Since 2002 a whole a community led by a small band of volunteers has been fighting a create a special place, a facility the likes of which Colwyn Bay has never seen before.

Through countless meetings, surveys and research, we have identified one common factor among the many people we have spoken to: the need for a dedicated centre aimed specifically at children and young people.

Too often the most obvious and logical solution is dismissed as fanciful, often with no more reasoning than ‘there’s no equivalent now, which shows we don’t need it.’

Colwyn Bay is crying out for such a facility. The facts are staring us in the face. It only needs a bold decision and the town could have something exciting and new, something to be proud of, something that could lead to social and economic benefits not dreamed of in our town before.

It is recognised by the community, key partners (see appendices) and young people of Colwyn Bay that there is no one facility that provides the children and young people of the area a place that caters for their needs. To feel safe, secure, to engage with each other, and to learn life skills that perhaps due to personal circumstances in the home hinders this all important foundation so lacking in today’s social environment.

The need for such a centre was underlined in October 2006 when the Welsh Assembly Government’s Flying Start initiative identified Colwyn Bay as a target area. Two months later, Flying Start gave wholehearted backing to the Dan’s Den project by offering to invest £250,000 in the project and form a partnership with the Trust.

Dan’s Den will provide Flying Start the perfect base from which to give Colwyn Bay’s youngest children all the support they need to give them the best start in life – with social benefits for generations to come.

Flying Start’s willingness to invest in and form an innovative partnership with the Den shows how much value they place on such a building.

Dan’s Den will give its partner Flying Start the flexibility, adaptability, independence and purpose-built infrastructure needed to deliver their services efficiently and successfully. Perhaps nowhere else in Wales will the programme enjoy such a head start.

And what of the value of this partnership to Colwyn Bay?

In addition to the benefits the scheme will bring to our most vulnerable toddlers and parents, a Flying Start success story in Colwyn Bay. The partnership with the Den will be the ideal opportunity for associated projects to attract Convergence funding.

In short, Flying Start’s five-year project will be the catalyst for Dan’s Den to help other vital support organisations successfully deliver essential services for Colwyn Bay’s children and young people.

The Den will also provide the environment for learning and development outlined as a need in the Community Strategic Guidelines (see appendices).
The BayLife Initiative has highlighted the Den as a major partner, acknowledging its unique position to offer both support and delivery on many aspects of social inclusions.

It has been widely agreed that the needs identified in the council’s Healthy Conwy Strategy and the Welsh Assembly Government’s Children and Young People’s Partnership could be met and exceeded in Colwyn Bay by the provision of a single, dedicated centre for young people.

The flipside of the coin is straightforward. If Flying Start decides not to invest in the Den, the consequences cannot be stated clearly enough. The knock-on benefits to other support organisations – and the greater service they could have offered our children and young children – may be lost forever.

In parallel to this the Flying Start programme could struggle if based at the leisure centre, as the facility will not offer the flexibility and the appropriate environment, leading to failure of the Flying Start scheme and its intended impact.

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