Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

A £13.5 million National Lottery funding programme for rural Wales has been welcomed by Carmarthenshire County Council. The Big Lottery Fund is inviting groups to help tackle poverty in Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy, Denbighshire, Powys, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Monmouthshire. Grants of between £10,000 and £350,000are available and their work must benefit a community with a population of 10,000 or less. Although types of activities that could be funded are not being prescribed, applications would need to show how groups are doing any of the following to address poverty: improving well-being, raising aspirations, enhancing skills available in the community or helping people deal with tough circumstances. This could include themes like employment and income, transport and access to services, poor broadband and digital exclusion, housing and fuel poverty and demand for welfare and advice services. Big Lottery Fund Wales’ director John Rose said: “The beauty of rural are...

The team behind the ambitious Llanelli Railway Goods Shed project has embarked on a new wave of public consultation events. The programme kicked off with a meeting of community groups interested in using the building. Over coming weeks, there will be leaflet drops for residents living close to the Marsh Street Goods Shed building, community surveys, a public display in Llanelli town centre and further group meetings for interested individuals, community organisations, social enterprises and businesses.. “The dialogue with the public is being cranked up to a whole new level,” said Llanelli Railway Goods Shed Trust project officer Robert Lloyd. “We are slap bang in the middle of what we call our development phase, conducting the site surveys and other preparatory work needed before we can complete further applications for capital funding. “The key message we want to get across is that this is a project designed to breathe new life into what is an historic building. Getting the suppo...

Transforming old railway buildings into community spaces and creating facilities for maritime history, business and sports are among projects sharing in £317,440 of grants from the Big Lottery Fund. The money, from the £9 million Community Asset Transfer 2 Programme (CAT2), aims to provide both capital and revenue funding to support the transfer of assets, such as land and buildings to community ownership. The assets can be transferred from individuals, the public or private sector. Seven initial grants of up to £50,000 each are helping projects develop their ideas before being invited to submit developed applications to the second stage of funding with the aim of securing grants of between £300,000 and £1,150,000. ( Read full project descriptions here ). Porthcawl Harbourside CIC will spend £50,000 to progress plans to transfer harbour side land from Bridgend Council and build a five-storey maritime centre. This will be a visitor attraction with a focus on coastal science, mari...