About us

Vision 21 (Cyfle Cymru) was founded in 1987 by Barry Shiers MBE. Originally called Gabalfa Community Workshop, the charity established a reputation for sound vocational training in a supportive environment.

The original vision and inspiration remains within the highly professional organisation that is now Vision 21 (Cyfle Cymru) offering people with a disability the opportunity to undertake vocational training with a view to employment.


We are a Registered Charity - Registered Charity Number 1046097.


We are a Registered Company - Registered Company Number 3045325.


How it all began

Vision 21 began its days in December 1986 as Gabalfa Community Workshop in a garage behind a terraced house in the Gabalfa area of Cardiff. It was established by Barry Shiers, a social worker with an industrial background. He believed that people with learning disabilities were not being given adequate opportunities to pursue their interests and he wanted to set up a service that would meet those needs.

To get started he sought funding from the Manpower Services Commission, trust funds and the Enterprise Allowance Scheme as well as making a personal financial commitment.



This enabled him to purchase a limited stock of tools and woodwork equipment. In 1987, Vocational Services agreed to provide funding for two young adults to attend the workshop for one day a week and to pay for their instruction. This marked the first financial support from the County Council.

Over the next 2 years the project gradually expanded as additional money became available from Cardiff West Community Support Team, the Welsh Office and numerous Trust Funds. New staff were taken on which allowed the workshop to take on more students and develop its range of activities. The Workshop gained charitable status and established a voluntary Management Committee. This gave parents, carers and interested professionals the opportunity to help shape the projects future.

In 1989 all the hard work was rewarded when the workshop was awarded ‘Social Work Today’s’ Community Care Award. The following year saw the strengthening of the Workshop’s position when it was able to attract funding from the European Social Fund.

This was then helped further in 1991 when comic relief donated £50,000.00 towards the cost of a new purpose built workshop.



This sum was then matched by the Welsh Office, who also matched an additional £30,000.00 raised by the Management Committee. The new workshop in the Heath was officially opened in 1991 by Nicholas Bennett MP (then Under Secretary for Wales), Rev Bob Morgan, chairman for South Glamorgan County Council, Counsellor Howard Gough and Rick Scott from Comic Relief.

Vision 21 Now



The charity has grown and developed greatly over the years and is a far cry from the small garage where it all began. Vision 21 now has 16 projects covering Catering, Horticulture, Retail, ICT, Woodwork, Pottery, Arts/Crafts and Card Making as well as Training and Mentoring, located around Cardiff, Newport and the Vale of Glamorgan.

All of these projects have grown in response to identified needs and have been started as opportunities have arisen and needs identified.

Students who attend the training projects have the opportunity to undertake nationally recognised OCN accreditation. All courses are accredited by Agored Cymru (formerly OCN Wales). Supporting and underpinning all our student training, we offer a personal development route with a strong emphasis on the development of soft skills. The personal development route is also available as a training route in its own right for students who may not be able to progress towards paid employment, but may be able to move into volunteering or other positive occupations
Vision 21 now offers a range of facilities that could hardly have been dreamed of when it began. Throughout, the charity has reviewed its service provision on a regular basis, and remains responsive to the changing needs of the people who buy into its services. It has also tried to ensure that the ingredients that made the original workshop a success have been maintained.