South Wales Social Impact Project: From the Ground Up
An expanding South Wales Community Interest Company and social enterprise, Silbers CIC is ‘Transforming Lives through Education, Play, and Nature’.
Silbers CIC was established in 2016, and in the past 10 years has successfully delivered a range of projects, that improved people’s lives through accessing opportunities for Education, Play and Nature.
The Mission:
Work in partnership with statutory, voluntary, community and private sector agencies across South Wales to transform lives and build tangible resilience.
Housing, Skills & Social Regeneration For Wales
Silbers CIC, alongside community partner The VC Gallery Charity is launching the first prototype modular mini-home and community hub model as part of a wider Welsh eco-village and social regeneration programme.
This is a practical, scalable solution to help address the Welsh housing, employability and rehabilitation crisis.
Building on the wider strategic roadmap for a replicable eco-village model for Wales, this next project expands the vision beyond veterans alone and introduces a progression-based training and build programme for:
- Veterans
- Young offenders
- Ex-offenders
- Homeless individuals
- People furthest from employment
Under the Silbers CIC banner, participants will work side-by-side with mentors, tradespeople and community partners to learn practical construction, woodworking, landscaping and eco-build skills while helping physically build the project itself.
Business suppliers to South Wales' police, local authorities and NHS are able to come-onboard and support the £75,000 pilot proof of concept phase.
This collective social value-led support will fund:
- One fully operational modular mini-home
- A central communal build and wellbeing hub
- Initial infrastructure and site setup
- Training delivery and mentoring pathways
- Demonstration space for funders, councils and strategic partners
The long-term aim is to develop a low-cost, replicable eco-village model capable of being rolled out across Wales, as a preventative solution to homelessness, reoffending, isolation and unemployment.
Vision Meets Welsh Objectives
Phase 1 – £75,000 Pilot
- Build first modular mini-home
- Establish communal build hub
- Train first participant cohort
- Demonstrate proof of concept
Phase 2 – Small Eco Village
- 6–10 homes
- Shared facilities
- Employability pathways
- Partner referrals from justice, housing and veteran services
Phase 3 – Replication Model
- Rollout across Wales
- Council partnerships
- Housing association collaboration
- Mobile “build and train” deployment model
Rather than people becoming dependent on systems, this model gives people the opportunity to physically build their future — literally with timber, tools and teamwork.
The project aligns strongly with Welsh Government priorities around homelessness prevention, wellbeing, sustainable development and innovative housing delivery.
Build one. Prove it works. Scale it nationally.
The first build becomes the proof-of-concept demonstration site for councils, investors, housing associations and social impact partners looking for practical alternatives to expensive temporary accommodation and repeat crisis intervention.
Because frankly, spending hundreds of pounds a week warehousing people in unsuitable temporary accommodation while skills shortages and unused land sit side-by-side is a bit like using a gold-plated spoon to dig a trench.
The project offers something very different:
A route from survival → skills → purpose → community → stability.