Community stories

Dylan's story

Dylan Rees, County Councillor for the Canolbarth Môn Ward, has been continuing his volunteering duties by joining the “Bwyd da Môn” project - and volunteering at the Bwyd Da Môn store in Church Street, Llangefni. The organisation was set up to collect excess food from local food suppliers that would otherwise have gone to landfill. For only £5 a week members are able to receive at least £20 of produce, including fresh and frozen meat, fresh fruit and vegetables, plus a range of tinned and dried packet products.

He said:

“This is a brilliant project which not only benefits the community but also protects the environment.”

Lowri's story

On the 19th of March, 2020, a small group of us met outside the primary school in Cemaes to distribute a letter to each household explaining the support that was available from volunteers in their community.

We offered to help with shopping, collecting prescriptions, dog-walking or just to be a friendly, supportive voice on the other side of a phone during this very anxious time. We had no idea what kind of demand there would be, and for the first few days, phone calls trickled in slowly, but when the lockdown was announced just 4 days later, things started to get really busy.

At its peak, we had over 10 volunteers in Cemaes, carrying out 90-100 ‘good turns’ a week between us, and over the course of the first lockdown we supported over 100 different households.

Alaw's story

Our shop devised a service for people in the village to call and either purchase items from the shop or for a volunteer to drive to the closest supermarket and buy their shopping on their behalf. This service was in high demand: the population in Talwrn are either families with young children or people who have retired for the peace and quiet of the village, and therefore they were at-risk families who were apprehensive about doing their own shopping.

We had three young people, myself, my twin brother, Harri, and another young man, collect the orders and deliver them to each house between 9 -10am every day.

I felt like I was making a difference: helping the people who were protecting themselves by staying home, we ensured they had the essential items they needed without putting themselves at risk.