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Porthi Dre is based on three basic activities – Sharing Food, Recycling Clothing and Preparing Meals. Here is a little background:
Distributing Food
We joined Tesco's FareShare scheme a few years ago, when Cegin Cofi picked up leftovers from the Tesco store in the town, and delivered it mainly from Tŷ Peblig. At the time of Covid, the scheme developed to accept leftovers every Wednesday afternoon. This was centrally distributed from Ellesmere Port, and government grants and individual contributions paid for this service. Throughout the pandemic, a dedicated group of volunteers packed this food, and delivered it door-to-door twice a week, trying to ensure equal Distribution throughout the town. You couldn't predict what was being offered, so the packages varied significantly from week to week! When Covid restrictions began to ease, free distribution of this food began outside the O Law i Law shop on Stryd Llyn every Wednesday afternoon and every Saturday morning. The volunteers would also go round houses on Sunday, if more was offered. This provision lasted until August 2022, when deliveries began from a new home, Ty Seiont.
Recylcing Clothes
At the time of the pandemic, when people faced salary cut-backs, it was decided to explore the possibility of collecting second hand children and baby clothing, equipment and toys, to struggling families. This would also help the environment by reusing goods that were of high quality. Caernarfon Town Council took the lead in this regard, and grants were secured to lease a property on Stryd Llyn to set up shop and call it O Law i Law. This proved highly popular, and the shop has become a great asset to the town. There is cooperation with health visitors, social services and refugee associations to ensure that free support is offered to people in need. The generosity of the people of Caernarfon in donating goods to the shop is incredible, and a team of hard-working volunteers are on hand to help run the shop under the guidance of the manager, Ellen Owen.
Meal Delivery
When lockdown began, a group of volunteers decided to go ahead and provide one hot meal a week to people in need. The scheme started with knocking doors, looking for customers, but grew to provide as many as 750 meals each week. Porthi Pawb continued to feed adults until 03/06/21 and over the period, 19,402 meals and dessert were provided for adults and 2,899 meals and dessert for children. It was realised that such provision was desperately needed in Caernarfon, and the volunteer crew behind Porthi Pawb were determined to find a way to continue the provision.
TŶ SEIONT
Ty Seiont is the home of Porthi Dre, Caernarfon's community hub. Rooms are available for hire by organisations that contribute to the wellbeing of the local community. If someone wants to use a room in the building, contact Anne, project manager for Porthi Dre (01286 532222; desk.porthidre@outlook.com. The Harbourmaster's Office is also permanently located at Ty Seiont.
Rhannu Sgran
This is a plan that provides a free hot meal between 12:30 and 2:00 every Tuesday and Thursday. Porthi Dre employs a chef, Geraint Thomas, who works Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays..
FareShare
Every Wednesday, a supply of food arrives from the FareShare depot in Ellesmere Port, and volunteers set it out in the foyer of Ty Seiont. From 3:00pm, people arrive to see what food is available, and are offered homemade soup and a fresh roll. At 4:00, they will be offered food for £3 per bag. One bag per person.
Volunteers
All aspects of Porthi Dre activity need volunteers. For anyone interested, , their contact details should be taken, and sent to desk.porthidre@outlook.com