Coed Dylan Coed Dylan "Time let me play and be golden in the mercy of his means..." Dylan Thomas, Fern Hill The original site. Sarah guiding the students. Aiden bringing in the light to the shed. We are delighted to be one of the 6 core groups receiving support and business advice for community groups here in Wales through the Sylfaen Project managed in partnership with Cynnal Cymru and Wales Co‑operative Centre. COED DYLAN - A CREATIVE SPACE... Site Manager: Robbie Bowman Garden Manager: Sarah Redman Wood Working Manager: Aidan Whittington In 2014, we bought 4.5 acres of land for Living Pictures to look after the environment and help people develop. In particular, those who are on the fringes of society, those for whom the ‘Neural Typical’ structures of life aren’t necessarily that easy to access. The name comes in part from our son, Dylan and also, Dylan Thomas, whose poem Fernhill (written about his Aunt’s farm not far from Coed Dylan) incapsulates the essence of what this piece of land is for us. A place of work and making, a place rich with a biodiverse landscape, a place to relax, recharge and reconnect. A place where artists, individuals and the environment are nurtured and developed and a place to play… We’ve started slowly, holding arts workshops on the land and practical projects, like our permaculture garden. We’ve been visited by various groups such as MIND Cymru, the Wallich Trust for Homeless Teenagers and the local primary school in Llangain. We’ve recycled large theatre sets; we’ve recycled wood from building sites and the local Tree Surgeons leave their wood chippings that would normally go to landfill for us to use for paths and mulching for our garden. Our main partner are the students and staff from the Canolfan Elfed Unit at Queen Elizabeth High School, brought to the land every Thursday by Coed Dylan Friend and Garden Manager Sarah Redman. We are very lucky to have Sarah leading this aspect of the site and she brings not only her enthusiasm for nature and developing the young people from QEH but also, her wider knowledge of the natural environment and gardening. With people like Sarah leading on specific aspects of the site, we hope to grow Coed Dylan so that more groups can enjoy the benefits of this peaceful and inspiring land. We’re focusing on our work and projects with the students from Queen Elizabeth High School. The benefits of Coed Dylan have been immense for them, sometimes providing the highlight of their educational week. "I don’t know how I’d go to school during the week if I didn’t have Coed Dylan to go to." – Student from the Canolfan Elfed Unit We’ve completed a quarter of an acre permaculture garden space that includes a pond, a polytunnel, a rabbit fence, raised beds, compost bins and a compost loo – all created by bringing in local trades people to work alongside the young people and funded by various grants. Tesco’s Bags for Help run by Groundwork UK being key to all this and what we are doing now. We are currently in the process of turning a shipping container that was left on the land into a dry shed area for the young people to work in during the wet/cold times…something that happens with a fair regularity in Wales! A place where they can sharpen tools, learn wood working skills using powered and handheld tools and working with recycled wood that has been saved from going into land fill. A place to learn that is out of the classroom, but still in nature, reasonably warm and DRY. We’ve started work on the container. We’ve levelled it using large logs, and 8 people leaning and heaving on them to make the two-ton container level. The container will be insulated, boarded out inside with shelves for tool storage, a small wood burner for heat, a large, double glazed, recycled window for natural light and will be clad in Waney edge boarding to match the compost loo the young people built when creating the permaculture garden and polytunnel. And of course, we have other ideas on the boil that we’d like to see come to fruition this year… How You Can Help