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The
communities of the Brecon Beacons are in the process of creating a new
Beacons Trust, financed by their own money.
We
are creating the Trust because there needs to be a dynamic and definitive
focus for regenerating this rural area.
This body needs to be truly ‘owned’ and trusted by the
communities of the region.
The
aims of the Trust are:
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to
improve the quality of life for communities of the Brecon Beacons;
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to
create a vibrant local economy for the benefit of all;
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to
enable communities to conserve and enhance their environment;
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to
retain young people within the area.
The
Trust will work wherever there is a need and where there is local
commitment. It will initiate
projects that improve the local economy, with particular emphasis on
improving opportunities for less advantaged groups in the community, for
example: young people with limited employment opportunities, very small
businesses, and farmers seeking to diversify.
The Trust will work in partnership with all relevant agencies,
voluntary and statutory, in pursuit of its aims.
The
communities and businesses of the region want an organisation that is
dynamic, action orientated, professionally managed and business-like. The Trust should focus on creating projects that are
themselves income generating and self-sufficient in the longer term.
A
meeting of 200 people at the Brecon Beacons Forum on 20 January at the
Theatr Brycheiniog was a turning point.
It created sufficient consensus within the Brecon Beacons community
to work together in a new joint programme to regenerate the local rural
economy.
At
the meeting, a remarkable success story from the Moy Valley in Ireland
demonstrated what could be achieved in 10 years if people pull together.
Then the results of the past year’s research work on tourism by
communities in the Brecon Beacons, involving 2000 hours of voluntary time,
were presented in the form of a comprehensive tourism plan, covering
product development, business support and marketing. Finally, the National Park Officer presented a range of new
funding opportunities, including £750,000 of Welsh Assembly money for
community projects and substantial European funding possibilities.
At
the end of the meeting there was a formal agreement to work together.
It was agreed that, despite the availability of public funding, the
first step was for local businesses themselves to make a financial
commitment. All the delegates
declared in unison: “we agree to act; the answer lies in this room”.
At
the next meeting of the Forum on 24 February, participants pledged £22,000
to the Trust.
The
Trust is being registered as a charity.
Six leading figures in the community, without immediate political
and economic interests, are being chosen as Trustees.
A
Patron is being sought for the Trust, someone that further inspires
confidence within the communities that the Trust is trustworthy and that
it enjoys widespread confidence.
The
Trust will wholly own a trading subsidiary, Beacons Action Ltd.
The
Directors of Beacons Action Ltd will be appointed at a conference in
mid-April of all those who have committed to funding the Trust by that
time. The directors will be business leaders from the communities
of the Brecon Beacons.
Beacons
Action Ltd will operate as a profit-making company, carrying out work
according to contracts with charitable and public funders and creating
income generating projects and joint ventures.
Beacons
Action Ltd will employ paid staff to carry out its work – a business
leader able to create profitable enterprises, a fund-raiser and a
community liaison person.
The building block of action:
community action groups
Six
local action groups have been preparing for the work of the Trust for a
year. Each group represents a
cross-section of interests at the local level and keeps their community
informed of developments. In
time it is expected that 12 such action groups will represent the entire
Brecon Beacons area. The
Beacons Trust will work with the action groups to stimulate community
projects.
The
Trust aims to raise £100,000 each year (after tax refund) from three-year
covenants by local businesses and individuals.
Covenant
rates have been agreed as follows, covenanted over three years:
Individuals: £
100/year
Small
businesses:
£ 200/year
Medium
size businesses:
£ 500/year
Large
businesses:
£1,000/year
“Sponsors”:
£5,000 - £10,000/year
Income
has started to be raised. A
number of small businesses have pledged £22,000.
This
core funding will be granted to Beacons Action Ltd to carry out core tasks
according to the objects of the Trust.
The
Trust will raise and receive funding directly from charitable sources for
particular projects, to be carried out by Beacons Action Ltd.
Beacons
Action Ltd will secure income directly from the following sources for
particular projects:
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public
funding bodies, e.g. TEC, WDA, NPA, WTB;
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charitable
bodies;
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income
generated by profit-making projects and joint ventures.
During
the last year, six communities in the Brecon Beacons have been working to
develop a comprehensive programme of action focusing on tourism and its
links with the wider economy. The
programme is ready to be implemented by the Beacons Trust.
The
following are examples of individual initiatives that are now being
started.
A
feasibility study just completed recommends creating a youth-managed company that will promote the
Beacons to young people. The
company will be run entirely by young people themselves.
This will create increased training and employment opportunities
for young people throughout the Brecon Beacons by increasing customers for
businesses employing young residents.
The
Trust will create a market
in locally produced food between food producers and local hotels and
restaurants. This
will include a promotional campaign to encourage residents and visitors to
eat locally produced food.
The
Trust is negotiating funding from the Welsh Assembly’s Environment
Development Fund for local
information projects – brochures, information boards,
sign-posts, promotion of local products, community websites, etc. The aim of this project is to increase local pride and to
encourage local spending, by residents and visitors.
The
Trust will develop a community method to
measure the impact of all local regeneration projects on the local economy
and to find new ways of retaining income within the community.
The
Trust will negotiate finance for a comprehensive
business support system for small businesses in the tourism sector,
including an employment agency to train and supply local staff for hotels
and restaurants.
The
exploration of a
flagship project connecting Cardiff and the Beacons by rail.
The
creation of a bookings
bureau for the Beacons: a one-stop shop for booking
accommodation, activities and meals in the Beacons by phone and on the
Internet.
Raising
funds for a major promotional
and marketing campaign for the Beacons.
The
development of an improved Internet
presence for the Beacons.
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The
need