Lets skate

Rent a Ramp are a new company launching this week.

This Sunday 18th August and Monday 19th August they will be based at Glangrwyney Village Hall. Free sessions for children, come and give it a try. 

Great way to keep the children busy this school holidays and maybe learn a new hobby.

Over the May bank holiday weekend, Glangrwyney Village Hall was delighted to host the 'Crickhowell Open Studios' event. It was wonderful to meet so many talented local amateur artists, many of whom have drawn inspiration from previous open studio events and workshops. Here are some cherished memories from that fantastic weekend. Check our Events page to see what on or tell us what you would like to see at the Village Hall. 

What better way to spend a morning than with good friends in a brand new community café.  Our wonderful committee volunteers had prepared fresh coffee and delicious homemade chocolate cake and biscuits which were enjoyed by everyone, not least our doggy visitors.  

It was a chance to catch up with friends and neighbours whilst enjoying some home from home comforts. A selection of magazines and books were available to read and for the green fingered ones among us, a spot of gardening in our newly created community garden. 

Earlier in the year, we planted some native wildflowers and a herb garden that are now blooming and creating a wonderfully colourful and fragrant space in which to sit and relax.

Check out the 'what's on' section for the next coffee morning at 10.30 - 12.30pm.  All are welcome, even well behaved dogs!  With the added benefit of the new enclosed children's play area and patio just outside the café, it's an ideal place for mamas and toddlers to come and enjoy a cuppa while your little ones play. 

Thank you to everyone that came to our 60s Christmas Party.  It was fantastic to see so many people dressed up and twisting the night away to our wonderful band Shades of Grey!

A huge thank you to our committee volunteers that did such a brilliant job in organising the event. We raised a massive £700 towards the ongoing development of the hall facilities. We would also like to say a big thank you to all those that donated prizes to the raffle, especially The Bluebell Country Inn for their support. We're planning to do more events next year and will keep you posted.

This is an exciting time for the hall, and as we expand our facilities and run more social events like this one, we will need to grow our small team of volunteers. If you are local and would like to get involved, we'd love to hear from you! Just message us on Facebook or contact us on our website.
Thank you! 

that we've been successful in our application to the Welsh Government’s Community Facilities Programme.

There are some conditions and additional steps that must be achieved, so the letter the Trustees have received, is ‘approval in principle’. The Trustees will now be working hard over the coming months to try to ensure that the additional conditions are met and within the very tight timescales involved.

One of the conditions for the grant, is that the money must be spent in this financial year, so once the Trustees have been able to meet the additional conditions, which are connected with planning permission and the tendering process, then progress thereafter will need to happen quite quickly.

We will communicate directly with the current users in relation to any disruption that may be involved when work starts, and given the scale of the project it is likely that the Hall will need to close entirely for some periods because of the Health and Safety issues involved when building works are in progress.  However, it is hoped that the main Hall area, which will largely stay the same, will continue to be used for some time, even when some of the works begin.

The Trustees wanted to convey their thanks to you all, for continuing to support this project and look forward to seeing the project come to fruition.

The Trustees are also asking, especially the large group of current users, for their continued cooperation and support, even if there is likely to be some disruption ahead.

Keep an eye on progress on our News page and on our Facebook page.

A huge THANK YOU if you have completed our on-line survey!

If you haven’t responded, please do and encourage your friends and family to make a response as well – every response counts and will help the application. 

Please respond by Wednesday 24th March.

The survey is giving us a lot of very useful information and we now need to show that the community is well and truly on board with this exciting vision!

How can you help?

· Make a direct contribution through our crowdfunding page.

· Make a pledge of funding.

What is crowdfunding?

We are asking individuals or businesses to invest in or donate to our project in return for the new facilities that we are planning to develop.

What is pledge funding?

As a resident and/or business you can donate goods, services, expertise or your time. All of which, can be given a ‘value’ and used as a ‘contribution in kind’. 

If you are able to make a pledge, be assured that it is just that, an offer from you, which doesn’t commit or contract you to anything at this time.

Matched funding

The grant application process allows the Trustees to list contributions to the Charity as ‘matched funding’ and the more we raise together the higher the chance of the application being successful. The Trustees have already set aside more than £10,000 and the Community Council and the County Council have also been asked for their support.

We are also asking for help in the community. For example if a person was able to offer 50 hours of time to help out with some general work or with some specific expertise such as in the building trade, it can be given a value and that all helps in the matched funding calculation.

All contributions, big or small, can make a very real difference.  If you are able to help and want to see our vision come to fruition then please act now!

Let’s make this happen, and let’s do it together!

For more information visit: www.glangrwyneyvillagehall.co.uk

Email: admin@glangrwyneyvillagehall.co.uk

Following on from an unsuccessful application to the Big Lottery fund several years ago, the Trustees carried out further research and consultation within the community, and generated a detailed proposal, based on that evidence, and submitted a ‘expression of interest’ to the Welsh Government’s Community Facilities Programme, last year 2020. This however, is a two-stage process, and after the Welsh Government reviewed our submission at Stage 1, the Trustees have now been invited to submit a full application at Stage 2. This however, needs to be completed and returned by early April.

