Community
is
Everything
People visit Wrexham for its heritage, history and vibrant community.
Without community, we have nothing. On this page we bring stories of community from locals and from visitors - all connecting with Wrexham.
A story of how one man changed the world.
Terry Fox
Foundation
Last month, we arrived early for the Miners Project annual meeting, just in time ahead of a storm that was also arriving in Wrexham, and was getting some lunch in at their bustling and popular cafeteria.
We sat down and met with Fred Fox who was kind enough to share his table with us over his lunch.
We got talking and got an understanding of exactly why he was here and how we might be able to help him and support the Terry Fox Foundation.
Fred was at the Miners because he was speaking at the Wrexham Miners Project AGM taking place that day, and Wendy and Michael Hett as board trustees had welcomed and escorted Fred to visit two local schools in Wrexham, and hosted him at the Wrexham vs Birmingham game the night before.
Fred Fox lives in Vancouver, Canada and was also visiting Wrexham ahead of the annual Terry Fox Run that was taking place at Belle Vue Park in Wrexham.
The Wrexham Terry Fox Run was organised by the Wrexham committee for the second year running. If any locals would like to get involved in future runs, they can contact either the Wrexham or UK Terry Fox team directly. The charity supported is The Institute of Cancer Research.
Fred’s went on to tell us he is the slightly older brother to Terry Fox. Terry Fox’s life story is one of the most famous stories worldwide of what any one person can achieve in the face of adversity.
We were humbled to have had the chance meeting together and connect whilst Fred was touring the UK, who was still actively fundraising and running himself all these years later.
Humphrey Ker, Patron of Wrexham Miners Project, meeting with The Terry Fox Foundation team guests at the AGM.
Saying why he was chosen as a guest speaker at the Miners Project in Wrexham, Fred went on to say;
"I have come to a place I was meant to be. I feel very much a part of this community and belong here. My brother Terry would’ve felt exactly the same, we were both hard-working Canadians and feel part of this.
Terry ran 143 marathons in a row having had cancer and going through everything, but was still making a difference. He ran from mid-April through to September 1st in hope, and to give others hope. We all know someone who has been affected by cancer, and the Terry Fox Foundation is all about volunteering and giving sacrifices to those to make a better world. The event runs here in Wrexham and in 34 other countries worldwide, helping others all over the world make a massive difference.”
Terry Fox’s story is legendary. Numerous films and documentaries have been made over the years and decades celebrating the amazing achievement of such a strong and determined young man.
This short clip is supporting a new film in production called Run Terry Run that is scheduled for release in early 2026, and we’d encourage you to watch it now.
If you’d like to support the Terry Fox Foundation directly, you can make a donation directly through their website Support Cancer Research - Terry Fox Foundation and if local, do get in touch with either the Wrexham or UK Terry Fox team directly.
Supporting those with vision impairment across Wrexham.
Vision
Support
We first met Stephanie Harding, Fundraiser at a recent Wrexham Connect event, where she was invited to speak about the valuable work their charity undertakes every day. Their story and work inspired us and we have signed up to help them in their ongoing fundraising efforts together and bring their story to the readers of Visit Wrexham. Stephanie is pictured centre below with local fellow fundraisers.
Approximately 2 million people in the UK are living today with some degree of sight loss, and around 24,000 Certificates of Vision Impairment (CVI) are issued each year. Additionally, it is estimated that the number of people living with vision impairment in the UK will increase from around 2 million to approximately 4 million by 2050.
Vision Support provides valuable services across North Wales and Cheshire for people with a vision impairment and work hard to support people to feel confident, connected and capable. Established nearly 150 years ago they have helped countless people in the Wrexham area deal with the loss of vision and support them in meaningful ways to help them rebuild their lives.
Every penny donated does make a big difference. Money received through donations goes on to support their valuable services, including social events, counselling, digital skills, welfare rights advice and home visiting services.
Donations go towards helping people with vision impairments thrive. Frank who is one of their local benefactors said “It’s nice being with people in the community, being at the crafts sessions. I don’t feel as isolated now and everyone, including myself has made more friends”.
