A RANGE of fun activities were held to mark the milestone anniversary of a Wrexham youth project.

The 40th anniversary celebration for The Venture ICC charity in Garner Road, Caia Park, took place on Saturday.

It was established in 1978 in response to extremely high youth crime and a lack of facilities within the estate.

Sion Edwards, communications manager at The Venture, told the Leader the celebration was a great success.

He explained: "We went out around Caia Park with the minibus and the children walked behind.

"We had dancing and music and we were encouraging residents to come back to The Venture and join the party.

"Then we opened up the playground and there was free food and drink, music and our Venture's Got Talent competition.

"We had six finalists and the winner was Ellie Doughty, who sang 'Never Enough' from The Greatest Showman.

"It rained in the morning but then it was sunny, so we were lucky with the weather.

"We had a very good turnout - there must have been about 200 or 300 people there."

The event also invited back old members of staff and people who had been involved in creating the play equipment over the years.

Mr Edwards added: "All the equipment is built by the young people - it gives them ownership.

"This year with it being a 40 year celebration we invited some old staff members back who we have not seen for years.

"We had some people come down as well who remembered building some of the equipment - it was great to hear their stories."

The Venture also set up a display of photos from previous years which Mr Edwards said was enjoyed by visitors.

In September the organisation will launch a new project called Ven's Shed (part of the Men's Shed scheme) for people aged 50 and over.

To find out more, visit www.theventurewrexham.com