£1.5m boost for local 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:

• Green Squirrel CIC, Cardiff - £154,000 to improve access and fit-out their community hub, including creating a community garden
• 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
• Canal and River Trust, Monmouthshire - £225,000 to ensure a safe and accessible for all route to and from the canal towpath and community facility
• Bulldogs Boxing and Community Activities, Neath Port Talbot - £204,000 to enhance their facility and build therapy rooms for mental health services for veterans
• Glangrwyney Village Hall, Powys - £200,000 to create a community hub for two adjoining communities: Llangenny and Glangrwyney
• The Include Hub, Swansea - £148,000 to help purchase their current building which has been in community use for many years, as a safe place for local groups such as refugees and asylum seekers, young homeless people, interfaith groups and ex-offenders
• Ponthir and District Sports Club, Torfaen - £41,000 for a new drainage system for a pitch which is used by over 250 people aged 5 to 65 years old

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

• Caldicot RFC, Monmouthshire - £8,000 towards the refurbishment of their washrooms and baby changing facilities
• 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
• Friends of Talycopa, Swansea - £25,000 to resolve historic flooding issues at Trallwn football field
• Wenvoe Community Library, Vale of Glamorgan - £14,000 towards replacing the existing building with a new unit to incorporate a café and digital suite

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 what the funding will mean to them, Ceri Stilwell, Chief Executive of Bulldogs Boxing and Community Activities in Neath Port Talbot, said:

We are over the moon to have been awarded this funding which will allow us to extend and update our Development Centre in Port Talbot. It will also enable us to continue to support the community in this ever-changing world by providing us with increased space to offer our sessions supporting children and young people, as well as providing a safe space for veterans to continue to receive support.

Together we are stronger - more than a boxing club.

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.