With a few days to go until the big day in Cardiff, excitement is at fever pitch across Wales. Bethan Davies reveals plans for the rally and march.
You might already have seen the Virtual Relay to the Rally sweeping through your county and the #homesforwales hashtag is a constant stream of activity. I’ve become obsessed with checking Accu Weather for the latest weather predictions… no rain currently scheduled for the afternoon so fingers crossed it stays that way! Plans are all coming together, but we need your support to create the biggest impact we possibly can on Friday 4th March.
So what’s the Homes for Wales campaign all about and why are we organising a rally?
The Homes for Wales campaign has been set up by a coalition of organisations (Community Housing Cymru, CIH Cymru, Welsh Tenants, Residential Landlords Association, Home Builders Federation, RTPI Cymru, Care & Repair Cymru and Shelter Cymru) ahead of the National Assembly for Wales elections in May. We believe that everyone has the right to a decent affordable home, and housing needs to be acknowledged as a key issue by all political parties to help us to achieve this. No one can make the case for a housing crisis alone which is why we’ve come together to set up this cross-tenure campaign.
Homes for Wales stands behind one simple message – End the housing crisis, build a stronger Wales. We ask that the next Welsh Government publishes an ambitious plan for housing as part of the new Programme for Government that sets out how they will end the housing crisis in Wales. We’re busy attending all party conferences to speak to politicians directly, but we also need to get members of the public involved so that they share their housing story with politicians on the doorstep. We need to get everyone talking about housing.
The Homes for Wales rally on 4th March will be the big showpiece of the campaign and our opportunity to show Wales that we’re serious about ending the housing crisis, as well as gathering support from members of the public. We’ll start at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay at 1:30pm with speeches from key sectors on why housing is the cornerstone and lifeblood of every community in Wales, then we’ll march to the Hayes area of the city centre for a celebratory afternoon of entertainment, music and campaign videos. The videos will be inspiring, emotive and relevant… you’ll have to come along if you want to find out more!
People are travelling from all over Wales on buses, cars, trains and bicycles. You can find out who’s coming from where on the campaign website: homesfor.wales/homes-for-wales-rally.html
This is your opportunity to join 1,000 attendees and add your voice to the Homes for Wales campaign. If you can’t attend, you can still pledge your support for the campaign and share your housing story on the Homes for Wales website: homesfor.wales/support-the-campaign.html
Join us in calling on the next Welsh Government to end the housing crisis and build a stronger Wales – I look forward to seeing you on 4th March.
Bethan Davies is communications manager at Community Housing Cymru