Summer 2023 has been nothing if not wet. For six weeks of the summer holidays children have been wrestled from the house for splashy walks and a bit of an airing. Adults have grabbed those few hours of sunshine to try and fit in as much as possible before the heavens open again. It’s no wonder then that by the end of August we were all in need of a little self-care.
Luckily, the lovely people at Llanelli Railway Goods Shed had anticipated this and organised a wellness event for the last Friday of holidays. Volunteers were busy the day before, setting up the space and cleaning up to ensure that the next day went smoothly and, due to their hard work, it did.
On Friday September 1st the doors opened at 10am to let in those who wished to set up stalls and at 11am the public arrived. This well attended event saw people learning to make keyrings and bracelets in the first hour, doing gentle exercises a little later, then learning the advantages of gratitude journalling and, finally, doing Pilates.
All this was going on at one side of the building while there were other stalls to peruse and learn from all through the spacious room. Amongst them you could find information about healthy eating, pick up free apples, get information about vaccinations from the NHS team and do origami with the Transforming Tyisha Team. All these things, and more, were totally free to the public, letting them walk away with bracelets, keyrings, exercised bodies and cleared minds. Links, the Town Council, Ty Celf and CYCA all threw themselves into the sessions they ran, encouraging and guiding the participants and we are so lucky to have had their support.
At 3pm the event ended, with the drawing of raffle prizes that had been kindly donated by local businesses and individuals. Winners were lucky enough to receive a family ticket to the Wildfowl and Wetlands centre, a voucher for 12 cupcakes from Becca’s Stars & Sparkles, beer from Beer Park and a voucher from Llanelli School of Music and Drama as well as a whole host of other donated prizes. Nearly £200 was raised by the raffle and this will go toward restoring more of Llanelli Railway Goods Shed with the hope that each injection of money will make it easier to hold wonderful community events, such as this.
