£700,000 boost for north and mid Wales community projects

The Community Facilities Programme funds well-used amenities to improve sustainability, providing opportunities for local people as part of their day-to-day lives.

The latest awardees up to £250,000 are:

• Partneriaeth Ogwen, Gwynedd - £225,000 to transform an old school into a Centre of Excellence in Innovation and Sustainability
• Tabernacl Bethesda, Gwynedd - £250,000 to bring outbuildings into use as flexible spaces for music, dance and arts
• Glangrwyney Village Hall, Powys - £200,000 to create a community hub for two adjoining communities: Llangenny and Glangrwyney

The latest smaller fund awardees (up to £25,000) are:

• Anne Matthews Trust, Powys - £25,000 to undertake repairs to their building, including a new roof
• Long Bridge Street Chapel, Powys - £25,000 to fix stone work, repair external walls and fences, and overhaul their drainage system

The Minister for Social Justice, Jane Hutt, said:

“Now more so than ever our communities and the wonderful facilities within them are centres for bringing people together and building back a stronger, fairer Wales for all.

“Despite the extraordinary challenges we’ve faced during the past 18 months, community spirit and the resilience of Welsh people has shone through. The Community Facilities funding we are announcing today will continue to help bring our local groups together through support for local projects.”

Speaking about the funding, Phill Bowker, Chairman of the Trustees at Glangrwyney Village Hall in Powys, said:

“This project has been 5 years in the making. It will mean a great deal to the locality, creating a number of different spaces that can be used in new and interesting ways by a much wider range of the community. 

“The Hall will also become more of a community hub and the ‘CHaT’ room in particular will create an informal space that will be open for people of all ages just to drop in and meet over a coffee. This will help to bring the community closer together and will also be able to help in tackling such issues as rural isolation.” 

Partneriaeth Ogwen in Gwynedd was visited by the First Minister Mark Drakeford last week. Explaining the project, Meleri Davies, Chief Officer, said:

"Partneriaeth Ogwen is a social enterprise with community, economy and sustainability at its heart and Canolfan Cefnfaes will be developed with these three themes in mind.

“The boutique bunk house and business units will bring economic benefit to the area and the centre will also have a multipurpose community room. We already have a maker space and repair café planned and we'll be working with local partners on sustainable energy options for the building with two electric charge points due to be installed shortly.

“Community Facilities funding is an important milestone for the project as we raise the capital funds to renovate this important community resource."

The Community Facilities Programme accepts new applications all year. Find out more here: www.gov.wales/community-facilities-programme