Here is our latest update, covering:

• Details of the Young Changemaker Grants worth up to £1,000 - deadline for applications, 22 September.
• Contract awarded to build Cardiff coastal flood defences - the scheme on the Rover Way shore and the banks of the river Rhymney.
• Our Music Service is changing with the launch of ‘Cardiff and Vale Music Education' - bringing a new brand and website, making the service wider and more user-friendly for pupils, parents, and schools.

Be a Changemaker and help make Cardiff a more equal city

Do you want to create a fairer world for every child? Are you passionate about equality for girls and young women? Do you have a plan to put your idealism into action?

Child Friendly Cardiff, which is driving the city's ambition to be recognised as a UNICEF Child Friendly City, has joined forces with Plan UK (Wales) to fund new projects aimed at doing just that.

The Young Changemaker Grants are worth up to £1,000 and are offered to young people aged 13-24 and organisations working with young people.

The new Cardiff grants aims to provide opportunities for young people to:

• Gain confidence, experience in project and budget management, and the ability to influence others in a safe environment
• Receive training and support to develop skills in planning, finance and social action
• Have their voices heard and see themselves recognised as positive agents of change, and
• Bring about positive change for themselves and in the lives of girls in Wales concerning issues that constrain their rights.

From research carried out by Plan UK in Wales, it's clear that girls here feel their rights are not being respected. They:

• Are fed up and frustrated with empty words of ‘female empowerment'
• Care deeply about political issues, but spoke of feeling unheard in politics and being bullied for identifying as feminists
• Feel sexism and harassment in school is rife, and
• Don't feel safe in public.

Leah, 17, said in a report arising from the research: "When a girl is harassed or sexually assaulted, they're not asked ‘How are you doing?' They're asked what they're wearing and it's so disrespectful because it doesn't matter what we were wearing."

Around Wales, Young Changemaker grants are already having an effect. In Swansea, a group of young people used their grant to recruit more girls into a skatepark project; in Neath Port Talbot, it has helped to fund a ‘Safe Spaces' project to educate boys and others on girls' experience of street harassment and other forms of abuse; and in Newport, it has helped a 16-year-old boy publish a collection of short poems inspired by the bullying and hate he sees directed at women and girls on social media.

Cllr Sarah Merry, Cardiff Council's deputy leader and the Cabinet member responsible for Child Friendly Cardiff, said: "We know that girls and young people are facing a number of challenges that can hold them back in school, careers, everyday life and preventing them from just being who they are.

"We want every young person to achieve their potential but we know that young people, girls in particular, can face many challenges in their lives that stop that. I am very excited that with Plan we will be listening to the ideas of young people themselves on how to make a difference."

Her colleague, Cllr Julie Sangani, the Cabinet member for Tackling Equality, added: "We are committed to ensuring that girls' rights are upheld and that the voices of young people and those working with them are at the heart of decisions that affect their lives.

"Joining Plan UK (Wales) in offering these grants means girls and young people will be able to put their ideas into action and make a real difference in their fight for equality."

How to apply for a grant

Plan UK (Wales) and Child Friendly Cardiff are particularly interested in ideas that:

• Empower young people to tackle gender inequalities in Cardiff
• Raise awareness of issues faced by girls and young women in Cardiff
• Come from young people who identify as part of the LGBTQI+, BAME, Gypsy Roma communities, who are young carers, disabled young people, survivors or any other groups who experience oppression.

You must also:

• Be aged between 13 and 24
• Have a responsible adult on the project if you are under 16
• Be a project led by young people (organisations can apply as a source of support to the young people leading the project)
• Ensure the project benefits Cardiff
• Complete it by April 2024 at the latest.

To apply, visit the Child Friendly Cardiff website here:https://www.childfriendlycardiff.co.uk/2023/07/plan-uk-young-changemaker-grant/

You can either complete the written application via on online form or record yourself answering the questions and send that tolizzy.brothers@plan-uk.org.

The deadline for entries is Friday, September 22.

Contract awarded for new flood defence system

Knights Brown has been awarded the contract to build Cardiff's new coastal flood defence system in south-east Cardiff.