The charity makes a lot of effort to raise awareness of vision impairment to support and encourage a more inclusive and empathetic society. It has a busy schedule of forthcoming events planned as they prepare to celebrate their forthcoming 150th anniversary in 2026.
And as we head towards the end of this year, Visit Wrexham will be proudly supporting Vision Support at their next fundraising event called Santa Stumble 2025.
This event will be held in Chester City Centre on Saturday 29 November, where up to 40 Santas will be undertaking a highly spirited and organised pub crawl and competition around town to raise awareness and funds for the charity.
There will many more events and news to share on the future progress that Stephanie and the team continue to make in the new year, and we look forward to sharing news and supporting them in due course.
So if you’d like to join us for a fun day out and raising funds for a good cause, there are still a few spaces remaining – note the dress code is strictly santa. You can sign up using their link below. All fees generated from sales of tickets go direct to the charity.
https://checkout.square.site/merchant/MLBK668WY8MVQ/checkout/O3PANLDWEZJZBBJ5VFGOONEW
If this charity has inspired you, you can sponsor us for their next event via our Just Giving page here:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/visit-wrexham
Or you can make a direct donation to : Support Vision Support - Make a Donation Today. 100% of all sponsorships made via Just Giving and donations you make via the link above go direct to the charity.
Saving history and building community
Wrexham
Miners
Project
We met John Gallander, the Chair of the trustees of the Wrexham Miners Project in September who sat down with us to share their story and range of events that are catered for the community by their team of volunteers.
The official charity of neighbouring Wrexham AFC, John invited us to attend their annual general meeting in October to get a real sense of what they have achieved over the past, and what they have now planned for the future.
The story of how the Wrexham Miners Project came into being stems from tragedy. The Gresford Colliery Disaster occurred on 22 September 1934 in the Gresford Colliery, located just north of Wrexham, resulting in the deaths of 266 miners. The disaster had a lasting impact on the local community and led to major reforms in mine safety regulations across the UK. To this day, the Gresford mining disaster is still remembered as a tragic event in Welsh history and is commemorated every year at The Wrexham Miners Project.
The Wrexham Miners Project was formed some 10 years ago to create a hub in the community, sited on the original rescuers station for the tragedy. This original site was then repurposed into a miners training station for decades afterwards.
Staffed by a loyal team of volunteers today, some of whom themselves were miners themselves, they have transformed the former derelict site over the past 10 years into a living museum for the former industry that once dominated Wrexham.
We met with some of the founders and members of the team running the project today at a pivotal moment in its history. With grand plans for a major development of the building, funded by a new heritage lottery application – there is much planned for its next chapter. The first phase of this program will be the superintendent house next door, and with the commitment of the team behind the application, the team hope their plans will move forward, with formal applications and searches for additional grants, all aiming to secure the funding required to transform the site into a major destination centre over the coming years.
Offering chargeable tours for visitors who arrive every day from all over the world, and working with some 13 local schools, including the local beavers and scouting associations, they have steadily grown their social channels and community connections to satisfy the demand for the local history.
In turn they now provide valuable community services and spaces for locals, some of whom are direct descendants of those mining families affected by the disaster.
Today the site focuses on community needs, and with increased plans for arts and art festivals, fundraising events and catering for a wide range of diverse audiences, the site has become multi-purpose in nature and offering something for all. Their latest mining village art installation combines everything into one art exhibition.
And with Humphrey Ker as their Patron, the project has also just appointed Mickey Thomas, one of the greatest legendary goal scorers for Wrexham, as their Ambassador, which connects them even more to the club, reinforcing their chances of long-term success.
We have no doubt that the Project will go from strength to strength given their collective passion, commitment and love for the people of Wrexham, and we look forward to updating progress and sharing further updates on their plans and developments in the near future. In the meantime, you can help the work that the whole team are hoping to achieve by donating to them directly using the link below.
Set for a bright future it’s
Park in
the Past
In early autumn we were fortunate enough to spend a whole afternoon over at Park in the Past, located only a 10-minute drive north of Wrexham town centre, occupying a beautiful spot in the Welsh countryside, nestled at the foot of Hope Mountain.
