"First a confession! I wasn't born in Gorseinon, I didn't go to school here. I can't point to any part of the town and think to myself 'ahh that's where I met my wife'. I'm not able to walk past any local church or chapel and say to the children, 'that's where your mother and I were married'.

I was born and brought up in Swansea but when we moved back to South West Wales from Colwyn Bay in 1987 we fell in love with Gorseinon and now I can say with total conviction, 'Gorseinon is my town'.

It's very difficult to pick out one area of Gorseinon life that excels above another as the town has so many groups of which it can be very proud.

Gorseinon has a great sporting tradition! However, instead of like many neighbouring communities it's not a 'one sport town' but is blessed with a wide variety of successful sporting clubs.

Gorseinon Cricket Club, the town's Rugby club have both enjoyed many years of success and still continue to nurture young talent in their respective sports. Gorseinon Football Club has dominated Carmarthenshire football for many years whilst the rise of Garden Village through the Welsh League was phenomenal. They now boast at Stafford Common some of the best facilities in Welsh football.

Gorseinon has produced a number of individual sporting greats including boxer Colin Jones who came close to winning the World Middleweight title. In rugby Gorseinon has produced two Welsh captains and a number of internationals, whilst all soccer fans should know that Leighton James is a Gorseinon boy.

Gorseinon has a very active arts and cultural scene. Gorseinon Arts Festival and Lantern Parade are now well established as annual events and both have raised community spirit and bring thousands of visitors to the town.

Local artists have an opportunity to show their work at the Institute whilst every week hundreds of people young and old attend dance classes, choral groups,drama and operatic rehearsals as they prepare for the next show at Theatre Penyrheol.

The theatre part of the town's Penyrheol Comprehensive School complex has over the years played host to some of the country's leading singers and performers and has been the stage where some very familiar names made their show business debut.

In 1996 Gorseinon saw a major change when it became part of the City and County of Swansea. However, Gorseinon has kept its unique character with an active Town Council flying the flag for the real gateway to West Wales.

There have been in recent years some low times for the town. There were few smiles to be seen on High St when it was announced that the Steel works at Bryngwyn were to close.

The news of the job losses was bad enough but Gorseinon has a long connection with the steel industry. It was the end. I will never forget that day in June 2001 when the workers of Bryngwyn proudly marched out of the plant for the final time with their heads held high.

Once again people talked about a bleak future for Gorseinon but once again they had not taken into account the resilience of this town.

Following these and other job losses the Welsh Assembly Government and City and County of Swansea Council along with other partner groups set up the Gorseinon Regeneration Programme which is now overseen by the Gorseinon Development Trust.

£4 million pounds from the Welsh Assembly kick started the regeneration process. To date the Trust has managed to turn this into £12 million of investment in the Gorseinon area with over £4.5 million coming from the private sector. Since 2001 over 120 new jobs have been created and over 70 have been safeguarded.

14 new shops have been opened, landscaping has been improved and 52 improvement grants have been allocated to existing businesses. 57 voluntary groups have also been supported through a Community Awards Scheme. The bus station is currently being redeveloped which will see a huge improvement to the centre of town.

The goal of the Trust is to contribute to the long term economic and social well being of Gorseinon and to improve the quality of life of its residents. However the two objectives that really excite me - to unlock potential and create a place where people want to live and work - that's great.

Gorseinon is my home. I'm proud to say that I shop in Gorseinon. Each week we buy our meat, fruit and veg, bread and cakes. We even book our holidays here.

It's a great town! One with a past to be proud of and a future to look forward to. I'm very fortunate that my work as a performer gives me an opportunity to travel. Like many I'm often asked what part of Wales do you come from? When asked I reply with pride, 'Gorseinon'. If they ask 'where's that' I simply say it's 'Gorseinon'! "

Kevin Johns

This article first appeared in the Gorseinon Town Guide published by Gorseinon Development Trust