Congratulations to Growing For Change, based in Tregarth, who received a grant of £3,000 towards repairing damage caused by storm Isha in January 2024. The project was matchfunded with other organisations, and was helped by the local community raising an additional £2,900 in a matter of weeks.

Elusen Ogwen was established in December 2020 to help distribute some of the profits from Ynni Ogwen, for the benefit of the local community. The Trustees  met in April 2024 to approve five new grants, and the fifth, to Canolfan Tregarth, took the total amount of grants made to £54,249. Lowri Williams, Chair of the Trustees, said she was delighted to announce the recent grants and looked forward to being able to offer further help to local groups in the future. Canolfan Tregarth used the funds to improve paths and add external fencing to the site.

Elusen Ogwen was delighted to help out Cor Y Penrhyn following an application to fund the purchase of ipads for choir members. The first batch of 13 have now arrived and are being used in the weekly practice. The Ipads will help reduce the printing of music scores as well as bringing other benefits to choir members through the use of special music apps.

Another local organisation that's recieved a grant from us  is the Dreigiau’r Dyffryn Gymnastics Club. The Club applied for a grant to replace their old, expensive strip lighting for new low-energy LED strip-lights.

Sophie Pipe, Head Coach & Director at the club said: "This has given us a beautiful, clean, even light across the whole gym, which is perfect for training and much safer too. The installers, HJT Electrical did a really professional job and we were delighted that a lot of people noticed the difference, commenting on how much brighter it looked.

"We’re also saving money, which is a huge bonus. The installers calculated savings of nearly 70% on our electricity consumption to light the unit; great news as electricity prices have soared."

Bwyd am Byth CHC has been working with schools and care homes for the few years, providing gardening activities and education around growing and eating healthy food. Funding from Elusen Ogwen helped establish Food and Bushcraft' Summer holiday sessions, offering a diverse combination of forest school and gardening activities to enrich social, educational and environmental activities for young people in the Bethesda area. 

Snowdonia Donkeys was established in 2013 to promote health and well-being through working and walking with donkeys in the local environment of north Wales. The charity approached Elusen Ogwen in 2022 and we are pleased to have awarded them a grant which will enable them to fit a solar panel and battery storage on their site in Tregarth. At present the site has no electricity supply and the panel and battery will help provide lighting during the evenings and winter months, as well as being a source of electricity for heating and refreshments for volunteers and clients. 

Bethesda Cricket and Bowls Club had a drafy window replaced by double glazing, funded by Elusen Ogwen in 2023

Elusen Ogwen has funded a project at Cylch Methrin Tregarth to expand their outdoor area. This will enhance childrens' understanding about the natural world - local plants, flowers and birds. The children will love learning about planting and growing food in the greenhouse such as tomatoes and lettuce. This will help them understand where food comes from and may in the future help them and their families to do similar things in their own homes. In addition, the children will be developing new skills in gardening that will help their development.