Inside the estate where 'hundreds of kids are starving and mums live off energy drinks'

Charity says 600 people in small community in Wales are relying on food bank parcels to eat

Hundreds of children are starving on the streets of one of the poorest housing estates in Wales - and their mums are living off energy drinks so they can feed them - a charity has claimed.

The Given to Shine charity, which takes food to deprived areas of Wrexham, is now delivering half of its 200 parcels a week to struggling families on the Caia Park estate. 

A spokeswoman for the charity told North Wales Live. they were giving food to 600 people on the estate - 450 of which were children. 

"We are seeing mums in hospital," she said. 

"They are living off energy drinks just so their children can eat. It is heartbreaking.

"We have definitely seen a massive increase since the summer months. The little amount people earn is having to spent on energy bills."

The Queensway 1 area in Caia Park, Wrexham was recently ranked the 9th poorest in Wales on a Welsh Government (WG) index, reports North Wales Live.

But those that live, work and volunteer there say that while the figures do show the scale of deprivation on parts of the estate, they don't tell the terrible story how children are going hungry, with hundreds now relying on handouts.

According to figures published earlier in the year by the End Child Poverty campaign, Caia Park has the worst rates of child poverty in Wales, said county councillor for the Wynnstay ward on the estate, Malcolm King.

The estate has long had some of the most deprived ranked wards in Wales, where just 50 yards away across the road in Rhosnesni, life expectancy is seven years more, he said.

Parts of Caia Park are smart and tidy and don't fit a stereotypical picture people who have not visited the estate may have.  But walking on the streets around Queensway, past the empty Red Dragon pub, litter strewn across the car park and nearby boarded up properties, this is not an area a first world country should aspire to for its people.

Residents were understandably reluctant to talk to North Wales Live about the problems they faced, perhaps ashamed of the situation they've reluctantly found themselves locked into, while council chiefs insist they are supporting and developing the community.

Cllr King, a former Wrexham council leader who runs The Venture playscheme on the estate, said: "The most important figures are the child poverty figures released in April which show Caia Park was had the first and second worst areas in Wales. In fact three out of the top four were on the estate.

"There are no other housing estates in the UK where this happens, it has the largest concentration of child poverty anywhere."

Austerity has hit the estate hard, said Cllr King, with services cut and with the close of the anti-poverty Communities First scheme in Wrexham, The Venture has become a one-stop shop for families and people looking for advice and a range of issues from health to social services.

"It has been a steady decline," he said.

"Children are now coming to The Venture, not to play, but to get something to eat because they are starving.

"They are suffering from malnutrition and its unbelievable that's happening in a first world country and we know that children born into poor families are more likely to have health problems."

Cllr King says crime has not gone up to the levels it was at 40 years ago, but possibly to where it was 10 years previously.

Over at St Mark's Church, church army officer Chris Lawton told, although the church had suffered vandalism, there was a growing sense of community.

But he also told how children were going hungry and the church had launched a Holiday Hunger scheme to feed youngsters who don't have access to paid school dinners, when when they are off and can see 120 kids.

"It's very sad," he said. "We initially only had one or two families turning up at most to our food bank, now we can have 14-15 families."

Wrexham and Caia Park in particular, has had a major problem with car arson in recent years and on Bryn Eglwys outside the church, the charred remains of another burned out vehicle stained the road.

However local Brian Hyde says he feels safe in the area.

"That is the first incident I have seen on this road in 15 years," he said: "Everbody knows everybody else here and they look out for each other.

"Queensway does have its problems, but over here I do feel safe and it is quite quiet."

Working over at The Venture, community councillor Colin Powell said: "Not a lot has changed here in the last 15 years. It does feel as though the estate has been abandoned by Wrexham council.

"Wrexham is fairly affluent place but Caia Park is not getting the help it needs."

Cllr King added: "There are some positives in Caia Park, there is a community spirit, and there are a lot of hard working people, working ridiculous hours an low wages, in jobs that other people would not do.

"But it needs a large increase in funding to bring it back to where it was years ago and the council could be doing more and the council needs to do more."

In response Wrexham council released a comprehensive statement.

It said: "The council ran the Communities First operation in Caia Park and Hightown between 2013 and 2018, until the closure of the programme.

"The council has maintained a Communities for Work team based on the Caia Park Estate and in Plas Madoc since this time and this project, funded by European Social Fund is expected to continue to 2023 with funding of £1,977,350 confirmed.

"This employability support programme was expanded in 2018 with the addition of the WG’s Communities for Work Plus programme, which increased the number of participants eligible for employability support. As per the Communities for Work programme, Communities for Work Plus is delivered across two operations on the Caia Park Estate and in Plas Madoc, and is worth a total of £431,300.

"The Legacy Fund was launched for an initial period of 2018/19 to 2019/20, and the council has used this fund to provide andadditional officer to work in each of the Caia Park and Plas Madoc operations, as well as a training budget and barriers fund to further complement the Communities for Work teams, which totals £90,000.

"The project is based out of the Caia Park Partnership offices. Through this combination of employability support, more than 200 people have been supported into paid employment to date.

"The council also used the Legacy Fund to create and Employability Support Grant worth £146,447, which was available to previous providers of Communities First services. Applications for financial support were approved for the two  years of the fund from The Venture Playground Ltd. as lead for the Wrexham Youth & Play Partnership (which also includes Gwenfro Valley ICC) and the Caia Park Partnership.

"The council has supported the Caia Park Partnership to secure Asset Transfer arrangements and physical improvements to its buildings on Prince Charles Road, which has led to the creation of the Hwb element of the Partnership and also the extension of the Sparkles Day Nursery, which received funding through the Vibrant & Viable Places Programme.

"The council is currently supporting the assignment of the lease at the Red Dragon Public House, and planning permission is being sought for its conversion into a new, modern convenience store; and is currently working to support the granting of a lease to Wrexham Youth & Play Partnership for the Gwenfro Valley site.

"We have also used the Enabling Natural Resources and Well-being Grant, worth £477,035, for Wrexham’s Green Infrastructure Project, based three days per week in Caia Park.

"The council identified the Nant Silyn site in Pont Wen, Caia Park for new council house building, and a scheme of 14 units was approved by planning committee earlier this year.

"Gwenfro & Hafod y Wern Schools have been modernised / built as part of the 21 Century School programme with total investment of £10,285,000.

"The council has invested heavily, and continues to be committed to delivering and achieving the Welsh Housing Quality Standard by December 2020. Major investment and significant programmes of work have been ongoing since 2013, this includes large programmes of work in the Caia Park estate.

"Caia is the largest area where properties have, and continue, to receive major refurbishment works when empty, as well as new and efficient central heating systems, electrical rewires, and the recently commenced external works programme.

"In addition, the council’s Void Refurbishment Programme has seen investment of £5,220,000 in the Caia Park Estate in the last 12 months.

"The council has also facilitated repair works to the Venture Playground through Community Benefits approaches."