Welsh Housing Awards 2026
Read all the shortlisted entries into this award category, Community-Focused Contractor, at the Welsh Housing Awards (WHA) 2026 and find out who won the award on the night.
This award recognises the contribution that contractors can make towards the local community and economy.
Winning project name
Long Meadow Development
Winning organisation
Hedyn
Partner organisation
Hale Group
Statement of support
We are delighted that our Longmeadow development is reaching its handover milestone with JG Hale Group Ltd. The project represents a significant investment in Lliswerry, transforming a former sheltered housing scheme into 35 sustainable houses and apartments designed for the future. Alongside the new homes, Hedyn and JG Hale Group Ltd have delivered a wide-ranging programme of community benefits and social value projects, creating lasting opportunities for local people.
Using an Asset Based Community Development approach, the programme responded to priorities identified locally and supported health and wellbeing, education, inclusion, sport, creativity and the environment. Initiatives shaped through consultation and collaboration with residents, schools, community organisations and specialist partners, ensuring that the benefits reached beyond the construction site.
Lliswerry Fishing Ponds
Hedyn and Hale created two accessible fishing pegs for disabled users and installed educational boards developed with Natural Resources Wales and fishing kit. These improvements have helped the ponds establish family fishing sessions and expand provision for children and adults with additional learning needs, making an important local asset more inclusive while supporting outdoor learning, recreation and wellbeing.
Placemaking and public art
Creative projects have transformed overlooked spaces, including the Pontfaen shop mural and bespoke Broadmead and Moorland signs. Working with Lliswerry Primary School, Lliswerry High School, local artist Andy O’Rourke and Tanio, children and young people took part in creative sessions, graffiti project and sign refurbishment. The work has built skills, strengthened community pride, increased engagement with harder-to-reach groups and helped reduce opportunities for antisocial behaviour.
Lliswerry Primary School
In response to concerns about unsafe parking outside the school, the programme supported practical road-safety and active-travel measures. Character-logo cut-out parking signs were purchased to discourage inconsiderate parking, and safe-cycling sessions were funded for every Year 5 and Year 6 pupil, promoting safer journeys, confidence and healthy travel habits.
Local sport and resource reuse
Youth sport received practical support through Lliswerry Lizards and Corries Football Club, including laptops and defibrillator. A wider recycling initiative with Men’s Shed also enabled refurbished Hedyn laptops to be donated locally, while the construction site’s defibrillator kit was donated after completing its standby role.
Raven House Trust
Regular donations and hands-on support at community days have helped sustain the trust’s essential work. A kitchen refurbishment, delivered as a Hale social value project, has strengthened facilities for the food bank and community cooking programme, creating a more effective and welcoming space for volunteers and residents.
Sheltered scheme garden project
New garden furniture and board games were donated to the residents’ social group, creating more opportunities for people to come together, build relationships and enjoy shared activities. This simple intervention has supported wellbeing, encouraged participation and helped reduce loneliness and isolation.
Community environmental project
Working with the estates team, additional planting was introduced to improve local green spaces and enhance biodiversity. Pollinator-friendly plants and wildflower seed have been added across grassed areas, providing habitat and food sources for wildlife while making the neighbourhood more attractive for residents.
Taken together, these projects show that Longmeadow is about more than delivering homes. The development has used construction investment to create inclusive facilities, support learning, encourage active lifestyles, strengthen community organisations and improve the local environment. Crucially, the work has been carried out with the community rather than simply for it.
As Longmeadow reaches handover, its legacy can already be seen in safer spaces, stronger partnerships and new opportunities for participation. We are proud of what has been achieved with JG Hale Group Ltd and our community. Longmeadow demonstrates how housing development can generate social value and help create a healthier, more connected and sustainable Lliswerry for everyone.
Outcomes and achievements
Throughout the Longmeadow project, we supported initiatives across health and wellbeing, arts and creativity, environmental improvement and sustainability, delivering practical benefits while strengthening local pride, participation and connection.
The principle is simple: people respond to their surroundings. Broken windows theory suggests visible neglect can contribute to further decline, reflecting what communities understand instinctively: places shape how people feel, behave and relate to one another.
Community art has turned overlooked spaces into visible expressions of identity and belonging. Residents, schools, artists and local organisations helped shape and deliver the work, building skills, opening conversations and engaging groups that can be harder to reach.
Regeneration is often measured through homes, buildings and investment, all vital during a housing crisis. However, successful places are emotional as well as physical. By combining sustainable development with community-led action, Longmeadow has improved local spaces, supported wellbeing, reduced isolation and antisocial behaviour, and fostered ownership.
Over the project period, we supported more than 2,400 people, invested approximately £37,000 in community benefit and social value, and created 24 employment and work experience opportunities: seven apprentices, two trainees, five work placements and 10 new appointments. The project shows lasting regeneration must happen with communities.
