A Small and Mighty Operator

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On a very rare hot day I drove across the Welsh mountains to visit one of our smallest operators in the town of Pwllheli, on the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales.

I was going to see Marel Roberts who is one of the founders of Cymrod Clwb Teithio Dwyfor. Cymrod stands for ‘Caring for your Mobility, Rights and Opportunities in Dwyfor’. It was part of a larger group formed 30 years ago across Gwynedd and Anglesey, but Cymrod is the only one in existence today with a dedicated committee of seven people to oversee the club.

The office sits on the platform of Pwllheli train station and from there Cymrod provides transport for over 1500 passengers a year to daycare, shops, health appointments and social events. Despite having three vehicles currently, there is just one volunteer driver, David. Since the pandemic Marel has not been able to recruit any more volunteers, but somehow, they continue to provide a service to the town. In 2004 they were recognised with the Queens Golden Jubilee Award for Volunteer Groups in the Community.

She also provides a shopping service to those in the community unable to access the supermarket themselves. This started during the pandemic, and she still does it today – taking the orders, doing the shopping and delivering it on her mobility scooter – around 20 deliveries a week!

Behind the office is a big storeroom with mobility scooters and wheelchairs – all for hire to anyone that needs them. It’s the only service in that area of Gwynedd and with Pwllheli being a holiday spot as well it’s a valuable resource for the town.

At Christmas she turns the transport office into Santa’s grotto for one day for the local children. Father Christmas comes and visits and Marel does all the shopping for the children’s gifts herself – last year 120 children came to the grotto over four hours!

The future for the organisation is something Marel thinks about often. She needs support in the office and new drivers to protect the service in the years ahead, but the day-to-day operation takes precedence. Finding the energy and capacity to think about the future is difficult.

One of the most amazing things is Marel does nothing online, and yet despite this she provides a hugely successful service to the community in Pwllheli. I visited her during Small Charity Week – whose motto this year was ‘small but mighty’. Marel’s own motto is ‘never give in, never give up’. Both are a fitting description of Cymrod Clwb Teithio Dwyfor.