Over £900,000 funding boost for community projects in west Wales

The funding is being provided through the Community Facilities Programme, a capital grant scheme which helps voluntary sector organisations make improvements to community facilities such as sports clubs and community halls for the benefit of the people they serve.

The Social Justice Secretary visited the Parish of Casllwchwr and Gorseinon in Swansea recently where £300,000 funding will be vital in redesigning and repurposing the historic church building to create a multi-purpose community space. The facility already hosts over 50 community groups and plans are in place to increase this number once renovations are complete. The improvements will include space for gardening and biodiversity groups, youth clubs, school holiday activities, a larger foodbank provision, ICT support skills and financial support groups.

Goleudy Housing and Support will use £300,000 to create a community hub in their building, providing a space suitable for their support service and a community garden.

Capel Seion Congregational Church in Llanelli will be awarded £300,000 to redevelop their vestry building to include a kitchen, community café, meeting rooms, podcast studio and accessible toilets. St. Clears RFC will receive £25,077 to improve their current facilities such as pitch side fencing.

Megan’s Starr Foundation, a charity dedicated to supporting young people’s mental health and tackling bullying, is to receive £20,000 to create a warm, welcoming coffee house in Pembrokeshire. They also offer essential mental health support to their community.

Cabinet Secretary for Culture and, Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip, Jane Hutt said: Jane Hutt, the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Social Justice said:

“The Community Facilities Programme is important in helping organisations improve facilities so local people can benefit from them in their day to day lives.

“I was pleased to recently visit Gorseinon to hear the exciting plans they have to create more community facilities within the Church space.

“Each recipient of support from the programme provides a crucial service to the people they serve and it is great the Welsh Government is able to help them do even more.”

Rev Dr Adrian Morgan, Vicar of St Catherine's in Gorseinon said: “The space is used by many community groups for a wide range of weekly activities, but the limited functionality of its internal design has constrained the community's use of the Hall. However, with Welsh Government support we are now going to transform this space so that it can house many more community group activity groups on an ongoing basis. 

"I’m delighted that Government can see the benefit of centres like these to support community based intergenerational activities, reduce loneliness and isolation for both young and old alike, and help communities strengthen their sense of place and be a welcoming place for all."