Taff Rocks June Newsletter

Hi 

 

We have had a fantastic increase to our regular newsletter! We welcome you all to the June edition of the Taff Rocks newsletter.

 

Due to this increase in subscribers, we have needed to created a specific email address to send our newsletters from. This will help prevent our newsletters and updates ending up in your junk / spam box. Please do not reply to this email address as it is not regularly monitored. Continue to use our address at the end of this newsletter.

 

In this month's issue we have:

  1. Craft Bag Updates
    • The next step - A future project
    • Trading posts and map
  2. Online Workshops - Just a thought
  3. YouTube Updates
  4. Your Corner 
  5. Message Board 
  6. Your Questions Answered 

1. Craft Bag Updates

Our members in the Aberfan and Merthyr Vale have now received their craft packs, which were made possible by a grant from Invest Local Ynysowen  (read the article on their website here)

 

To help us determine the success of this project, if you received a pack, please complete the monitoring form you received with it. Or you can complete it online here.

 

Without your valuable feedback, we won't know if this project is worthy of expanding.

 

If you, or you think others would be interested in this project in other areas of Merthyr Tydfil, please register an interest here. This is without obligation!

 

There were delays in rolling out the project, although anticipated, that didn't stop us from feeling the frustration! Our supplies were held up by shipping companies 'prioritising' packages. But, we knew this would happen. 

 

The important thing is ... the project has been rolled out and there are families able to help care for their mental wellness with a creative diversion.

We hope that we have some more wonderful images of the works of art created to share with you here.

 

When our monitoring forms start rolling in, we will be keeping you updated on any successes, stories, images, as well as comments on areas where it has been suggested that improvements to the packs could be made.

 

It has been a privilege to help you at this difficult time. 

Our Facebook group was on fire on delivery day with all the fantastic pictures and 'Thank You' posts coming in! We truly are thankful for you and your support. This project would not have been possible if you guys hadn't have had such a positive response in the beginning.

 

All the remaining packs went within less than two hours of the other packs being delivered and shared on social media.

 

We understand that there are going to be some disappointed families out there, but we had a limit for this trial.

To register an interest in a similar future project, please click button below.

The more interest, the higher the posibility.

 
Register Interest Here
  • The next step

We'd like to run a similar craft pack project again. But this is dependant on:

  • The feedback from the original project - from those who received packs
  • Enough interest in an additional project
  • Funding availability
  • Volunteers
Submit feedback for the original project
Register an interest in a future project

Details of future projects will be in this newsletter, possibly before it gets to our social media.

By subscribing, rather than reading the newsletter which someone sent you a link for, will mean you'd receive any updates in your inbox.

Thank you to those who have already submitted feedback via the monitoring form online or paper. We appreciate them so much.

 

However, the number of monitoring form responses and registrations of interest we have received is insufficient to consider an additional project at this time. 

Share the registration form with your family and friends who may be interested. As long as they live in the County Borough of Merthyr Tydfil, they can be counted.

  • Trading Posts and map

One of the comments we received from the monitoring forms was a request for a map of places to hide rocks.

Here you will find a small map of suggested local places. This also includes our permanent 'Trading Posts'

In next months issue, we will include a piece on these trading posts.

Map
Trading Post Details
 

Nixonville Trading Post

St John Ambulance Hall,

Nixonville,

Merthyr Vale 

CF48 4RF

Open 24/7

 
Directions
 

Llandovery Trading Post

Owl's Nest Tea Room Diner,

[Former Pet & Garden Centre]

Lower Road,

Llandovery

SA20 0DJ

Opening times

 
Directions

In next months edition, we hope to bring you news of a third Trading Post

2. Workshop Updates

With the restrictions changing, we will be looking at our regular building to determine the floor plan and numbers of attendees we could realistically use and have whilst maintaining social distancing guidelines.

At the time of writing this, we are still unable to re-open workshops. We will keep you updated here as well as on the Facebook Group and Page.

Please take part in the following poll.

This will help with our reseacrch into good, re-opening practices

POLL HERE

3. Online Workshops

We invite you to read a recent post from our website and give your feedback on this idea using the button below:

Read Article and Give Feebdback

4. YouTube Updates

We have started on the YouTube Channel with basic instruction videos. It's a first for us and something we have been learning 'on the fly'. We ask that you stick with us until we can get it almost as perfect as amateurs can. 

 

Somewhere in our midst, we've heard we have a YouthTuber! If this YouthTuber can help us out in any way with advice on tec, technique, or any other suggestions to help us get better at it and grow, can you (as their parent) get in contact if your young person is willing to help us out?

