Posted: Fri 13th Jul 2012

Mayor And Mayoress Pay A Visit To Wrexham’s Millenium Eco Centre

Wrexham.com for people living in or visiting the Wrexham area
This article is old - Published: Friday, Jul 13th, 2012

Wrexham’s Mayor and Mayoress paid a visit to the Millenium Eco Centre in Llan Y Pwll earlier this week.

On Wednesday afternoon Wrexham.com joined Cllr Ian Roberts and his wife Hilary on a tour of the centre’s eco friendly learning facilities at the site of the old Borras Airfield.

The eco centre project was established in 1998 as an environmental education facility working with special needs students from St. Christopher’s School, however didn’t open until 2000.

Amongst its impressive facilities are a tree top classroom (with amazing views towards Cheshire), a sensory room and a Stagecoach bus which has been converted into a classroom.

Over 8,000 trees have been planted on the site with the help of pupils and local firm Brother, who bought the trees to offset their carbon omissions. Tarmac, who own the site, helps with the majority of the centre’s funding.

The Mayor and Mayoress were particularly impressed by the plant watering system on site which comprises of a toilet cistern and pipes with holes in them.

The centre also has a woodland area and classroom where pupils from across Wrexham’s schools can learn outdoor skills such as cooking and woodcraft. On the day we visited pupils from Hafod Y Wern were enjoying roasting marshmallows.

Mayor Cllr Ian Roberts and Mayoress Hilary Roberts, Teaching Asst. Jayne Farrell and Steve Gittins of Brother Industries

After the tour Cllr Roberts and his wife retreated to the centre’s World War Two themed café 96, named after the RAF 96 squadron who were based at Borras Airfield during the war, to choose a winner in the best cake contest. Due to the mayor’s penchant for strawberries, a strawberry gateaux was the inevitable winner.

At this point we took the opportunity to speak to Jayne Farrell, a teaching assistant at the centre, and to grab a slice of lemon cake!

Jane told us that the centre teaches two main age groups, these include 14-19 year olds who may have difficulty learning in a normal school environment. The other programme is aimed at 19+ adult learners with moderate learning difficulties who are working towards independence. Jane said: “We try and teach independent living skills which they can then adapt into their lives.” There are also a number of sensory groups held in a specially lit room throughout the week.

Jane continued: “The pupils can also achieve a number of qualifications including BTECs and GCSEs in sustainability, cookery and other subjects. We can teach in up to two groups of six per day so we’re aiming for 60 pupils coming through every week.”

She explained that in order for the centre to sustain itself the they also hire its facilities to outside groups, she said: “We hire out the meeting room and woodland area to any companies that want to use it. The woodland area is useful for outdoor team building exercises.”

“The sensory room is also open for booking at a rate of £4 per hour.”

It’s fair to say that everyone who visited was highly impressed by the facilities provided by the eco centre and Wrexham.com will definitely be returning, not least for another slice of that cake!

For more information on the eco centre visit http://www.millenniumecocentre.org.uk/

Pictured at the top of the page from L-R are: Mayor Cllr Ian Roberts, student Tony Gittins, student Laura Watson, Teaching Asst. Stef Matthews and the Mayoress Hilary Roberts.



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