Thanks to Nkini Pulei, TAVS, for this guest post:
The TAVS Centre in Roath is open most days and we run various activities out of it to engage with, support, and empower people in Cardiff who may be lonely and need extra help with their challenges in life – whether that is homelessness, addiction, mental health issues, or isolation.
Some of our activities include a weekly art class, the TAVS choir, TAVS Bakery, cooking and computer classes. We also provide meals for up to 45 people two evenings a week.
The choir has been going for 18 months, we had a busy lead-up to Christmas with a number of performances, which included John Lewis, Christmas carol services and Made in Roath. There is a strong sense of community with the choir and our confidence has grown incredibly.
The TAVS Bakery currently runs one Saturday a month, people love it! Bread baking offers a real sense of achievement and we are certainly improving in skill. We look forward to being able to open the bakery more regularly – we want to offer an environment that will influence change and difference in individual lives alongside the many benefits of taking part in bread baking. We have started offering our bread to Churches for communion which is an area we would like to expand.
We are currently limited by our oven but are keen to develop and expand. The TAVS Bakery is looking to fundraise £2,500 for a bread oven. We plan on a sponsored walk on the 4th of May.
TAVS Art has an exhibition at the Gate Art Centre, we plan to have the launch of that as a fundraising event at the Gate for our bread oven on the 17th of May, this will certainly include the TAVS Choir!
There is a really growing sense of community at TAVS, we are keen to be creative, have fun, build community and see lives transformed.
You can find the TAVS centre on Tavistock Street, just off City Road in Roath.