A physically impressive site in scale of some 120 acres with a 35-acre lake, Park in the Past is a truly phenomenal visionary project as it offers a uniquely exciting day out and encompasses nature, archaeology, history and ecology all in one stunning setting.
Feeling like a life’s work for the small team of founders and volunteers involved who are some 10 years into their quest, we were treated to a personalised, guided tour of all the different projects and builds that are in various stages of completion, dotted around their extensive and thoughtfully planned out site.
A former quarry, the site was previously abandoned to nature with limited options for future uses – that was until Paul Harston and his team set their bold and clear vision out to the local council. Born locally, Paul’s father was also a well-read and regarded local historian, and Paul himself grew up with a similar passion for local history and had a particular interest in Roman history and archaeology.
We first came to know Paul many years ago when his friendly face was a familiar sight giving popular guided tours around Chester City centre dressed in his full Roman soldier regalia. Paul spent many years searching the UK for a perfect site to achieve such a grand vision, and it was completely by fluke the opportunity finally arose, and such a site being located on his very own doorstep.
Paul and his team offer their team of volunteers training, safe working environments, and is supportive of local communities and veterans in particular looking for skilled work training opportunities, all set in pleasant, relaxing and calming settings.
Possessing the world’s only full-sized reconstructed Roman fort as their great reveal, it is further amplified with other grand designs and builds located around the park. The fort was built using research and experimental archaeology techniques.
There is also an Earth House which can hold up to 250 people, and everything designed has been physically built on site, following strict architectural footprints, based on other historical Roman sites in the UK, with everything made as close as possible to being authentic.
Paul highlighted the painstaking attention to detail the team takes with the colours and patterns on fabrics faithfully copied from local museums and artefacts. We certainly felt like we had time travelled back to that period. This was made even more believable with some of the volunteer carpenters quietly working on site under cover, using traditional methods and materials and the faint aroma of died down fires from the night before filling the air. We even met a business owner on site who makes real mead nearby!
The crowning beauty of the site is their beautiful crystal-clear lake, which offers a ½ mile swim when swum across its longest section out and back, and in places is up to 90 feet deep. We saw evidence of a beaver who has decided to settle here as well. Offering so many choices for long summer days out there is a beach, sauna tent, wild swimming, boating and sailing – and with a strict no engine policy the site remains tranquil, peaceful and supporting both mindfulness and well-being.
With a great future potential and a lovely café already on site, the team have grand plans to turn this into a world class destination, and we can believe it. Hosting many organised events already throughout the year that include organised trips from schools across the north of the UK and Wales. Events also include Viking weekends with longships on the lake, Roman Days, Natural World Days, Bronze Age Days and re-enactments, meaning there is something for everyone. Park in the Past has a bright future.
Proudly supporting our Veterans
Woody's Lodge
Supporting, Mentoring and Signposting Veterans, Emergency Services, Reservists, and their families is the mission statement for Woody’s Lodge. We met with Graham Jones, CEO to learn a bit more about what they do both here in Wrexham, and what valuable support they offer veterans right across the country.
Every year, Woody’s Lodge supports thousands of veterans and their families in Wales by assisting with tasks like form filling, medical referrals, benefit applications, and appeals. Since 2018, they’ve helped secured over £1.0 million in public benefits for those in need.
The charity was inspired by former marine and elite SBS member Paul ‘Woody’ Woodland who wanted to retire to a remote lodge in the countryside with his family once his military career was over.
Sadly, Paul never got the chance to realise this ambition as he lost his life in a training accident so the charity was formed in his memory to help achieve this ambition, and to fulfil his dream for others.
Graham explained that their services are family centric so they offer direct support for both the veterans who are affected and their immediate family, dependent on the type of support they might need.
With a wide range of different initiatives and activities they have undertaken numerous projects that included refurbishment of properties for veterans to occupy, volunteering opportunities, organising annual charity bike rides for both fundraising and community needs, and the launch of a dedicated high street charity shop, right here in the heart of Wrexham on Chester Street.