Shortlisted entries
Lovell Partnerships Ltd - Ringland Regeneration
Application entry
- Project name: Ringland Regeneration
- Lead organisation: Lovell Partnerships Ltd
- Partner organisation: Hedyn
Statement of support
The £48 million Ringland Regeneration is transforming the heart of one of Newport's most established communities. Delivered in partnership with Hedyn, the scheme is replacing the former Ringland Shopping Centre with 158 new homes for social rent and 12 modern retail units, creating a vibrant mixed-use neighbourhood that will serve local people for generations to come. However for Lovell, successful regeneration is about far more than the physical transformation of a place. From the outset, we have been committed to ensuring local people benefit throughout the delivery of the project, not just at completion.
Community benefit has been embedded into every stage of our approach. Working closely with Hedyn, local residents, schools, charities and community organisations, we have developed a social value programme shaped by local priorities, creating opportunities, supporting wellbeing and strengthening community resilience.
One of the most impactful examples of this approach was our Christmas Community Meal initiative, delivered in partnership with Hedyn, Newport Youth Academy, Business in the Community and Celtic Manor Resort. Developed in response to concerns around food poverty and social isolation, the initiative provided more than 120 Christmas meals to vulnerable, older and less mobile residents across the community. By bringing together organisations with a shared commitment to supporting local people, we delivered practical assistance while helping residents feel connected and valued during the festive period.
Supporting community organisations has also been a key priority. Through our engagement with The Beresford Centre, a Newport-based charity providing counselling and support services for individuals experiencing unexpected pregnancy, baby loss and post-termination challenges, we identified opportunities to strengthen the charity's long-term sustainability. Our social value team provided guidance on funding applications, digital capability and fundraising, helping the charity secure more than £12,000 in funding. This support has helped safeguard vital services for local families and strengthened the organisation's ability to continue supporting those most in need.
We have also invested in community facilities and opportunities for young people. Working with local schools, our teams have delivered engagement activities that promote careers in construction, raise aspirations and improve awareness of health and safety. Through practical improvements to local facilities and educational engagement, we have sought to ensure that young people can share in the benefits of the regeneration taking place within their community.
Targeted recruitment and skills development are central to our commitment to delivering lasting social value. To date, 10 people have benefited from employment and skills opportunities through the project, including eight local residents, four new local employees and two apprentices. We have also supported seven individuals who were previously furthest from the workforce, helping them access pathways into training and employment.
A powerful example of this impact is Social Value Apprentice Amber Hone. Amber initially joined Lovell through a placement with Newport Youth Academy before progressing into a permanent apprenticeship role with Lovell. Her journey demonstrates how meaningful work experience can create life-changing opportunities and inspire young people to pursue careers they may never previously have considered.
Reflecting on her experience, Amber said: "The more time I spent with the team, the more I understood how important it is to support communities where Lovell is building. I never imagined myself working in construction. In fact, I'm writing this in a site office, which is something I never thought I'd do. I love how passionate the company is about its goals and how the social value team works together, they're like a family. I already felt part of that family before I was offered the apprenticeship."
Our commitment to inclusion extends beyond traditional recruitment routes. Through engagement with Careers Wales at HMP Prescoed, Lovell met with 30 prisoners approaching release to discuss employment opportunities within construction and the pathways available through both Lovell and our supply chain partners.
What makes Ringland stand out is that social value has never been treated as a contractual requirement. Together with Hedyn, we have embedded community benefit into the fabric of the project, investing in people, places and partnerships. As a result, Ringland is already delivering positive change, creating opportunities, supporting local organisations and helping build a stronger, more resilient community long before the final homes are completed.
Outcomes and achievements
Ringland Regeneration has already delivered significant and measurable benefits for local people, communities and the wider Newport economy.
To date, the project has generated £422,355 of independently verified social value through the Social Value Portal. Through our targeted employment and skills programme, 10 people have benefited from employment and training opportunities, including eight local residents, four new local employees and two apprentices. In addition, seven individuals furthest from the workforce have received support to access employment and skills opportunities.
Working alongside Hedyn and local partners, Lovell has delivered a range of community initiatives that directly address local needs. This includes facilitating the provision of more than 120 Christmas meals for vulnerable residents, helping tackle food poverty and social isolation during the festive period.
The project has engaged 73 community members through social value activities and delivered 60 hours of community-focused support, including volunteering and specialist advice.
Lovell's support also enabled The Beresford Centre to secure over £12,000 in additional funding, helping safeguard vital services for local families. Alongside this, Hedyn invested approximately £50,000 to refurbish Edward German Park Playground, creating an enhanced community asset for local children and families.
Together, these achievements demonstrate how Ringland is delivering lasting social, economic and community value alongside the physical regeneration of the area.
