Dignitaries celebrate work of award-winning social enterprise
The mayor and leader of Wrexham Council paid a visit to a social enterprise in Chirk to recognise and celebrate a prestigious award it has received.
Glyn Wyfla, which is near the Chirk Aqueduct - part of the World Heritage Site - began trading as a social enterprise hub back in 2013 and has been going from strength to strength over the past nine years.
The original building was once a private house, built in 1899, which had been standing empty and in a state of disrepair. A team got together and created a business plan to take to the board at Wrexham Council with their vision for the site. The council backed the project and gave it the green light.
After securing lottery funding, the team set about obtaining the house with its grounds and began the renovation of the site.
It now boasts an 80-seater café with a newly added outdoor gazebo seating area, while the house itself is now used as commercial offices for eleven local companies which have created 30 jobs collectively.
All profits made from Glyn Wylfa are either put back into improving the building and services further or funding the local charity groups in the area including the youth football team, bowling and cricket clubs, Nightingale House Hospice and Hope House plus many more.
For the past two years, Glyn Wylfa has made it to the NatWest Top 100 Social Enterprises in the UK list. It was a finalist in the Welsh Social Enterprise Awards and put forward for the UK Social Enterprise Awards 2021 which it went on to win.
The Mayor of Wrexham, Councillor Ronnie Prince and the council leader Councillor Mark Pritchard, visited to see how Glyn Wylfa has grown.
Councillor Prince said: “It has been marvellous to come here today to meet the amazing staff that work so hard to bring such a positive impact to the community and celebrate their well-deserved award win.
“I’ve had a look around and the work that goes on and has gone into this project is outstanding. I look forward to being a frequent visitor in the future”.
After taking in all the different elements that bring the community hub together, Councillor Pritchard said: “This has been a very successful community partnership between themselves and Wrexham County Borough Council.
“I’m delighted and pleased to be here to celebrate their great achievement on winning the award and seeing the excellent work that goes on here. I would like to thank and congratulate the organisation for working tirelessly with commitment and dedication to fulfil all their goals.”
Chirk councillor Terry Evans, said: “This is something myself and former councillor and mayor Ian Roberts fought for. We had a vision for a community hub and we got local people in to come and help run the show.
“The success is absolutely phenomenal. They’ve gone from strength to strength and put money back into the building to keep improving and also into the community for a positive difference. I’m thrilled to bits and so proud of what has come of Glyn Wylfa”.
Glyn Wylfa's finance and operations director, Brian Colley, said: “We owe our success to our amazing employees and our fantastic manager, Chris, who has been with us for five years now. A huge thanks to our voluntary directors who give up so much of their time to help us and a big thanks to Wrexham County Borough Council and the wonderful community of Chirk. We really do have a great community and it’s a pleasure to be a part of”.
Mick Ramsey, chairman of Glyn Wylfa Limited said: “ The success we’ve achieved is far beyond anything we anticipated at the start of this project which is fantastic. It’s superb for the community and we receive great support from the people of Chirk. We’re very pleased with all we’ve achieved”.
