A CHARITY in Cefn Fforest, in the Caerphilly county borough, is celebrating after receiving a large amount of funding from the National Lottery for their restoration project.
The Cefn Fforest Miners' Institute will use the money to restore the ‘stute’ function room and re-open it as a community facility.
The charity will now use this money, from the National Lottery Community Fund, towards the first phase of refurbishment, opening up the old function room for community activities and social events.
This will help raise funds to refurbish the rest of the building and demonstrate to funders that there is a need to the building in the village.
Cefn Fforest Miners’ Welfare Hall (CIO) achieved charity status in 2020 and is run by nine trustees along with numerus volunteers from throughout South Wales.
It was founded following a BBC documentary looking at life in the village, which highlighted the fact that this once proud community resource, funded by contributions from miners in the 1920s, had recently been left empty and in a poor state of repair.
In 1988 it became the club house for Cefn Fforest RFC but has now been closed for seven years.
Since the demise of the coal industry there are now only 48 out of 200 miners institute buildings left in the whole of Wales.
The charity was set up in 2020, and purchased the institute in 2021.
Now, a dedicated team of volunteers have been working ever since to bring the building back into public use.
The Institute opened its doors to the public in 1932 for the benefit of the community, providing facilities for self-education, social welfare and recreation.
Paid for out of miners’ wages, it was one of many institutes that served the then thriving coal industry in the South Wales valleys.
Chair of Trustees and a former miner, Ron Stoate said: “This building was originally paid for out of the wages of miners and provided many educational and social resources; from a library and reading room, to sports clubs, functions and day trips for locals. We hope that we can live up to the aspirations of the miners who built it originally.”
Charity secretary Clint Evans said: “This building was built by the community almost one hundred years ago. We are temporary guardians of the building, and we hope to ensure it is still available to the community for the next one hundred years.
"The building has enormous potential for future usage; educational, social, historical, artistic, cultural, sports, health and wellbeing. Whist we the charity trustees are driving the project forward, we believe that the building belongs to the people of Cefn Fforest and they will shape what it is used for in the future.
"With the current economic climate it is clear there is a need for what we can bring to the village, and the support we have had from the community so far indicates people are looking forward to coming back through our doors."
Peredur Owen Griffiths MS / AS stated: "I am extremely pleased to hear that this well-deserved award will create a community hub by refurbishing the existing hall, making the facility accessible to the community.
"This will be a huge benefit to the area, providing a local focal point, offering space for education, wellbeing and community classes, and youth provision."
"This is important because, once open, we can provide facilities for the community which will help improve the wellbeing of people in the village and become a focal point which has been missing for many years."
The money will go a long way to funding the full refurbishment of the building, with the rest raised through social events.
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