 

If any of your are regular vloggers or YouTubers and you think you can help, please contact us using our email address below.

 

The channel is so new, it can't even have its own address yet, but we can get that at 100 subscribers.

To subscribe to our channel, click the YouTube logo.

Use that little notification bell to get notifications of when we upload new videos.

On our channel so far, we have:

  • How to Paint Your First Rock
  • Paint a Simple Ladybird Rock
  • Paint a Bumble Bee Rock
  • Mid-Week Shorts - Episode 1 - Soften Those Rough Rocks For Painting (Part 1 of 2). Part 2 coming in another episode soon
  • Mid-Week Shorts - Episode 2 - Create A Game of Tic-Tac-Toe using your ladybird and bee rocks
  • Let's Paint a Rainbow (using a stencil - optional)
  • Mid-Week Shorts - Episode 3 - Using Lacquer on Your Rocks 
  • Painting a Rainbow, using a stencil

 

And created in two Playlists for you:

  • The Beginnings / Basic Hows
  • Mid-Week Shorts

 

On the 17th June, we have a new Mid-Week Short episode on how to personalise your craft bags you may have recently received from us.

 

Since the first video was uploaded, filmed direct to the laptop, there's been

  • Use of a new lapel mic, which was better, but still not the best
  • Use of a webcam for downward facing shots, which has not worked for us at all! The images are such poor quality and the audio ... well, the less said about that the better I think!
  • Use of a new Digital Video Camera, which seems to be working rather well, so we're sticking with this for forward and down facing filming.

Hopefully, we will be getting better at these sooner or later, hopefully sooner ... please :-D

Between being clueless, no technology, massive stage fright ... what else can go wrong?

Our channel is too 'young' to bring in revenue, it is / will be supported solely by generous donations through Patreon, Ko-Fi, or gifts from an Amazon WishList.

Which means, none of the fundraising we carry out or grants received, used to benefit the community based workshops, will be used to support the YouTube channel.

As the YouTube channel is independently funded, the Patreon account started as a way of supporting the channel for the creation of videos / podcasts and help with equipment, resources etc to create more content.

The Ko-Fi account we have had for some time, but, until now, never felt the need to promote it

By supporting our channel on Patreon (click button), you'll be able to see exclusive behind the scenes images and videos as well as request content.

Subscribing to our channel, to help us grow, is another way you can support us. You can leave comments and ask questions, which could make it to a Mid-Week Short video

If supporting us regularly is something you are unable to do right now, why not help the channel out when you can using Ko-Fi? (click button)

You can also help the channel out by sponsoring / purchasing items from the YouTube Amazon wishlist.

(click button)

5. Your corner

To have your works of art and creations shared in next months issue, send them to the email address below with the name of the artist and permission to share.

You can also share them in our Facebook group or tag us in your share on Instagram @taff.rocks

These beautiful works of rock art were shared on our Facebook group last month by Clair.

Clair joined our Facebook group in March with these being her first creations shared on the group.

Thank you Clair, for allowing us to share them here.

Created by a young member using the resources from our recent craft pack project.

Created by a young member using the resources from our recent craft pack project.

Created by a young member using the resources from our recent craft pack project.

6. Message board 

Do you have any birthday or other messages for others you'd like to include here?

If you know they subscribe, send those to us to include in future issues. The newsletter will, hopefully, go out regularly on the second week of each month.

  • Responses from the craft pack project:
    • "Honestly I was blown away, I [wasn't] expecting so much to be included in the pack!"
    • "This has been a great opportunity during lockdown to get creative, to give something back to the community, to make our exercise a bit more engaging and above all it has helped my mental health- Thank You Taff Rocks x"
    • "Brilliant pack delivered painted straight away couldn't wait"
    • "... just hope the funding continues so the fun can"
    • "It was perfect."
    • "... think they great."
    • "We LOVED using our family pack."
    • "Thank you for our awesome packs!"

7. Your Questions Answered 

Any questions that you don't mind waiting for an answer for, send them in using the email address at the bottom of this newsletter.

It can be about:

  • Rock painting
  • Taff Rocks
  • Volunteers
  • The list is endless

Your question(s) could feature in a episode of 'Mid-Week Shorts'

    • From 'Bobby Bob' on our YouTube Video: "...the lady bird with loads of spots was my favourite too ... can you do a video on how to make that one sometime too please"

    The video showing how this was created will be aired on our YouTube Channel on Wednesday 10th June at 10:00am.

    A full length tutorial on dots and spots will be created in the not too distant future.

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    This newsletter is created for free and is independently funded.

    It does not use any Taff Rocks grants or donations intended for workshops and community work.

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