Funds explained

MERVYN James’ letter ('Funding Gone? Argus 09/07/15) asks what happened to the Maindee regeneration money announced in the Argus last year. Maindee Unlimited, which I chair, is the new local regeneration charity that has been responsible for raising the £400,000 funds Mr James refers to. It’s a great start. These current funds have not yet been spent. We will probably only have one stab at a community-led regeneration programme and £400,000 is not going to be enough to make the real changes we all want to see in Maindee, so we are now applying for yet more funding. Right now we are working on plans in partnership with the council to try to keep the Maindee Library building open for long -term community use. We are currently looking for 30 volunteers to help with this. We are also developing plans to improve Maindee shops on Chepstow Road and will be holding a special meetings for local traders soon. A large chunk of our funds have come from the Arts Council of Wales, so “arts-led regeneration” will be a feature of many of these early stages. A full public consultation will get underway this September that everyone can join in. Details of this will be widely promoted nearer the time. All our trustees are local residents and everything we are do is voluntary. So the more people who get involved, the more inclusive we become and the faster we move forward. I hope that Mr James, and many other local Maindee residents and businesses, will want to support and join in this innovative approach to regeneration. As a first step, please email your name and address to info@maindeeunlimited.org or text these details 07948 624781. We can then put you on our mailing list to keep you better informed.