It is full of cast-off sofas and television sets. It has an ancient organ and piano gathering dust in one corner, and a disused pool table shrouded by junk of all descriptions in the other.
A huge sheet of plywood covering the ancient snooker table props up two huge loudspeakers that pump out music generated by the two record decks that it also supports. The weather-beaten green side-door, the entrance to the room, is cheap, shabby and entirely appropriate. The room is not state-of-the-art, neither is it conventional in church terms. It is not luxurious, but comfortable. Not chic, but cosy. The Underground is the perfect venue for the youth outreach every Saturday and Sunday night.
This outreach initiative is pioneered by Dai Hankey, a 23 year-old skateboarder and DJ, with very little hair, very large trousers and an overwhelming passion for seeing the youth of South Wales come to know the awesome reality of Jesus Christ's true salvation power. Born and raised in Pontypool in the Gwent valleys, his parents, both committed Christians, remain his greatest living role models on how to communicate the gospel without necessarily speaking a word. Seven years after his conversion, Dai began working for Highfields as their detached youth worker, seeking to infiltrate the streets of the Cathays area of Cardiff with the truth of Jesus.
