Vale CRW gives £3,000 to Merthyr special school minibus appeal

Vale CRW, the Merthyr Tydfil construction and concrete repair contractor, has made an initial £3,000 donation to Friends of Greenfield School towards a campaign to buy a new minibus for Greenfield Special School in the town.

Constructing Excellence in Wales (CEW), which announced the donation, said the charity supports the school in providing resources and opportunities for pupils with a wide range of additional learning needs.

The school educates children and young people aged three to 19, according to CEW, including pupils with moderate, severe and profound learning difficulties, autism spectrum disorders and complex medical needs.

Dylan Pritchard, Vale CRW Managing Director, said: "Greenfield School has always held a special place in my heart because my cousin, Kayleigh Price, attended the school for many years."

He added: "The school gave her opportunities, experiences and friendships that meant so much, and the care shown by the staff continued long after she left."

The charity

CEW said that since becoming a registered charity, Friends of Greenfield School has helped raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for projects and equipment at the school, including minibuses, outdoor learning facilities, sensory spaces, ICT equipment and accessible play provision.

The school's own website, which refers to the charity as Friends of Greenfield, says it has been registered since 2014 and is overseen by four trustees. It says the charity's funds have paid for four minibuses, the development of the school's outdoor learning area, a wheelchair-accessible swing and roundabout, and a new sensory room.

Money is raised through grant applications, social events, Christmas raffles and a Christmas fayre, the school said, and the charity relies on donations from parents, carers and local businesses.

The school said it currently runs four minibuses so that pupils can make links with the local and wider community. Two of the four are adapted to carry wheelchairs.

Neither CEW nor the school has published a cost or fundraising target for the new minibus.

The company

Vale CRW Ltd is registered at Companies House with its office at Pant Industrial Estate, Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil. Its registered nature of business is other specialised construction activities.

According to CEW, the firm doubled the size of its team over 2025 and moved to new purpose-designed premises at the end of the year. Its largest contract to date is structural repairs to two tower blocks at Croft Street, Swansea, working with R&M Williams and the City & County of Swansea.

Over the same period the company achieved ISO 45001 accreditation, the international standard for occupational health and safety management, and renewed its ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 certifications, CEW said.

Vale CRW was Highly Commended in the SME of the Year category at the CEW Awards in 2023 and is shortlisted again in the SME of the Year 1-50 category for 2026, alongside Burroughs, Morgan Construction Wales and Willis Construction. The company also sponsors the awards' G4C Future Leader category, with Pritchard sitting as a judge.

The CEW Awards 2026 winners will be announced on Friday 12 June at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport.