Linda Tavernor

Left to right :  Paul Tavernor, Linda Tavernor and  Stuart Farnell

Abergele Community Money Advice

“The glue that sticks us all together”

Occasionally, just occasionally an exceptional individual comes along, a ‘go to person’ who’ll sort things out and get things done. Lucky for Abergele, they have just that exceptional person. Her name ? – Linda Tavernor.

Linda Tavernor is the company secretary of Abergele Community Action. She set up Abergele Youth Action (now named Abergele Community Action) in 2001, as a youth inclusion project. In 2005, Linda set up an internet café and community hub called Itaca to work alongside the youth project to provide the community with internet and computer access and computer skills. The Gwynt y Môr Community Fund awarded funds to Abergele Community Action in 2016 to ensure the survival of the Itaca project. 

In 2019, Abergele Youth Shed was established in partnership with Youth Shedz Cymru. The Youth Shed is a safe space available to young people in Abergele aged 10-25 who are, or at risk of becoming excluded from societal opportunities, to engage in constructive activities which are chosen by the young people for young people. The building renovations adjacent to Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan which facilitated the set up of the Youth Shed were partly funded by the Gwynt y Môr community fund.

Further Linda achievements include Abergele District Foodbank which was set up by Linda in 2013 and is affiliated to The Trussel Trust. Last year, the foodbank supplied people in the community with 1,376 three-day emergency food supply packs. In 2022, the Gwynt y Môr community fund and the Rhyl Flats community fund awarded a total of £60,000 to employ 2 foodbank co-ordinators for 3 years.

Not yet done, in 2018, the ‘Abergele Community Money Advice’ service was launched, which is affiliated to Community Money Advice, a national organisation. This service provides free, confidential money advice to people in the community including managing debt. Abergele Community Money Advice has supported clients with a total debt of £906,280.00 including obtaining 2 bankruptcies, 30 Debt Relief Orders, 1 IVA, and 3 Debt Management Plans. The Gwynt y Môr community fund has contributed over £50,000 to date towards the running of this service.

All projects under the umbrella of Abergele Community Action are overseen by Linda Tavernor herself. Linda also manages the finances of all projects, including applying for funding. As Abergele Community Action is almost entirely reliant on grant funding, this work is vital. She also organises all Trustee meetings. It is safe to say that these community services provided by Abergele Community Action would not be possible without Linda’s hard work. The Abergele Youth Shed has 90 young people in attendance weekly, and the Community Money Advice service currently has a case load of 116 people. The Abergele District Foodbank provides a vital service to the community, supplying over 13,393 people with emergency food parcels since 2013. The demand of the foodbank will likely increase due to the cost of living crisis and will be more important than ever. Exceptional ? – we think so . For Linda, - just a walk in the park , Pentre Mawr Park !