They think big at Staylittle
It’s about as close as you can get to the middle of Wales – but there’s no half measures about the way they do things in Staylittle, Powys.
They may be one of the smallest and most isolated communities in the Principality but they know more than most about community spirit.
When their dilapidated village hall needed a revamp, they set about the project with a determination and an enthusiasm which would be the envy of bigger villages.
And, when they needed a speaker for their winter events programme, they went out and recruited Monty Python’s Terry Jones!
“We’ve always been pretty focussed about getting things done here,” chuckled Nia Meddins, a member of the Staylittle Village Hall committee.
“We are lucky in the fact that, even though we have a community which is well spread out, everyone supports the idea of having an active village hall.
“And the hall committee has worked very hard to make sure that the improvements we needed to carry out to the hall could be carried out.”
Those improvements were given a massive shove in the right direction when the hall committee received a grant of £68,216 from CFAP – the Welsh Assembly Government’s Community Facilities and Activities Programme.
“We did receive money from other sources, including a fair amount of fund-raising ourselves, but the Welsh Assembly Government money made all the difference,” said Mrs Meddins.
The money went into internal and external works at the hall and included new heating, lighting and kitchen equipment. It also enabled disabled access to the hall, a former school canteen building.
“The building was a school canteen annexe before the village hall committee took it over,” said Mrs Meddins. “It was more than 30 years old and in need of a revamp before we sat down and wrote our application to the Welsh Assembly Government.
“We were also lucky in that our hall committee secretary David Penn was able to do all the design work and help to supervise the project as it took shape.
“As a hall committee, it was great as everyone pulled together to see the job through and we now have a hall which is fit for purpose and is able to serve people living in a 10 to 15-mile radius.
“This is an area with a great history, being on an old drovers route. It is a beautiful, scenic area and as quiet as quiet can be, being just a stone’s throw from the Llyn Clywedog reservoir.”
Legend has it that the village got its name from the Stay-a-little Inn. The story goes that two blacksmiths worked in the smithy attached to the inn and were so good at their trade that they were able to shoe horses in record time.
That meant that travellers were only able to ‘stay-a-little’ before continuing their journey.
“We are very proud of our village and the surrounding area. Thanks to the Welsh Assembly Government, we can now take even greater pride in our village hall,” said Mrs Meddins.
“It is now home to a variety of local organisations, like a mother and toddler group and Merched Clywedog (our version of the WI). We can hold everything from line-dancing, to computer training to concerts.
“Recently, we have had concerts featuring Aled Davies, the tenor blue riband winner from the National Eisteddfod of Wales, and an evening with Dai Jones ‘Llanilar’, the TV personality.
“Thanks to the improvements to the hall we can now expand the range of activities and we are particularly looking forward to the winter series of talks.
“In November, we are going to have Terry Jones, of Monty Python fame, coming to talk to us on the topic of Mediaeval Lives. It promises to be one of the highlights of our year and it’s the sort of event we probably couldn’t contemplate before we were given the cash to improve the hall.”
CFAP - The Community Facilities and Activities Programme is a grant scheme operated by the Welsh Assembly Government to help community or voluntary organisations provide facilities or carry out activities which will promote the regeneration of communities. Since its launch in 2002 CFAP has proved to be a highly successful grant programme. A total of £64 million has been awarded to 660 projects across the length and breadth of Wales.
Projects have included the refurbishment of church and village halls, work to make community properties accessible to the disabled, buying part of a former airfield for community use and restoring historic buildings for community use.
The CFAP is run from The Welsh Assembly Government’s Merthyr Tydfil office - Communities Facilities and Activities Programme (CFAP), Communities Directorate, Welsh Assembly Government, Merthyr Tydfil Office, Rhydycar, Merthyr Tydfil, CF48 1UZ.
Members of the committee: Left to right, Roy Thornton, Ann Griffiths, Nia Meddins, David Penn, Rosemary Hazlerigg, Alun Hughes and Maldwyn Edwards.
