We recently teamed up with leading partnerships developer Lovell Homes and the Football Association Wales (FAW) to offer football fans across Newport the chance of a lifetime to meet their idols in the Wales football team.
We offered some of our youngest residents the chance to watch the team in a training session before their UEFA Qualifier against Croatia. The training was followed by a meet and greet, where they could chat to the players and get autographs.
One of the youngsters said:
“It’s a great opportunity to come here with all of my friends and to meet so many of our inspirational people… and I got a football shirt signed by Ryan Giggs for my team, Albion Rovers.”
The opportunity arose at a fundraising charity auction for National Museum Wales, where NCH teamed up with Lovell Homes to support the Museum and offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to the children of Newport. Invitations were given to young people from youth clubs and football clubs in Ringland and the surrounding area, where we are carrying out a huge £30m regeneration project to build 163 new homes and commercial properties.
We are working with leading partnerships developer Lovell Homes to deliver the first phase of the Ringland master plan, the £7m project in Cot Farm, Ringland, with £4.9m in grant funding from the Welsh Government. Click here to find out more about our work in Ringland, and see our latest drone footage of the new homes.
The group were joined by Chair of the Board at Newport City Homes, Nicola Somerville who said:
“This was a fantastic opportunity for these young people to meet their football heroes, and a great example of how partnership working can really benefit the local community.
“The new affordable apartments and houses in Ringland will help tackle the housing need in the city, and it’s important to work closely with local people and residents throughout the regeneration.”
Bernadette Vickery, community coordinator at Lovell, said:
“We are thrilled to have been able to make dreams come true for these young people and we take pride in being able to build and develop communities in the areas we work in.
“In addition to the new homes and apartments, an important part of this redevelopment scheme is the increased job and employment opportunities for unemployed residents and the local community.”