If you are looking for this year’s Grand Week in Wales please visit https://grandweekinwales.com//
Our mission
To assist the plight of the vulnerable and lonely across the country, lifting spirits through this hard winter with our Grand Week in Wales initiative!
When is a Grand Week in Wales?
Dates
Launching from Feb 22nd and running until St David’s Day on Monday 1st March 2021
What is a Grand Week in Wales about?
A Grand Week in Wales idea was originated to raise money to combat food poverty, isolation and loneliness. The name given is in recognition of Wales’ 1000-mile coastal path that starts in Deeside, and the idea is to deliver a variety of community challenges based around the theme of 1000, all in the lead up to St David’s’ Day 2021 (Monday 1st March).
The community organisation is encouraging members of the public, of all ages and abilities to join in its activities during over the month of February. Setting a number of challenges based around the number 1000 that the public can participate in, at home, school, or on their daily exercise routine, all with COVID safety and regulations in mind.
The main feature of A Grand Week in Wales campaign is to virtually travel the 1000-mile Welsh coastline, launching from the home of Nanny Biscuit, at the start of Wales’ Coastal Path in Deeside. Members of the community will partake in a virtual relay simulating travelling around the circumference of Wales using any means available.
Participants can run, walk, cycle, row at home on a treadmill or exercise machine, or as part of their daily outdoor exercise. With a start finish, the final mile will be run by Great Britain’s Para Olympic Bronze medal winner in 2012 and Welsh athlete Beverly Jones.
Other activities as part of A Grand Week in Wales are:
- 1000 letters and St David’s Day cards between old and young
- 1000 art Daffodils
- 1000 musical performances
- 1000 trees or bulbs planted in association with Green Paw Project
- 1000 line poem
- 1000 Welsh cakes
- 1000 meals for our homeless in association with MoneySuperMarket
- 1000 meals for our key workers in association with Newydd Catering & Cleaning
- 1000 bags of plastic recycled by litter picking in association with Green Paw Project
- 1000 acts of kindness from the community
We are also encouraging the people of Wales to come up with their own challenges on this theme to help their community and fundraise.
Commenting on A Grand Week in Wales, James Hunt, founder of Nanny Biscuits said:
“From the feedback we’ve received and have seen on social media, we know people are really struggling and they need something to get behind and engage with. Nanny Biscuit has helped so many people, not just the service users but the volunteers themselves, helping in areas such as mental health and isolation. This is what having a purpose can do for people.
“A Grand Week in Wales is an event for the week leading up to St David’s Day, which really engages, inspires and uplifts our communities. A Grand Week in Wales will see Nanny Biscuit facilitate multiple, socially distanced, safe activities throughout the week, engaging a diverse audience throughout the communities of Wales.
“We believe this will empower people to help themselves; giving them a focus, a feeling of positivity and doing something good whilst also helping their wellbeing and the community – something we all really need right now. And of course, it’s all about raising old fashioned community spirit in the process.”
Deputy Minister and Chief Whip Jane Hutt said:
“During this pandemic it’s been genuinely humbling to see some of the amazing work that selfless volunteers are doing for their local community. I want to thank Nanny Biscuit and the other charitable organisations right across Wales that are helping to support their communities and the most vulnerable people in our society. Thank you for everything you do. It’s vitally important that if you’d like to volunteer or offer support, that you keep yourself and others safe. Please follow the advice and stay safe.”
The community organisation, Nanny Biscuit, was founded by James Hunt, in 2018, and is named in memory of James’ dear Nan, who was affectionately named nanny biscuit because she used to sneak him biscuits when he was younger. A veteran of the armed forces he was medically discharged due to an injury sustained on tour. James now has a mission to bring the community together in a positive, empowering and purposeful way, by bringing back old-fashioned values and adding new ones, to fit with today’s society by developing the fading community spirit.
Since its creation, Nanny Biscuit has had positive outcomes in areas such as mental health, isolation, disability, local ecology, age concern and food poverty.
Get involved
To get involved visit a Grand Week in Wales
Follow a Grand Week in Wales on social media
Event Hashtag
#grandweekinwales
Challenge Hashtags
#grandwelshsingalong #grandwelshcakes #grandwelshpoem #grandwelshrelay #grandwelshdig #grandwelshpick #grandwelshmeals