Thanks to Welsh Government and EU funding, the Canolfan Dulais Centre in Lampeter will be transformed to create a new Social Enterprise Centre, supporting small businesses and local charities.
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
Local social landlord Tai Ceredigion will benefit from £1.5 million of Welsh Government Targeted Regeneration Funding plus £1.1 million of EU funding to help to create high quality office space to support local small businesses and charities.
The existing centre will be demolished and purpose-built as a 1,250 square-metre 2 storey enterprise hub and social premises, housing up to 15 SMEs and charities. It will create 20 new jobs for trainers, mentors and support staff, and target existing Tai Ceredigion tenants looking to start or grow businesses.
The Social Enterprise Centre will provide space for start-up businesses to grow, co-working spaces, conference and training rooms and ultrafast broadband. There are plans in place to offer training courses for young people and support to help people back into employment.
Housing and Local Government Minister Julie James visited the existing Canolfan Dulais site this week, and said:
“This is an exciting local development which will create jobs, opportunities and attractive office space for up and coming entrepreneurs.
“This funding is part of our flagship Targeted Regeneration Investment programme, providing £100 million of funding across Wales over 3 years to support regeneration projects in our towns.”
Brexit Minister Jeremy Miles, who is responsible for European funding in Wales, said:
“This funding will create a fantastic, well-equipped social space. The new building will address Lampeter’s lack of suitable office provision, and house charitable organisations which help deprived communities to access support. It will tackle local priorities at many levels, and add real value to Lampeter’s rural economy and social wellbeing. I’m looking forward to seeing this project come to life.”
Steve Jones, Chief Executive of Tai Ceredigion, said:
“We are delighted to secure substantial funding to provide a state of the art Social Enterprise Centre for Lampeter, which will be a huge boost for the local economy and a hub for the local community.
“As a social housing association, Tai Ceredigion provides high quality, affordable homes for local people, and is very aware of the need for jobs and businesses to support the local economy in rural areas. This is a real opportunity to bring much needed investment into the heart of mid Wales through this new development. We are looking forward to the project proceeding in the coming months.”
Councillor Rhodri Evans, Ceredigion County Council’s Cabinet member responsible for Economy and Regeneration, said:
“Canolfan Dulais is a vitally important development for Lampeter. The Welsh Government has awarded £1.5 million of funding TRI funding to the development which Ceredigion County Council is administering. I’m delighted that we can support the development of first class premises for start-up and growth businesses, particularly in the Social Care sector, which is increasingly important in our society.”
In the last decade, EU-funded projects in Wales have created more than 48,000 jobs and 13,000 new businesses, while helping 86,000 people back into work.