Mum with community vision takes on centre
A RURAL enterprise management student from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s Carmarthen Business School has recently taken over a sports centre in the Gwendraeth Valley with a vision to develop it for the community.
Kelly Lewis-Bennett, from Tumble, clinched the opportunity when she was offered to take over Canolfan Carwyn Sports Centre in Drefach.
Kelly’s involvement with Canolfan Carwyn first began as a committee member with Baton Twirling Association Cymru (BTAC).
She said: “The reason why we took over Canolfan Carwyn, was because our members did not have a home to train in.
“Covid-19 has been hard for all community sports, so this was something we focused on and meant that our members would have a home and wouldn’t have to struggle.” Kelly’s daughter is a keen member of the club and was granted elite athlete status from Sports Wales last year.
Kelly added: “We really struggled for a hall for her, because she was given this elite athlete status, it didn’t necessarily mean that she could train, because we still struggled to find a hall that would allow her to train.
“Even during those hard times during Covid, she couldn’t do anything.
“She was training in car parks and we had to think about that and about our other members too, we had to find somewhere for our members to support them more, and Canolfan Carwyn came along”
As restrictions eased, the club started training in Canolfan Carwyn, and as members started to settle in their new location, Kelly and the club started to develop a few things here and there that impressed the sports centre executives.
She added: “They told me ‘you don’t need to do all of this, it’s not up to you’.
“Then we started talking, and they asked us if we’d like to take it over, and I thought to myself, ‘I think I can do this’.” Kelly and her team are currently responsible for managing the centre from taking bookings to managing staff.
Her vision is to develop the centre to be accessible for community sport and explained: “A community hub for us is to help promote community sport, but not just community sport it’s about health and wellbeing.
“We get to see a lot of opportunities for the older generation to get them back to a healthy lifestyle after Covid.
“We want to support the dance schools too so the possibilities are endless.”
Kelly decided to study at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David as a way to develop herself and as a way to increase her skill set and will graduate this summer.
She said: “I love everything about the university, I love learning and the relationships that we build, not just with the people that are on the same course as you, but your lecturers as well, it’s amazing, the support is second to none. “I finished school, I didn’t have any GCSE’s, I had nothing.
“I had children when I was 20, and thought I was going to be just a mum for the rest of my life.
“The university has changed me and I never thought I’d enjoy learning as much as I do.” The skills that Kelly’s learned whilst studying have helped her achieve her dream.
Lecturer Jessica Shore is proud of Kelly’s achievement and wishes her well for the future.
She said: “We are incredibly proud of Kelly and her achievements. Kelly has been a fantastic student throughout her time with us.
“With her degree coming to a close and already having a career plan in place that includes giving back to the community is a testament to her dedication, character and community values.”
Kelly hopes that Canolfan Carwyn under her management will be able to support as many community groups as possible, and after she graduates, she hopes to invest her time to pursue this.
She added: “There’s lots of stuff to do here, it’s still early days at the moment, and even though it’s going really well, and we’re gaining loads of interest.
“We’ve increased usage just within three months of doing this and I’d love to bring as many opportunities as I can to here to the community.”
We really struggled for a hall for her, because she was given this elite athlete status, it didn’t necessarily mean that she could train, because we still struggled to find a hall that would allow her to train Kelly Lewis-Bennett
WHO do you think will be the best person to represent you, your family and the area in which you live when it comes to running your local town and community councils and Carmarthenshire Council?
Which political party can you depend on most to deliver frontline services such as education, social care, waste and recycling collections and everything else that these councils provide?
Those are the questions that people all over Carmarthenshire will consider carefully over the next few weeks with the local government elections taking place in the first week of May. For the first time in council elections, young people aged 16 and 17 will have the chance to cast their votes as well.
Carmarthenshire Council is currently run by Plaid and Independent councillors. These elections will be a chance for voters to give their verdict on whether they have delivered on the promises they made back in 2017.
On a wide range of issues including the state of our town centres, council tax, tackling crime and antisocial behaviour and much more, people will decide on who they will vote for based on whether life has got better in their local community, their nearest town and across the county as a whole.
I have been out and about in many parts of Llanelli in the past few weeks, campaigning alongside our Welsh Labour candidates. It is impressive that so many people of different backgrounds and ages are willing to put themselves forward for public service and to do their best for their communities. It is important that everyone takes the opportunity to vote in these elections. Those candidates who are elected will be making decisions that will affect our everyday lives. Make sure that you have your say on May 5.