At the business meeting at the beginning of April, Soroptimist International of Bridgend was delighted to welcome Claire Williams and Ceri Hill, family support workers from Barnardo’s.
Claire and Ceri are based at the Susan Ellis visitor centre at HMP Parc and the Young Offenders’ Institute, and Bridgend Soroptimists have forged strong links through Barnardo’s with the visitor centre.
In addition to helping out in the café and supplying refreshments to families there for visits, the club has now donated money to furnish the new conservatory on site.
The conservatory will offer organisations such as St John’s Ambulance Cymru, The Fire Service, South Wales Police and various health professionals a place to give talks and demonstrations to visiting families, who will also be able to enjoy the very comfortable facilities. Claire and Ceri expressed their deep gratitude to the Soroptimists for the funding to make the project possible.
Claire Williams, Project Work for Barnardo’s Cymru, said, “The conservatory area is now complete and has been furnished with the fantastic funding donated by Bridgend Soroptimists. We are extremely pleased with this area as it will help us so much with the support we provide for families visiting the prison, especially if they have sensitive information and need to speak with staff on a one-to-one basis.
We are looking forward to having a “Grand Opening” of the conservatory in the next few weeks.”