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Croeso - Welcome

Welcome to the latest edition of my monthly bulletin. Over the last couple of weeks I have been out in our communities across the Force area, engaging with community representatives through the Here for You engagement events that my Office has arranged. These are key events that I am hosting that aim to brief councillors and other representatives of key messages and developments within Dyfed-Powys Police.

To date, we have been in Powys and Carmarthenshire, and it has been pleasing to be able to engage directly with councillors and partners, and to listen to any issues or concerns they have locally.

Other key activities that I have been involved in over the last couple of weeks include;

• Joining Coleg Sir Gar construction students on a site visit of the new Carmarthenshire Custody Suite, in Dafen;

• Attending the National Children of Wales Award to support a young volunteer, who is volunteering as a coach on the Premier League Kicks (PL Kicks) community programme in Seaside, Llanelli;

• Attended the Force Awards to present the Force Partnership Award to a succesful Boxing Intervention Initiative.

You can read about all of these activities below and by following the links.

If you have any questions or would like to get in touch with me to discuss any matters, please contact my office on email.

Thank you.

Dafydd Llywelyn

Dyfed-Powys Police and Crime Commissioner

Here for you: Getting the most from your Policing Service

In the last couple of weeks, we started on the Here for You community Engagement events across the Force area. So far, I have hosted four of these engagement events for community representatives in Carmarthenshire and Powys with the aim of informing councillors and other representatives of recent developments and changes within Dyfed-Powys Police, and to provide an opportunity for people to share any local concerns or issues with the Force.

During the events, councillors are briefed on the Force’s current priorities for tackling crime in our area, the new Neighbourhood Policing Team model, how the Force Communication Centre operates, and the Force’s partnership approach to tackling Antisocial behaviour.

There is also an opportunity for Councillors to engage with the Dyfed-Powys School Beat Team Officers, Rural Crime Officers and representatives from several of my Commissioned Services such as Goleudy, and New Pathways.

As Police and Crime Commissioners, we are often considered to be the bridge between the communities and the Police. In that sense, these engagement events are key for us as we look to ensure that our communities understand and know of any developments within their Police Force, and the level of service that they should expect.

Later on in April, we will host these events in Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion. Anyone wishing to attend, can contact us for the registration details.

Young volunteer on Police and Crime Commissioner community programme wins Community Champion Award at National Children of Wales Awards

A young volunteer, who is volunteering as a coach on the Premier League Kicks (PL Kicks) community programme in Seaside, Llanelli has won the Community Champion Award at National Children of Wales Awards in Cardiff on Friday evening 24 March 2023.

The PL Kicks programme is a community programme which uses the power of football and sport to inspire young people in some of the most deprived areas in England and Wales. Swansea City A.F.C Foundation have been provided funding from my Office to run the programme in five areas across Dyfed-Powys since 2021.

Ashlee Charles, who is a 16-year-old Sport Coaching student at Coleg Sir Gar, has been a regular volunteer on the PL Kicks project with Swansea City A.F.C Foundation for two years, volunteering across three different sessions per week. This year she has also taken over the running of the girls only groups.

It was a pleasure to be at the National Children of Wales Awards Ceremony to see Ashlee receive her award. Her work with Swansea City FC Foundation dramatically enhances the lives of the PL Kicks participants in Seaside Llanelli.

At only sixteen years of age, she is a role model to all the participants, and should be immensely proud of herself. Congratulations to her for winning this prestige award, and I look forward to seeing her developing as a coach and leader for the future.

Boxing intervention initiative wins Police and Crime Commissioner Partnership Award at Dyfed-Powys Police Awards Ceremony

I am pleased to announce that a successful Boxing Intervention programme for young people in the Dyfed-Powys area has won the Partnership Award at the Dyfed-Powys Police Force Awards.

BOXWISE is a national social enterprise that helps young people build confidence, improve their health and wellbeing and maximise all opportunities available to them.

In 2022, PCSO Laura Edward, who is a boxing coach, and PCSO Rachel O’Neill requested funding from my Office to start a BOXWISE intervention club in Pembrokeshire, with the aim of giving young people who were at risk of being involved with serious violence and organised crime something to focus their time on and direct them away from crime.

Having seen the success of the intervention work taking place in Pembrokeshire, the BOXWISE national social enterprise agreed to fund 1 block of 10-week intervention sessions per Local Policing Area in Dyfed-Powys until January 2023, which offered over 50 young people the opportunity to do a 10 week boxing programme in Llanelli, Brecon, Letterston and Llandysul.

Due to the popularity and success of the sessions in these areas, BOXWISE have agreed to fund further programmes in Pembroke Dock, Ammanford, Aberystwyth and Newtown.

The boxing intervention programme has gone from strength to strength over the last six months following the pilot scheme that I funded in Pembrokeshire in 2022.

The initiative is having a positive impact on hundreds of young lives in the Dyfed-Powys area, and it is down to the commitment and dedication of both Laura and Rachel.

Services which have been commissioned and key projects such as the BOXWISE intervention are making a real difference to the way the force operates and that is being seen and felt by the communities that we serve.

Police and Crime Commissioner joins construction students on tour of Dyfed-Powys Police Custody Suite Construction Site

As part of a national open doors to construction sites campaign in March, there was an opportunity for the public in Carmarthenshire to go on site with construction company Willmott Dixon, to see construction work going ahead on the new Dyfed-Powys Police Custody suite in Dafen, Llanelli Carmarthenshire as it nears completion.

I was invited to attend one of the site tours with a group of construction students from nearby Coleg Sir Gar.

As part of the event, the students were shown around a construction of approximately 4000m2 over two storeys, that includes 18 new cell custody suites, interview rooms, cells, charge desk, open plan office space and associated meeting rooms and a significant area for mechanical and electrical plant.

This is a major investment for us which will see an ambitious, modern, sustainable fit for purpose policing hub and custody suite that will meet the needs and expectations of modern policing, and I look forward to seeing the building the building being completed this summer.