The scheme, on the Rover Way foreshore and the banks of the River Rhymney, has been designed to protect properties from the impact of extreme weather events, and from rising sea levels for the next 100 years.

The scheme adheres to Cardiff Council's adopted shoreline management plan of "hold the line" and has been approved by The Welsh Government via the coastal risk management programme.

Now this process is complete with the contract awarded, work is expected to start on site later this year and will take approximately 3 years to complete. The total cost of the project is expected to be in the region of £35 million, with the majority of funding provided by Welsh Government.

When built, the scheme will deliver:

• 150,000 tonnes of rock barrier along the coast to manage erosion and high tides
• Sheet piling along the Lamby Way roundabout
• Maintained earth embankments, and
• Rock protection for Lamby Way Bridge

And it will:

• Manage the flood risk to 1,116 residential and 72 non-residential properties, plus the Rover Way Gypsy and Traveller site.
• Provide defence against a one-in-200-year severe weather event, including allowing for the effects of climate change.

The scheme will deliver an effective flood defence while minimising impact on wildlife and improving the walking route forming part of the Wales Coastal Path, which links to existing public rights of way.

Cllr Caro Wild, the Council's Cabinet Member for Climate Change has welcomed the progress of the scheme, and said: "Cardiff is already starting to feel the effects of our changing climate and as a coastal city flooding has become an increasingly significant risk as sea levels rise and extreme weather events become more frequent.

"Enhancing our coastal flood defences is a key priority, especially in areas where residential properties are potentially at risk.

"Through our One Planet Cardiff strategy, we're making good process on reducing the Council's own carbon emissions, ensuring we're playing our part in limiting global temperature rises, but proactive steps like this scheme on the foreshore and River Rhymney, are also essential if we are to ensure Cardiff is resilient enough to cope in years to come."

The One Planet Cardiff strategy sets out a range of ways in which Cardiff is moving towards being carbon neutral, including: reducing energy consumption and energy efficiency in council buildings, increasing the supply of renewable energy, shifting to more sustainable and active modes of transport, reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from purchased goods and services, making smarter choices to waste less and recycle more, and increasing opportunities to absorb emissions through green infrastructure and tree planting.

Music Service is changing with the launch of ‘Cardiff and Vale Music Education'

The Cardiff County and Vale of Glamorgan Music Service is changing to‘Cardiff and Vale Music Education'.The service has been refreshed, with a different look including a new logo and website making the service wider and more user-friendly for pupils, parents and schools.

TheCardiff and Vale Music Educationis going from strength to strength following the launch of the National Plan for Music Education last September and in order to respond to its new crucial role as the local lead organisation for the National Music Service, a fresh new name, brand, website and parent and school portal has been developed.

Cardiff Council's Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education, Cllr Sarah Merry said: "Music now plays an important part in the Expressive Arts area of the Curriculum for Wales and the launch of the National Plan for Music Education aligned with the implementation of the curriculum from September 2022, has ensured that the two elements work together to support schools and teachers as well as providing exciting opportunities for children and young people to experience the joy of music making."

The new website and parent portal will improve communication between tutors, parents and carers thanks to an integrated messaging system. Payment options are also changing so that the cost of tuition can be spread over a longer period, to give a range of affordable options to all.

The new logo for the service, CFMusic provides a strong geographical identity linked with the postcode for the local and wider regional area, the prominence of ‘education' is at heart of the offer and the change addresses any possible confusion with other local music services.

Cllr Sarah Merry added: "This new look service aims to unite all music education partners, venues, and performance organisations across the region, with support for all schools and settings being their mission.

"Its great news for young people in Cardiff and the Vale, giving them a more streamlined service still with the same high-quality lessons and providing more opportunities for talent and future pupil success."

Schools, parents and carers who already have pupils taking music lessons with the service will receive an email instructing what they need to do to commence the new term in September.

For more information about the wide-ranging offer from Cardiff and Vale Music Education go to:

www.cfmusiceducation.co.uk

Or follow @cerddcf on social media to discover more