Great, but…

Every year we ask anyone that has used our services in the last 12 months to give us feedback anonymously. We want to hear about what works well, but particularly where there are things that we could be doing better. Amidst the many kind words and compliments of the volunteers, one concern was repeated a few times: confidentiality. A concern shared by volunteers and visitors alike.

With our current setup inside a church hall, this can result in everything being rather close together. On busy days especially we can see a lot of people moving through the space with little room in between tables, meaning that as visitors are talking to the team and sharing about their lives, they’re never that far from another person doing the same. It can end up feeling as though more people than one might necessarily want are listening to what you’re talking about.

This needed to change, but the current venue was clearly not suitable for it. A new home was needed.

Over the next number of months we drew up a list of requirements that a new space would need. Accessible and central to town, it would also have to have smaller breakout spaces for one to one support meetings, whilst also offering enough warehouse space and ‘growing room’ for the Foodbank and future work. One option was the former Barclays bank on College Street, even though the ground floor seemed ideal with a large space and smaller offices off it, the rest of the building was spread over 3 more floors, with narrow stairs and no lift. Not to mention the repair works needed to the listed building before any occupancy.

Another building we explored was those just behind Quay Street, the Crown Buildings. Up for auction, central with good parking, again the extent of the repairs needed were colossal - when we viewed it part of the roof had collapsed and there was free movement for rain and animals from inside to out.

It didn’t take long to exhaust all available commercial premises within the town - the former COOP supermarket, Bethany chapel were also viewed. After many months and lots of thinking we came upon the realisation that the only way we would get the space we need is by building a bespoke centre ourselves. Ammanford Evangelical Church kindly consented to our long-term leasing the land behind their church hall, giving us a good start down this path.

Needs & wants

If you were building a new space, what would you put in it? Maybe you’ve built your own home and have had to make all the choices. When it comes to designing a space for other people to use, that made decisions even tricker. We were really pleased when Llandeilo-based architects Mark Waghorn Architects Ltd. agreed to take the project on. Meeting with them across the following months allowed us to build lists of what the space really needed to accomplish, as well as what we longed for it to be beyond the essential.

The new home had to be a place that was welcoming from the outside, making sure that regardless of why you’re coming through the door you can easily access the help you need. We were prepared to do the heavy lifting in the sense that the visitor should have to do the least amount possible to get help, where we would happily do more to make this happen. For example, part of the building would have to store a large supply of food to facilitate our Foodbank Warehouse. Where normally you might expect this to be on the ground floor, we opted to put it on the first floor to allow space downstairs to welcome visitors without having to send them across a building to get support. Visitors would come through the door and get help immediately, the team would have to move the food stock through the building - a cost to us we think worth it in the long run for the convenience of the visitors.

Whether it was wanting a living wall outside, electric vehicle charge points, solar panels or rain water harvesting, all sustainable options were desired. We needed the space to be as low impact to run as possible; as environmentally friendly as possible to ensure that we’re doing our part to care for the local nature not just people.

Throughout the process, once the plans had been drawn we would check in with people that have real experience of using support services like ours. We wanted to ensure that what we would build was meeting genuine needs, not guessing. On the whole the plans were met with praise and excitement however one suggestion was made that would have a big impact. What about homeless people?

Over the last number of years, the numbers of homeless men and women we’ve supported has risen steadily. For most of these people they have nowhere they can wash either themselves or their clothes, having safe space to feel dignified and human. We wanted to make sure that this building would be helpful to all, and whilst we couldn’t offer accommodation we could ensure that anyone homeless had somewhere to eat, wash and shower. Changes were made to the plans and instead of a number of toilets, we designed 2 accessible bathrooms: one with a baby change facility and the other as an accessible wet-room. This would mean that what ability homeless persons might have, there is a safe, clean space where they can be cared for.

This is exactly what we want - a building designed by and for the local community. Somewhere that anyone can come to for holistic support. Whether it’s accessing emergency food, a shower after rough sleeping or friendship and a cup of tea, all are important in looking after our community.

Permission Granted!

March 2025 was a momentous occasion. We received word from Carmarthenshire County Council that our planning application had been approved. We were so excited as now the real work could begin. Coordinated by our Architects we employed the services of various professionals to draw up the plans - walls, doors, lights, finishes. All were thought through and planned.