Translation form

Text block 1

A local debate about housing Ukrainian war refugees on an old school site in Llantwit Major has sparked unwelcome interest from the far-right group, Patriotic Alternative.As part of a concerted community response in favour of peace and welcome in the area, St Illtud’s Church are holding an overnight vigil on Friday 24th March.Beginning at 11.30pm on Friday and lasting until breakfast at 7am on Saturday 25th, the vigil is open to people of all faiths or no-faith as a space to think, pray, and be with other members of the community for food and activities.Vicar of St Illtud’s Church, Fr Edwin Counsell said, “Llantwit Major is a generous and welcoming community. This vigil places prayer and togetherness at the centre of our life, and my prayer is that we will invite God’s blessing and peace to our town.”Each hour of the vigil will develop a theme around readings, reflections and music, and pizza is available to all. At 3am there will be a ‘Punk Hour’, with videos and music remembering Rock Against racism in the late 1970s. There will be prayers such as the Rosary at 1.30am and 4.30am, alongside secular poetry and readings. St Mark’s Gospel will be livestreamed on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/stilltudschurch) from start to finish from 5.00am.The vigil organisers are also encouraging people to bake Welsh Cakes which will be handed out in the town on Saturday morning as a symbol of local hospitality.The school site in question has been out of commission for seven years and the refugee housing debate is part of a wider discussion for the long-term plan for the site. Fr Edwin said there is a feeling that the far-right group are ‘muscling in’ on a strictly local matter which will be debated at 11am on Saturday 25th in the town square.The overnight vigil is part of a much bigger programme of community events in Llantwit Major which can be found on the Llantwit24 website: https://llantwit24.wixsite.com/llantwit24