More than £2 million is set to be awarded to seven places in Wales to help them stay open.
This includes £1 million to save four spaces in Wales, including the Tafarn y Plu pub in Gwynedd, The Bunkhouse music venue in Swansea, a museum in Powys and a community shop in Gwynedd.
The UK Government funding will be used to refurbish, renovate and secure the future of each of these buildings, allowing them to offer a diverse programme of events and activities including live music, well-being sessions and educational opportunities.
The support is provided by the Community Ownership Fund. The highest single award in Wales – £400,000 – will go to saving Llanfair Light Railway station and Cloverlands car model museum. This project will host a museum, archives, and a shared community space for residents and visitors to use. The funding will allow the community building to provide a visitor centre in which tours will learn the context to the railway station and its operations.
Projects also set to receive money in Wales include:
- £300,000 to renovate Eveswell Community Centre in Newport. The centre will provide new and improved facilities for local families to host more activities like family groups, play groups, a Lego club, craft classes and after school youth groups.
- £300,000 to refurbish the Pentre Comrades club. The transformed building will provide the community a central hub to use for socialising and learning with facilities including a pub, shop, café, community garden, and kitchen spaces.
- £299,000 to renovate and refurbish Caerphilly Rugby Football Club. The space will provide new and improved facilities for their rugby development programmes as well as space to host events like fundraisers, local festivals and educational workshops.
Minister for Local Growth Alex Norris said:
“These are all multi-functional spaces that do so much for local people and most of us will have fond memories in treasured places like these.
“We’ve prioritised these grants to help preserve and upgrade what these vital places offer to their communities – whether improving access to sport, tackling loneliness or boosting family services for parents and children.”
Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens said:
“Congratulations to these fantastic community projects in Wales. Over £2 million is being spent by the UK Government to make sure that these special places are refurbished and improved so they can provide facilities for local people to come together.
“All across Wales there are brilliant people who give back to their communities. I’d like to thank them for all that they do and the UK Government is proud to be able to support them.”
Altogether £36 million has been awarded to 85 projects across the UK.
