02-07-2025
EXCLUSIVE We live near a football stadium in one of the UK's 'most poverty-stricken areas'... Hollywood A-listers walk just miles from us
Locals in one of the UK's most poverty-stricken areas have warned that its council is 'neglecting pockets of deprivation at its peril'.
Caia Park, Wrexham, is the largest council housing estate in Wales and has been plagued with 'generational' child poverty and unemployment issues for more than two decades.
Despite an influx of far-flung tourists and Hollywood A-listers piling into the city every other week to watch football, many children and families are going hungry just 10 minutes from the Racecourse Ground.
It is only due to the relentless work of charities and social enterprises that starving kids are staying off the streets away from the temptation of crime, drugs and violence, say many locals.
But with a lack of funding from Wrexham County Borough Council and requests for grants being exhausted, the funds to keep these organisations afloat are quickly dwindling - sparking fears over the future consequences.
Colin Powell, 63, has lived on the estate his entire life and now runs The Venture, a play centre at the heart of the community, which has been used as a leading example by universities and researchers of how to tackle poverty.
Formed in 1978 on a 'rubbish tip', the site has now been transformed into a sprawling hub to keep more than 1000 children between five and 16 years old off the streets which for years have been ravaged by lawlessness.
Now, Mr Powell has warned he is feeling the squeeze on his £300,000 per year upkeep, and has called on the council to stop using the play park as a 'political football' or that Caia Park would suffer 'the human cost of neglect'.
He told MailOnline: 'The cost of one prison place would keep this place going with two staff for a year, but the public purse trying to undo the damages of poverty and deprivation would run into the millions.
'The cost of a place for a particularly challenging individual can be up to £1million a year.
'If we had that money the end result would be absolutely amazing, but we're always scrambling around to make sure our last five pence is spent wisely.'
The 63-year-old, who himself grew up in poverty in the area and often had 'no food in the cupboard', has dedicated his life to The Venture and is now looking after the third generation of families he first worked with.
With Mr Powell and the in-house chef plating food up for Caia Park's kids every night, he says some of them are reliant on eating at the play centre and if not for that option, they would spend their nights with an empty stomach.
He added: 'One of the first things that happens with a number of kids when they come is them asking what we've got for food that night.
'Some kids rely on that and some do it as an extra to what they already have, but it relieves the pressure for parents on feeding the kids.
'The parents can then save money to buy new school shoes if their kids have worn through the last lot, so I would say it makes a huge difference to a number of families'
Mother-of-five Kim Slawson, 33, has always lived in Caia Park and visited The Venture herself as a child, which she described as 'a godsend' for locals.
She said: 'If they aren't open, the kids are out here causing trouble and messing about by the cars but if they're in there we don't have any bother.
'It was closed last week and the kids were outside causing chaos.'
One teenager who now visits The Venture through the day was suspended from his school for 'headbutting' his teacher.
But Mr Powell believes Caia Park is 'no different' from any other estate with a high rate of poverty.
He said: 'Given the level of social issues and the level of non-educational attainment and the struggles and the battles that come with that, there are going to be people who are in pain.
'One of the things that we're able to do is to engage with those young people who cause absolute mayhem elsewhere and tell them to knock it off.'
Wrexham MP Andrew Ranger said he would throw his weight behind a push for charities to receive more financial support as he attempts to tackle the child poverty crisis after being elected last July.
After living in the region for more than 25 years, the Labour MP said amid the near-overnight transformation of Wrexham due to global interest in its football club, that Caia Park had been 'long forgotten'.
He also said it was 'unfair' that organisations such as The Venture and Caia Park Partnership, who organise daily food giveaways, were doing the 'heavy lifting' in tackling poverty and crime.
He said: 'I think they've done the heavy lifting for a long time in many different ways.
'There's been lots of funding in those areas in different tranches over the last 20 or 30 years but when that comes to a cliff edge or comes to a stop, then it's left to those last men standing to carry on the fight.'
Mr Powell said he has not received any direct funding from the council in 20 years barring a Welsh Government initiative called Flying Start, which seeks to release some funds to assist 'disadvantaged' areas.
After the latest Census data revealed 72 per cent of Caia Park residents are living in poverty, he took aim at the council for promoting Wrexham's 'children-first' focus in a bid to become the UK City of Culture for 2025, which left him with a 'sour taste'.
Mr Powell said: 'We have visitors coming here [to The Venture] from around the world looking at what we do. We've got national and international recognition as being a centre of excellence, yet the local council wants nothing to do with us.
'They're happy to praise it when it suits a particular purpose. And the fact they want to celebrate the successes but actually don't contribute to it left me with a sour taste.'
Caia Park resident Maria Villaca, 46, said the behaviour of Wrexham Council is 'wrong'.
Local Shno Himid, 47, who lives across from The Venture, also said she would 'like to see' the council invest in the area more than they currently are.
Mr Powell took aim at the council for promoting Wrexham's 'children-first' focus in a bid to become the UK City of Culture for 2025
She added: 'I know a lot of people whose kids come to play every day. It's good for the community.
'If the council can fund other things then why not fund them? They definitely should.'
Locals also praised the work of the Caia Park Partnership, who donate food to residents and run free workshops for the community every day and are funded through grants and donations.
Shauni Thomas, 32, is a Parenting Support Worker at the charity and says she would have struggled if it were not for their help when she was a teenage mother.
Working alongside her former social worker and the Partnership's Senior Manager, Darren Richardson, 58, Ms Thomas told MailOnline how the lack of cash coming in could cause problems for the future.
She said: 'We haven't got a lot, but we have got a community.
'The problem is funding. We can do as much as we can do, but without the funding we're not going to be here anymore, and then what's going to happen?'
The charity was formed in 1997 to tackle crime in the area and over time has become a centrepiece to the community.
Since the takeover of Wrexham AFC by Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Rob McElhenney, Ms Thomas says the club has become more involved with the charity than ever before.
She said: 'We did our first event together just before Christmas. Some of the players came down and brought food hampers.
'We did a cooking session and they had a kickabout with some of the kids from the estate. That's a massive thing for the kids of Caia.
'Now we're going to do that up to four times a year. They'll come down and we'll do some more cook and eat sessions. They're very big on trying to tackle poverty and helping however they can.'
Despite holding events for children - some as young as two weeks old - the charity caters to those as old as 86, offering events for all ages.
Ms Thomas is hoping they can continue to help those on the estate make 'positive choices' rather than following the dangerous path of violence and crime, so often tempting for those who grow up with what she labelled as 'bad role models'.
Responding to local criticism, a Wrexham Councillor told MailOnline that child poverty was a 'complex issue'.
Cllr Beverley Parry-Jones said: 'Childhood poverty is a complex issue that requires ongoing support from national governments, working in partnership with local government, communities & voluntary organisations.
'Wrexham County Borough Council recognises the challenges in specific areas across the country including Wrexham.'
