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'We drove 130 miles to help after flooding'

Jessica Morgan Kully Kaur Deol, Marcus Lapsa and Bill Mato are standing in front of a table laden with sandwich meal bags and boxes of crisps in the Trallwn Community Centre in Pontypridd. They are all smiling and Kully Kaur Deol and Marcus Lapsa are holding cups, with Marcus Lapsa holding what looks like a mobile phone.Jessica Morgan
Langar Aid volunteers Kully Kaur Deol, Marcus Lapsa and Bill Mato travelled to Pontypridd from Coventry to help support the community

A team from a Coventry-based charity has travelled to Pontypridd to help support a community affected by the flooding.

Volunteers from Langar Aid, part of humanitarian organisation Khalsa Aid International, said they wanted to do their bit to help those affected by Storm Bert.

A team including Marcus Lapsa, originally from Nelson, Caerphilly, took 200 packed lunches, cleaning materials and dehumidifiers.

"It was a bit emotional, obviously. It's an honour and a privilege to be able to help communities in need," said Mr Lapsa.

Marcus Lapsa Bill Mato carries a box of aid into the stone-built Trallwn Community Centre in Pontypridd. Terraced houses can be seen behind him and there is water on the pavement.Marcus Lapsa
A team from the Langar Aid charity, including Bill Mato contacted community organisers in Pontypridd to ask what they needed before driving from Coventry to help

The grandfather-of-one, who is 68, said he had met an older couple who showed him the damage caused to their home by the flooding.

"When people are at their lowest and then they have that touch of humanity and they know someone is there that cares then it does bring communities together," he said.

A major clean-up operation has been in place after the flooding caused by Storm Bert, with politicians and residents expressing concern about what they said was a lack of preparation and insufficient warning.

In the former mining community of Cwmtillery, Blaenau Gwent, buildings were left deep in sludge and mud after a landslip. Some properties were evacuated as a result.

'Amazing community spirit'

Mr Lapsa travelled to Trallwn Community Centre early on Monday morning, alongside fellow volunteers, Kully Kaur Deol and Bill Mato.

"Everybody was so lovely and so welcoming," said Mr Lapsa, adding that helping others was "what Welsh people do" and so it was good to be able to support them.

Marcus Lapsa Bill Mato, Kully Kaur Deol and Marcus Lapsa are smiling in their van driving down to Pontypridd. They are wearing blue jackets and Marcus Lapsa is wearing an orange hi-vis jacket. Mr Lapsa is driving.Marcus Lapsa
A team from the Langar Aid charity drove for about two and a half hours from Coventry to Pontypridd to help in the aftermath of the flooding

Langar Aid's project manager, Avtar Kaur said: "We saw what was happening across Wales and how people were getting affected by the floods and we were trying to see where we could help out."

She said the charity had a good group of volunteers and what they did was "following the Sikh ethos of recognising the human race as one".

Ms Kaur said they had had many positive comments from the people of Pontypridd and it was "just amazing to see the community spirit and how everyone comes together".

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