Powered by People Toolkit: Together Creating Communities

7/30/2019 Powered by People Toolkit: Together Creating Communities

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The Wrexham Mosque entrance, below thedistinctive Mine Workers Institute sign

TCC stands for Trefnu Cymunedol Cymru(Wales Community Organising), or TogetherCreating Communities. Based in Wrexham, TCC isthe first community organising group to cover arural area, and is active across the counties ofWrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire.

First established in 1995, with just seven member

groups, it has since grown to include almost 40

members. They include 21 churches, six schools, the

Wrexham Muslim Association, and the Transition

Holywell & District community group.

A broad-based organisation, TCC is made up of

many different faith and secular groups, who work

together to take action on issues affecting their

local communities.

Over the past 17 years, TCC have won several

important victories which have had a positive

impact on the lives of thousands of people.

They campaigned against the establishment of a

waste incinerator, instead supporting the council to

establish a recycling system; taken on big businessto reduce intrusive noise from a local aluminum

factory; and helped residents to increase the safety

of their streets.

In addition, TCC are also campaigning for both

Flintshire and Wrexham Councils to introduce the

Living Wage, the hourly rate that every worker in the

country needs to earn enough to provide their

family with the essentials of life. They have already

successfully campaigned for the Presbyterian Church

and the local Church of Wales diocese to adopt a

Living Wage.

TCC have also taken on doorstep lending and pay

day loans, gathering evidence from those who have

been driven into debt to take action against loan

companies. Working with Wrexham MP Ian Lucas,

they have successfully negotiated with The Money

Shop to persuade them to change the wording on

their website, so customers aren't encouraged to

borrow more than they need.

Local funeral directors are now being scrutinised by

TCC, after members raised the issue of families not

being given pricing when arranging a funeral,meaning they could be left with a bill much higher

than expected.

TCC offers training and support to enable everyone,

especially those who feel powerless, to tell their

stories, and improve their communities for

themselves.

They believe everyone can make a difference, have a

voice, and have power when they work together.

TCC (Trefnu Cymunedol Cymru/Together Creating Communities)35-37 Kingsmills RoadWrexhamLL13 8NH

Office: 01978 262588Mobile: 07528525872Web: www.tcc-wales.org.ukFacebook: www.facebook.com/TCCWalesTwitter: @TCCWales

T^y Nos emergency night shelter

Trefnu Cymunedol Cymru/Together CreatingCommunities (TCC), North East Wales


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For many years Wrexham town centresCapel y Groes (Chapel of the Cross) hadproblems with rough sleepers bedding down intheir porch and grounds.

A lack of facilities meant that local homelesspeople had nowehere else to sleep. But childrenwere picking up needles discarded in the

grounds; tragically, a rough sleeper died whilsttrying to shelter in the chapel porch.

Something had to be done.

The congregation didnt just want to move people

on; instead they were keen to find a sustainable

solution.

In October 2005, they approached TCC for help, and

became members. TCC held an assembly around the

issue, where church goers and former local homeless

people described their experiences.

Extensive research was carried out, and it was

decided to create a permanent emergency night

shelter in the town. A coalition of local businesses,

church leaders, police, Welsh Assembly members,

housing associations and councillors was formed to

work together to create the shelter.

Wrexham Council donated a building, and Clwyd

Alyn Housing was asked to run the facility. Just over

a year after Capel y Groes first joined TCC, the

temporary shelter was opened in Winter 2006.

But the celebrations were short-lived. The council

decided the shelter was becoming too expensive

and in April 2007, it was closed. Undeterred, the

coalition led by Capel y Groes continued to

fight for a permanent shelter.

After 12 months of frustrating negotiations, Clwyd

Alyn eventually won the council tender. A

permanent emergency night shelter, Ty Nos, was

finally opened December 12, 2008.

The action has galvanised the community to tacklehomelessness. Volunteers now provide a hot meals

service for local homeless people on Thursdays and

during the weekends. Capel y Groes are

campaigning for a day centre, so that homeless

people can access activities during the day when

the shelter is closed.

And there are no longer rough sleepers at

Capel y Groes.

MENNA DAVIES, MEMBER, TCC & CAPEL Y GROES(CHAPEL OF THE CROSS), WRECSAM

Menna Davies, 64, is a retired Welsh teacherfrom Wrexham. She is member of the Capel yGroes congregation and TCC.

Capel y Groes were already members of TCC,and decided to enlist their help with thehomelessness issue.

Menna played a central role in the campaign toget a permanent night shelter established. Sincethen, she has become an active volunteer withthe towns homeless.

One Sunday morning, the caretaker came to open

up for the service and there was a person who had

died in the porch. It was upsetting really, for

everybody involved.

Night ShelterWe didnt just want to phone the police and get them sent on tosomewhere else, because theyd only become a problem to somebody else.

And they would still be homeless.

It does take a long time

to get these things andyouve just got to bedetermined and carry on.


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We were saying, We have to do something about

this, but we didnt just want to phone the police

and get them sent on to somewhere else, because

theyd only become a problem to somebody else.

And they would still be homeless.

We had lots and lots of meetings, and we had a bigassembly, TCC call it. We had a person whod been

homeless on the streets of Wrexham, whod got

himself a business, and whod got himself back

together again. He was able to help us and tell his

story, which was really good.

When the council came on board, things really

started happening. We opened this temporary

hostel, volunteers collected clothes, and it worked

really well. But the shelter had to close in April.

They said it was too expensive to keep it open.

The council sold the building, and it was thendismantled.

Local housing associations had to put a tender in

for the new shelter, and this took well over 12

months. We were really frustrated at the time

because we wanted to get this permanent shelter

ready for the winter.

It was difficult to get a place because we had

opposition from the local residents. We were really

committed to it, but at times, you didnt seem to be

getting anywhere, even though we had different

agencies working together, and co-operation wasreally good.

It does take a long time to get these things and

youve just got to be determined and carry on.

It was really, really exciting when the permanent

shelter opened. And we havent just got the shelterand forgotten about them. Volunteers make hot

meals, and were trying to get a day centre. Its

brought people together.

Its really good how well things are going. We try to

encourage them, and its good to hear of people

who started off in the shelter, who have now got

their own flat. You feel that youve helped them, as

well as helping ourselves. G

Its good to hear ofpeople who started offin the shelter, who have

now got their own flat.You feel that wevehelped them, as well ashelping ourselves.

Menna Davies in Capel y Groes


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A New MosqueEven the day the EDL came to demonstrate in the town - a very smallnumber - they gathered in a pub and were chased out by some old ladies

who said, We dont want you here.

After almost twenty years of worshipping inportakabins and rooms above kebab shops, theWrexham Muslim Association were desperatefor a permanent spiritual home.

Working with TCC, they first had to fight for abuilding; then they had to overcome strongopposition. Now they have made a home in the

formerly derelict Wrexham Miners Institute,one of the towns most historic buildings.

The towns small but significant population of 1,500

Muslims include many staff from the local Wrexham

Maelor hospital, and students of Glyndwr University

(formerly North East Wales Institute (NEWI)). They

originate from around 56 countries. With the nearest

mosques in Rhyl and Chester, most working people

were unable to make Friday prayers.

The towns first mosque, a room above a kebab shop,

was set up 1987, but only housed around sevenpeople. Glyndwr University stepped in in 1995 and

provided a portakabin.

Every Friday, between 100 to 140 Muslims attended

prayers; but a lack of space meant women and

children were unable to take part.

As founder members of TCC, the association

enlisted their help to search for a building. They held

a number of meetings with the council to find a

suitable building to buy without success. A local

church was considered suitable but was sold withplanning permission for housing: a Welsh

Presbyterian church was almost purchased but

covenants rendered the property unsuitable.

But as property prices dropped, more buildings

became available. The Miners Institute had closed in

2008 after a drop in membership; it was derelict

after the owners had gone bankrupt.

Despite concerns about local opposition, the

Wrexham Muslim Association bought the building.

The reaction was negative. The anti-Islam English

Defence League mounted a campaign against themosque, and held a demonstration in the town.

Hundreds of abusive comments were posted on

social media sites.

But, working alongside TCC, the association invited

politicians, councillors and community

representatives to come and see the building, and

hear their imam speak. Supporters spoke out against

the protests, and tensions were diffused.

The association have pledged to preserve the

Institutes rich history, placing the building back in

the heart of the community.

DR IKRAM SHAH, TCC TRUSTEE AND CO-FOUNDEROF THE WREXHAM MUSLIM ASSOCIATION

Dr Shah, 70, arrived in Wrexham from his nativePakistan in 1967. He has worked as a doctor inthe town for 26 years.

As a founder member of TCC, he has been

involved with a number of actions before TCCsupported his bid to establish the mosque.

When we went to negotiate with the council, we

had two other TCC members with us and they were

wearing dog collars. The deputy chief executive said:

Excuse me, Im a bit puzzled, youve come to talk to

us about the mosque, so what are the two clergy

wearing dog collars doing with you? The clergy said:

We support them, we are with them.

Because TCC have group instead of individual

membership, we were all part of the big community rather than an isolated, small, group. People knew

us, they knew our faces, they talked to us, they

understood what we said. It was on an equal basis.

Were here to contributetowards the community.We want to show thedetractors and the people

who are saying bad thingsthe real picture.Dr Jishi


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The first time I asked TCC to help us was when we

were trying with the Council and we were gettingnowhere they were all very nice and very friendly

but nothing got done.