Photo: Robert Lloyd
Press release issued by Robert Lloyd on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government.
They may be one of the smallest and most isolated communities in the Principality but they know more than most about community spirit.
When their dilapidated village hall needed a revamp, they set about the project with a determination and an enthusiasm which would be the envy of bigger villages.
And, when they needed a speaker for their winter events programme, they went out and recruited Monty Python’s Terry Jones!
“We’ve always been pretty focussed about getting things done here,” chuckled Nia Meddins, a member of the Staylittle Village Hall committee.
“We are lucky in the fact that, even though we have a community which is well spread out, everyone supports the idea of having an active village hall.
“And the hall committee has worked very hard to make sure that the improvements we needed to carry out to the hall could be carried out.”
Those improvements were given a massive shove in the right direction when the hall committee received a grant of £68,216 from CFAP – the Welsh Assembly Government’s Community Facilities and Activities Programme.
“We did receive money from other sources, including a fair amount of fund-raising ourselves, but the Welsh Assembly Government money made all the difference,” said Mrs Meddins.
The money went into internal and external works at the hall and included new heating, lighting and kitchen equipment. It also enabled disabled access to the hall, a former school canteen building.
“The building was a school canteen annexe before the village hall committee took it over,” said Mrs Meddins. “It was more than 30 years old and in need of a revamp before we sat down and wrote our application to the Welsh Assembly Government.
“We were also lucky in that our hall committee secretary David Penn was able to do all the design work and help to supervise the project as it took shape.
“As a hall committee, it was great as everyone pulled together to see the job through and we now have a hall which is fit for purpose and is able to serve people living in a 10 to 15-mile radius.
“This is an area with a great history, being on an old drovers route. It is a beautiful, scenic area and as quiet as quiet can be, being just a stone’s throw from the Llyn Clywedog reservoir.”
Legend has it that the village got its name from the Stay-a-little Inn. The story goes that two blacksmiths worked in the smithy attached to the inn and were so good at their trade that they were able to shoe horses in record time.
That meant that travellers were only able to ‘stay-a-little’ before continuing their journey.
“We are very proud of our village and the surrounding area. Thanks to the Welsh Assembly Government, we can now take even greater pride in our village hall,” said Mrs Meddins.
“It is now home to a variety of local organisations, like a mother and toddler group and Merched Clywedog (our version of the WI). We can hold everything from line-dancing, to computer training to concerts.
“Recently, we have had concerts featuring Aled Davies, the tenor blue riband winner from the National Eisteddfod of Wales, and an evening with Dai Jones ‘Llanilar’, the TV personality.
“Thanks to the improvements to the hall we can now expand the range of activities and we are particularly looking forward to the winter series of talks.
“In November, we are going to have Terry Jones, of Monty Python fame, coming to talk to us on the topic of Mediaeval Lives. It promises to be one of the highlights of our year and it’s the sort of event we probably couldn’t contemplate before we were given the cash to improve the hall.”
CFAP - The Community Facilities and Activities Programme is a grant scheme operated by the Welsh Assembly Government to help community or voluntary organisations provide facilities or carry out activities which will promote the regeneration of communities. Since its launch in 2002 CFAP has proved to be a highly successful grant programme. A total of £64 million has been awarded to 660 projects across the length and breadth of Wales.
Projects have included the refurbishment of church and village halls, work to make community properties accessible to the disabled, buying part of a former airfield for community use and restoring historic buildings for community use.
The CFAP is run from The Welsh Assembly Government’s Merthyr Tydfil office - Communities Facilities and Activities Programme (CFAP), Communities Directorate, Welsh Assembly Government, Merthyr Tydfil Office, Rhydycar, Merthyr Tydfil, CF48 1UZ.
Members of the committee: Left to right, Roy Thornton, Ann Griffiths, Nia Meddins, David Penn, Rosemary Hazlerigg, Alun Hughes and Maldwyn Edwards.
Photo: Robert Lloyd
Press release issued by Robert Lloyd on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government.
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