A GROUP of pensioners from Cwmbran have donated thousands of pounds to a Newport charity after selling their hall.

Started in 1958, Upper Cwmbran Pensioners Association Hall was once a hub of activity for local residents with an aim to get the local community together, sharing ideas.

The hall played host to concerts, church meetings, singing groups, armchair aerobics, luncheon clubs and coffee mornings.

But in recent years numbers dropped making the viability of the hall untenable.

Members decided to sell the hall donating the proceeds to local charity as was set out in the original constitution.

Members Ellen and Dorothy together with trustee John presented £20,000 to St David’s Hospice Care and other local good causes also benefitted from the sale of the hall.

St David's Hospice Care chief executive Emma Saysell said: “This is a fabulous donation and one we are extremely grateful to receive. The funds raised will go a long way to providing nursing care to those most in need living within the communities we serve. We would like to thank the members who selected us to receive funds.”

John Cunningham, trustee of the Hall Association, said: “It is the end of an era after many long years of providing a service to our senior citizens and others, but unfortunately the costs of maintaining the facility became unsustainable and they had to take the decision to wind up the association."