I asked TCC at the strategy meeting whether they

would take it up as one of their projects, so we were

extremely grateful that they agreed. They were with

us all the time.

With their help and support, all the documents

were ready. We had the building which the council

agreed to let us have on a lease. The contract was

ready to sign, so we were lucky. They knew we werelooking for a permanent place, so we were very

fortunate that this place came up and that we were

able to acquire it.

We heard about the EDL and the BNP and these

kinds of people, so we expected some sort of

resistance. But with TCC's help and support, and all

the links in the community, they were all our

supporters.

Even the day the EDL came to demonstrate in the

town a very small number they gathered in a pub

and were chased out by some old ladies who said,We don't want you here. And there was a vigil by

the churches in our support, so we can't thank them

enough for that. It was extremely helpful. G

Fellow mosque co-founder and TCC trustee Dr Farookh Jishi with Dr Shah inthe main prayer room of the new mosque

Cement FactorPollutionPeople were more concerned aboutdust and noise. That is somethingthey can see. Its the unseen wewere concerned about.

There has been a cement factory in Padeswood,Flintshire, for around thirty years; but over thelast decade the community has becomeincreasingly concerned about the dust, noise,

and potentially cancer-causing dioxin emissionsbeing produced by Hanson Cement.

Between 2000 and 2010, more than 2,000official complaints were made about the factory.And in February 2010, Hanson were fined250,000 for noise pollution, releasing 250tonnes of dust, and for two fires which pumpeddangerous fumes into the air.

TCC have been campaigning for better monitoring of

the factory since 2005, and has been meeting regularly

with the Environment Agency (EA).

In June 2010, Public Health Wales launched a

500,000 investigation into claims that dioxins from

the site were causing people to develop cancer and

respiratory diseases.

TCC played a central role in community engagement

meetings set up as part of the investigation,

contributing their views.

In July 2012, the Hanson Cement Investigation

Response Team announced that they had found no

evidence that factory emissions resulted in harm

to peoples health. However, due to dioxin levels

only being measured twice a year, much was

still unknown.

TCC have since succeeded in getting a commitment

from management to introduce 24-hour dioxinmonitoring.

More than 2,000 officialcomplaints were madeabout the factory.

It doesnt matter whether

theyre Conservative,Labour, or Liberal; wehold them to account.These are the skills wehave learnt from the TCC.

Dr Jishi


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The Hanson Cement Factory (credit: Flintshire Leader)

BLODWEN ELLIS, MEMBER, TCC AND HOPEPARISH CHURCH

Blodwen Ellis, 59, is a retired science teacher,and lives in the village of Hope, less than fivemiles from the Hanson plant.

As part of a small team from TCC, she has beeninvolved in negotiations with the EA and HansonCement for seven years.

I quite took to it really, because I have a science

background. And the person who was leading theaction was quite inspirational.

I dont think a lot of people understood what

dioxins are. They were more concerned about dust

and noise. That is something they can see. Its the

unseen we were more concerned about.

Theres a lot of apathy; people dont know the facts

but theyre not willing to go and find out what's

happening. The investigation team hired halls in the

area, telling people that there was going to be

meetings and they could come and ask questions.And in some cases, only two or three people turned

up. So they were really surprised when at the Hope

meeting, TCC members turned up and started asking

proper questions.

The plant was approved to be open continuously,

but now because of the recession, they are starting

up and closing down every other week. We didnt

know what effect this would have on dioxin levels,

so it was a big worry for the community, especially

as dioxins are only measured twice a year.

The 24-hour monitoring is now being developed.If its proved to be good enough, then the EA

will recommend that Hanson switch to continual

dioxin monitoring.

Its extremely important

to be very organisedwhen dealing withpowerful organisations.Then they take youseriously.

If we had not gone and asked questions of the EA,

they would not have followed it up and we wouldnot be having 24-hour monitoring. Management has

changed now and I believe they are more open.

They have a good relationship with the EA. I think

things are improving.

TCCs methodology impressed me. Before we went

to a meeting, we had a meeting. One of us had a

question each, which we were really clued up on.

We would have a meeting afterwards to evaluate

what wed found out, and then decide what we were

going to go next.

Its not a talking shop, its about getting information.

It's extremely important to be very organised when

dealing with powerful organisations like the EA.

Then they take you seriously.

People used to complain before about dust on their

cars, but that doesnt really happen now. They have

put a lot of monitoring equipment in place, and tried

to reduce the noise with insulation.

TCC will keep on going to the liaison meetings, and

see how it all goes. If any issues come up, we are

very fortunate; weve got a good relationship withthe EA. They are quite willing to meet us, because

we come asking proper questions, and we don't

waste their time. G

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