YOUNG people in Milford Haven and their families were supported over the summer by a special project designed to lessen the impact of coronavirus on their everyday lives.

The Milford Haven Community Covid Care project aimed to help families and the wider community to cope with the added pressures that the pandemic placed on them.

It was run by Milford Haven School jointly with Milford Youth Matters, who together secured funding from the Big Lottery Community Fund.

Thanks to the grant, a huge amount of resources and support were injected into the local community over the summer holidays, including:

• 165 meal packs, along with 35 vegetarian packs and supplements

• 25 healthy cookbooks, written by a local nutritionist

• 90 Boredom Buster activity packs for children and young people aged 0-16

• 52 children's craft packs

• more than 500 reading books

• a large donation of resources to Havenhurst care home for residents

• more than 1,300 sanitary pads and 135 reusable sanitary pad packs

The Big Lottery grant was secured jointly by Gemma Baker from Milford Haven School and Dayle Gibby from Milford Youth Matters.

Dayle Gibby said: "It has been absolutely fantastic to work in partnership with Milford Haven School.

“It was an honour to deliver these services to young people and the wider community during these difficult and unprecedented times.

He added that he looked forward to working with the school again in the future. “We continue to look for as many avenues as possible to support local residents that need our help,” he said.

Gemma Baker from Milford Haven School said they were proud to have set up the 'MHCCC' project with Milford Youth Matters.

“We feel it has benefited our school community on a large scale during a time when need was truly great,” she said.

“We would like to thank the Big Lottery Community Fund for their financial support, without which none of this would have been possible.”

Cllr Guy Woodham, Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning and member for Milford East, said: “I have always believed that more can be achieved by organisations and people working together than alone and this project is an excellent example of such an approach.

“I’d like to congratulate everyone involved, especially Dayle and Gemma, and thank them for everything they have done and continue to do, for the benefit of local young people and their families”.