fitness opportunities for the local community and to visitors to the area.