15 community groups will be awarded up to £10,000 each to turn their ideas into viable projects to support Cymraeg in their communities.
Since it was established in 2022, the Welsh Government’s Perthyn small grants scheme has supported 62 community projects.
Llanrwst town has secured a grant of up to £10,000 to help the local community to purchase the Bys a Bawd book shop that’s served the community for 50 years. The Welsh language has been at the heart of the business, and now the community intend to buy and transform the space into a literary hub.
The Perthyn small grants scheme aims to support Welsh-speaking communities with high numbers of second homes by creating economic opportunities, provide affordable housing, and help the social fabric of the local community and naturally the Welsh language being a core element of the projects.
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language, Mark Drakeford, said:
Small grants can make a big difference to our communities. It’s fantastic to see such a range of projects in this round of Perthyn funding, which includes a sustainable energy project, communities coming together to buy and run their local pub, shops, library and chapel which aim to benefit their community. We have also supported several community led projects to create affordable housing to enable people to live in their local communities.
The grant scheme is administered by Cwmpas on behalf of Welsh Government.
Jocelle Lovell, Director of Inclusive Communities at Cwmpas said:
We are delighted to be working with the Welsh Government and Planed to deliver the Perthyn project. Perthyn works with the communities to identify ways to address the lack of affordable housing, protect community assets and create new cooperatives and social businesses. A real enabler for us has been administering a small grant scheme for the communities to help build local capacity and accelerate their business and housing ideas. We look forward to seeing the ideas develop and to working with more communities over the coming months.
If you’re a community group in a Welsh-speaking community and would like further support to turn your ideas into viable projects, please contact Cwmpas: Perthyn - Cwmpas