Many veterans find it challenging to seek help and may struggle to re-engage with local services after leaving the military. This can lead to missed opportunities for essential support in areas like housing, healthcare, and pensions. Woody’s Lodge offers a welcoming social hub where Veterans, Reservists, and Emergency Service personnel can access the resources and support they need to transition successfully into civilian life.
Graham and his team are always keen to foster and develop local partnerships with fellow organisations here in Wrexham and Wales who are forces friendly and particularly those who have signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant.
If this story has inspired you, you can make a direct donation to their charity via their website charity donation page Woody's Lodge - Donate now They also take quality clothing and household donations for charity sales made in their charity shop located next to the entrance to Ty Pawb on Chester Street in Wrexham.
A visit to Wrexham makes the world a happier place
The Spread
Positivity
Team
Rick is based in Toronto, Canada and visited Wrexham for his holidays this summer. We spotted their stickers around town and started following each other– and jumped on a call together to find out more.
Rick is an experienced entrepreneur and The Spread Positivity Team was set up as a project about a year ago to offer a space for the whole world to share and capture stories of random acts of kindness. Countering the negative content widely pushed on social media platforms, Ricks’ content always offers uplifting, powerful and growth themed messages – always aimed for the betterment of people and society.
Sharing stories and amplifying them for people all over the world to get involved in, Rick believes his concept – amazingly straight forward and simple - is something the world needs more than ever right now – which if many got involved, could snowball and make a massive impact. From meeting with him online the other day, we’d have to agree it’s a great idea and concept.
Hosted on a dedicated platform https://spreadpositivityteam.com/ Rick has grown his idea into an active community site with hundreds of contributors with stories from all over the world listed on his positivity panel.
Rick helps to grow the brand with stickers popping up everywhere where he visits and you will have spotted them around town. With every new follower, Rick wants them to then become active contributors on his platform and they in turn will create more followers, which will create a chain reaction and the plan is – the whole world gets involved! A simple plan and a simple strategy but could make a big difference to us all.
Give Rick’s channel a follow on YouTube, link is located here https://www.youtube.com/shorts/u28z_WTU6qM
We will be helping spread the positivity by leaving some of their stickers the team have posted to us for others to find! 😀👍Also follow them on Tiktok, Threads and Instagram.
Hiking around the world – next stop Wrexham.
Outdoor
Freak
Christian from Denmark runs a popular blogging site called Outdoor Freak. Set up about 4 years ago, and now grown to over 15,000 monthly subscribers. Christian and the Outdoor Freak team hike all over Europe in some amazing places, offering expert guides of their walks and also testing hiking and outdoors equipment in real life conditions in the field.
Next year, Christian and his team are planning a walking holiday to Wrexham and North Wales to add to their growing collection of guides, and reached out to us. We will be helping his planning with our advice and experience on the best local walks in Wrexham and suggestions for some of the more challenging routes over in Snowdonia, so they can make the most out of their visit, and of course providing him and his team a warm welcome to Wrexham in person when they visit.
Christian’s blog is aimed at anyone with an interest in outdoor equipment, travel and an outdoor lifestyle. Readers will find inspiration, guides for their travels and good tips. They have a broad portfolio of readers, whether the outdoor expert, the nature enthusiast, but also families or friends who are going on a trip and are looking for a good hiking holiday guide.
So if you like hiking and planning walking holidays abroad, we’d encourage you to follow them on socials, check out their great clips that they’ve already made for some of their trips right across Europe.
Get inspiration, visit their website and sign up to their newsletter for their growing community and look out for our future collaboration and updates when they Visit Wrexham in 2026.
Explore Even More
Eats
Popping into town for a welsh breakfast, or looking for a decent spot for brunch or lunch? Maybe a special and memorable meal? We've got you covered.
Events
With national and international events and festivals taking place throughout the year, you won't want to miss any of what goes on.
Stays
Make your visit to Wrexham an overnighter, or stay even longer. Stop over in our recommended places right here in town and nearby to extend your visit.