Alison House Youth and Play Project is a youth and play centre based in the heart of the Rhondda Valleys - Cwmparc.

Over the years the available options for funding has lessened and the centre has even been victim to disgusting burglaries and dear items such as big brand bikes and scooters and tools etc. were taken, on MORE than one occasion. The centre requires as much funding as possible to remain a safe and enjoyable place for the Children who use it to play. Alison House is one of the minority of organisations of it's type that remain in the area. And by raising as much funding as possible we could ensure the the centre will remain a happy and safe place to be for all!

Many Children who use the centre really rely on it and have no other place to go many nights.

Since cuts of funding and due to the amount it costs to keep the centre and it's grounds as safe as possible and also neat and tidy it's causing a detrimental affect on the hours the centre can afford to open.

With your help Alison House can Open more times a week and for longer in the nights, more can be put on for the children and teenagers, the teenagers and children can attend more educational events or activities and the club can also remain to stay a safe and happy place for all who use it.

Your money will ensure that the children have the centre as and when they want it or need it. and Even for some children it make a huge difference by giving them a few more hours and a few more nights a week out of the house, and can ensure they are fed and looked after every single second of their time at the centre.

All at the centre will be grateful for even the smallest of donations. Every little WILL help! And every little WILL make a huge difference to some children lives!

Money can also help with and go towards trips for the centre's children.

Every year Bev (Who runs the centre) in her own free time puts on an incredible trip to Porthcawl for a weekend in a caravan for everyone. Obviously a caravan only sleeps a limited number of people so Bev not only does the trip once but will put on as many trips as she can so that all children who attend the centre can go and not a single one misses out. Even though the children's family pay towards their spaces, not all the families can afford to give them plenty of spending money to last the entire trip. Bev being Bev has such a big heart she would never see any of the children on the trip go without, ESPECIALLY if all the others are getting the same thing together. So as well as spending her own petrol the get the children to Porthcawl Bev will also dip in to her own pocket to give the child who would otherwise do without what everyone else has got. Bev has such a big heart and not just on trips, Bev is always paying out of her own pocket and goes without herself so that these children can have the world. Now while this is a great and remarkable act from Bev, I cannot watch her do this anymore and want her to spend a bit more of her own money on herself, and as much as I'd love to have some money to give to Bev and the club myself I am only an 18 year old full time college student who tries to volunteer more than earn at the moment so I cannot afford to do this myself. so I have decided to try and raise some funds so that this incredible Lady - Bev can keep her own money to herself but still give the children of the area the world, the moon AND THE STARS!

My story with Alison House Youth and Play Project:

Alison house was a great place for me growing up as it helped me and many of my friends find the right path. Growing up in a deprived area like the Rhondda meant as children and teenagers we never really had much to do, me and my friends from the Treorchy area only knew of one running youth club in the area when I first started comprehensive schoolt here was a club that was set up in an old day centre in Treorchy which everyone my age agreed felt like being in school because there was so little to do and so many staff who were there only for a wage and nothing else, they never wanted to participate in anything and never wanted to put anything on, the nights spent there consisted of only watching TV, arguing who could use the Nintendo WII or on a Wednesday playing basketball in the hall, not only that but the centre closed early and many of us were left bored and looking for something to do. boys being boys we started messing about in the centre building up bans of up to a month at a time because we really only wanted something to do, we started to go down the wrong path fighting and get into a lot of anti social behaviour, and even on a weekend getting drunk in the local park. but then a friend of a friend told us about Alison House project in Cwmparc better known between the boys as 'cwmparc youth' or 'Bev's', just up the road from Treorchy. we all took a visit up there ne evening as a group to meet our other friends who we never really hung out with much before knowing of this place.

As we walked through the doors we were welcomed with a huge smile from the wonderful and famous Bev. we paid our cons and signed some sheets and had probably the best school night of our lifes, playing pool, darts, the xbox. We could even do some out door stuff, over the next few years Bev had organised thousands of activities for us such as A weekend trip to porthcawl, outdoor camp fire sing alongs in the woods near the centre, sleepovers and so much more. Bev even organised for a group of us to get in on the 'street games' day in Cardiff. many of us participated and always wanted to go there because we felt valued, cared for and most of us someone was doing things for us that were actually fun. Obviously while attending the centre more regular we were off the streets more and causing less trouble. because we were also treated almost like that of an adult we acted more that way and the older we got the more respectful and responsible we got, looking after the younger kids at the centre and putting them on the right path just like we were taught by Bev and her brilliant staff. The whole team were amazing and every one of my friends had their own favourite member of staff because someone always understood someone and for me Bev was mine. In 2015 after being a regular at the club for a few years I was rushed to hospital suddenly one evening and was diagnosed with a chronic form of Leukaemia, now anyone would give their regards over the phone and forget about it but not Bev. I was stuck in hospital for between 3 to 4 weeks. Bev was straight on the phone telling me how her and all the staff and attendees of the centre were thinking of me and how if there was anything that could be done to help then they will. only a day or two after that I had a visitor to my hospital room -Bev with a bag full of goodies and she spent ages with me talking and laughing, Bev supported me through many a bad time from going off the rails to dealing with my cancer diagnosis.

After getting a little better and returning to the sessions at the centre, and now that we were all a bit older Bev started treating us even more like adults but getting professionals in to educate us on drugs, sex an many of the other common problems in the area amongst people of our age, Bev even gave as the opportunity to become voluntary member of staff at the centre, helping out with the younger sessions and helping out with the annual Cwmparc angels memorial fundraising day. As well as the opportunity to volunteer she also rewarded us with a mcdonalds trip once a week where we would get a group together Bev would drive us to get a takeaway and we all sing and dance in the car there and back. Bev provided me with a lot of new skills and taught me some amazing things. most of all Bev give me the gift of being part of what made me the person I am today, at 18 years old I have just finished working full time on the rails as an engineer, returning to college to do my A levels to go onto further education to pursue my dream of becoming a police officer on the side I am also working part time as a barman in the vale resort, and on top of this I am now waiting to sit my assessment centre for my Special Constable application with South Wales Police, all because I wanted to prove to the people who believed in me right and give something back to my community. apart from family Bev has always believed in me, even when it felt like nobody else did. Through the centre and the help of Bev many of my friends are now in full time employment whether money is fantastic or standard, they were still pushed in the direction to be in a better place than they would be had we not had Bev in our lives.

Please give! even a little can go a very very long way.

My goal is to get as much as I can for the centre and the children that it matters too!