Ail Gyfle - Second Chance

Imagine you are standing looking through 10 feet high iron gates into a courtyard watching a party in full swing. People milling around, talking, making colourful craft, laughing, connecting over a shared joke, experience or a problem. In the background, from inside a shed, you can hear the whirr and whine of metal against wood as someone shapes the arm of chair ready for fitting.
You are outside and have no credentials to get you through the gate, no education, no job experience, no relationships. In fact you may have less than that. You may be someone with a criminal record or someone who lacks the confidence to ‘go for it’ and it can feel like you are excluded from, don’t have access to, what many of us take for granted – a life of work, learning, healthy living, friendship and giving who you are and what you are good at to build community.
At Ail Gyfle-Second Chance we believe in giving people a second chance and have opened the gates, supporting people on journey to realise their potential and make a contribution where they live. AGSC addresses these issues through a holistic approach to the person and their current situation, supporting them in a safe environment to make different choices, learn life skills and engagment in learning experiences.
The main aim of the programme is to provide opportunities for our Service Users and volunteers to gain informal and formal education, training, and skills and work experience to improve employability, including being able to provide a reference, engage community groups to aid integration and improve their mental health. The project benefits both our Service Users, the majority of whom are classed as ‘hard to reach’, and our volunteers. Many of our volunteers have completed their Unpaid Work hours at Ail Gyfle and believe that volunteering and continuing to attend Ail Gyfle improves their ability to find work, it reduces re-offending and improves their mental health as they are given support from staff and other Service Users.
Empowering service users is a core value and we provide on-site training, mentoring and development of volunteers and staff to build management and delivery capacity. We aim to build a service-user led management team which, with support, will take the charity forward in the longer term.
Reducing waste and exploring and encouraging opportunities for recycling is a key principal at Ail Gyfle, we work in all areas of a green social enterprise aiming to create and sells quality goods from recycled pallets and other discarded items. We recycle or upcycle old pallets, unwanted furniture, waste materials and unwanted goods within our workshops.