The Trustees would like to update some of the information they hold in relation to these proposals, but during the current pandemic situation, organising meetings and conducting surveys within the community, have not been possible. We are asking, therefore, for individuals and groups, to write in to us with their views on the proposals and in particular how they would intend to use the hall once the new, and full range of facilities, are in place.

Please fill out our survey, or email your thoughts to us by March 12th 2021. The more people who show their support for these developments, the the stronger the case becomes for the grant application to succeed.

From the original consultation process, which started in 2016 and continued right through until 2018, the Trustees established that there was:

• Unanimous support to see the Hall developed and improved and operated in a more flexible manner with facilities created that allow for multiple usage;
• A high level of support to create a drop-in facility for casual use in order to reduce the sense of rural isolation especially for older residents;
• A high level of support to see a much wider range of activities at the Hall which can help to improve the wellbeing of residents across the community;
• To achieve the above, a high level of support to see a broader range of facilities at the Hall which would allow for multiple use and therefore higher levels of uptake with improved access for a wider range of the community with use from more families and youngsters in particular;
• A high level of consensus that the current design of the Hall is poor in relation to: toilets; kitchen facilities; storage; fuel economy; and outside spaces; and is not entirely accessible and user friendly to all sections of the community;
• High level of agreement that the Hall is currently ‘low tech’ and dated with no computer, ICT / projection facilities or on-line facilities and generally needs to be brought up to date for use in the 21st Century.

Since these findings were established the Trustees have continued to maintain the hall, carrying out essential work on the heating system and redecorating the main hall and foyer areas, to ensure that the current facilities were pleasant and efficient for existing users. The Trustees have also installed ‘broadband’ internet access, which many users have used effectively. 

The Trustees also indicated that once they had the support of the community that they would develop provisional ideas and plans, and consult with the necessary authorities in relation to planning. Preplanning advice was also received and taken into consideration. A schematic has been generated in relation to how the new facilities could look. 

The graphic shows the main hall largely unaffected, but improved in order to offer a wider range of events in addition to all those that currently take place. It also shows the addition of a new meeting room to the left, with new and improved access and toilet facilities. The kitchen is shown repositioned to more of a central location in the area to the right of the existing hall (it is currently situated to the left) and the lower part of the hall then remodelled to provide a drop-in centre, which can be used on an informal basis. The important thing about this scheme is that all of the areas can be used independently of each other and it provides, for the first time in this community, a flexible facility where people can meet informally for a chat and to take advantage of other support and provision that could also be generated.

In April, we launched our new website so that you can find what you need quickly and easily. 

We have an exciting year ahead with many social events planned, which we'll promote on the homepage and What's On page.  The Calendar shows the wide variety of weekly activities that run and when, including singing, martial arts, yoga, Zumba and many more.  

If you'd like to book the hall for a party or an event, you can use the Booking form and someone will respond to you within a day.

We hope that you enjoy the website and please do give us any feedback - we are always listening!

We’re currently looking for some new members to join our committee.

The committee meets regularly during the year – usually about every 6 weeks. Being a committee member with us is about much more than simply attending meetings.

We’re looking for local people who are keen to make a difference to the wellbeing and quality of life of the people in our community. Roles within the committee would include things such as; helping make decisions within the group, helping with the management of the charity, assisting with fundraising, sharing ideas, etc.

On our committee currently, we have our volunteers and parents and we’re keen to get more local people and professionals involved too.

If you’re interested in joining us as a committee member, please do get in touch! The more heads we have together, the better! 

If you are interested in finding out more or wish to join us, please contact us.

It wasn't a great start for us this year with the news that we had been unsuccessul in our bid for Big Lottery funding. However, that hasn't stopped us looking for other ways to improve the Hall.  We are currently assessing what can be done in the short-medium term so that the Hall is both compliant for disability access and generally more appealing to its current and prospective users.

The most recent upgrade is the new glazing in the main hall, which has improved the natural flow of light and increased heat efficiency.

Here are just a few of the proposed ideas to upgrade the Hall this year...

• Redecorate main hall, lobby, kitchen and toilets.
• Provide a secure notice board in the entrance door to display contact and defibrillator information.
• Provide a new pin board for users.
• Provide a secure notice board to display the weekly activities, fire safety certificate and public liability.
• Replace lights in main hall.

An application was submitted to the Big Lottery Fund in November 2018 but unfortunately the application was unsuccessful.  The Trustees are continuing to talk to the Big Lottery Fund to address their concerns so that a new application might meet their criteria. 

At our January meeting, a decision was made to revisit the application over the next few months, addressing all the points made by the Big Lottery and in particular looking at ways that a new application can be seen as providing ‘value for money’.  

We recognise that the Hall needs some urgent attention and upgrades which will be addressed over the coming weeks.  In addition to using the Hall's own captial we'll be seeking other financial assistance, through local regeneration fund applications, available through Powys CC. The Trustees will continue to develop a dialogue with the Big Lottery Fund, and then submit a new and amended application in 2019. Watch this space!