Supporting Communities through the Water Resilient Communities Project

Highlighted as an area battling to combat crime and high levels of deprivation, it seems aspects of current-day Rhyl are a country mile from its past, elegant heyday. However, despite the apparent sense of doom and gloom, the recent coverage does not ring true with the experience and interaction I’ve had with the community in recent months. I find that my mind is drawn towards some of the diligent and tenacious characters that we, as a project team, have met from the area over the past year. These people are a credit to their locality - they have a superb level of insight into their communities and a real drive to work together to overcome barriers and help to build community resilience.

At Welsh Water, as a socially responsible company, doing our bit to go above and beyond to support communities is seen as a necessity, rather than a choice.

Our innovative Water Resilient Communities project is one way in which we aim to do this. The project challenges the business to work with and involve customers in a way not done before - to co-create and co-deliver more resilient services within the area. The project also involves developing a deeper understanding of the unique challenges faced by communities as we consider how we can use our existing services to support customers.

Now, I would be wrong to suggest that this project is capable of transforming the fortunes of whole communities and towns – but I’m also careful not to understate the significance of its activities for those individuals and groups of individuals involved. Building more resilience, one person, one group, at a time.

Following the completion of our successful pilot project in Rhondda Fach, we launched two further projects in Rhyl, in North Wales and Rhymney to Bargoed, in South East Wales. Across both current project areas, some of the key milestones achieved by project workstreams include:

• Engagement with over 50 groups and organisations
• Facilitation of over 120 drop-in sessions or referrals from key partner organisations – helping to save an estimated £25,000 for customers and adding almost 100 people to the Priority Service Register.
• Delivery of over 45 Awareness and Training sessions on our tariffs across more than 30 organisations to 400 participants - many of which themselves have community-facing roles and are in turn able to support their clients.
• Dispatch of over 470 free water efficiency products to customers who completed an online water usage survey – helping reduce water consumption and lead to bill savings.
• Delivered multiple sessions linked to the ‘Get Into Construction’ - supporting 33 young people in Rhymney & Bargoed. This was a partnership approach, working virtually with the Prince’s Trust and some of our key capital partners.
• Carried out sewer investigations - conducting misconnection investigations in Rhyl and the wider catchment, and proactively inspecting sewers in Rhymney & Bargoed for blockages.
• Conducted 69 education visits or virtual sessions, to 5,959 pupils – accounting for 83 hours of direct teaching time. The provision supported curriculum topics, promoted early Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) interest and offered schools and pupils a valuable opportunity for contextual learning.
• Worked with Caerphilly Cares and a range of other partners to co-produce a children’s book, by children. Hard copies of the book, which focuses on ‘Stop the Block’ messaging, will be disseminated in community hubs across both project areas.
• Supported an Innovation-led initiative to evaluate the impact of ‘gamification’ as a method to help reduce water consumption, benefiting 550 pupils in Rhyl as they supported in the trial.
• Awarded over £9,000 to community groups through our Community Fund.

Ultimately – this blog should undoubtedly end where it began. The activities of the project and the benefits that ensue are testament to the drive and support of some key individuals from Rhyl and the Rhymney & Bargoed area. There is a strength of character evident within our communities that can help drive areas that are often considered ‘deprived’ – and in doing so, can capture a few more positive headlines in the future.