Finance Minister visits Grange Pavilion

The Minister for Finance and Trefnydd, Rebecca Evans, recently visited Grange Pavilion, a resident-led project to transform a formerly disused bowls pavilion into a new social hub for the community.

The Minister met with Grangetown resident members of the Grange Pavilion CIO and staff from Cardiff University’s Community Gateway project and during the visit, the Minister spoke to children and residents from the local community and under-graduate architecture students from Cardiff University who have all been integral to the project’s development.

The Minister opened the latest round of funding for the Welsh Government’s Landfill Disposals Tax (LDT) Communities Scheme when she visited Grange Pavilion.

The scheme has already supported more than 44 local community and environmental projects with a total of £1.7 million committed in grant funding since it was launched last year.

One of the projects that is benefitting from the fund is Grange Pavilion; a community-University project to transform a neglected bowls pavilion and green into a new social community facility offering multiple spaces for community use, a community-focused café and garden for wellbeing, play, education, growing and biodiversity.

Grange Pavilion received over £49,000 of funding from the Welsh Government’s Landfill Disposals Tax Communities Scheme (LDTCS) to create a green and sustainable building and grounds for the community.

Celebrating the success of the scheme, Finance Minister, Rebecca Evans said:

“Money raised through the Landfill Disposals Tax is supporting such fantastic community driven projects, such as the Grange Pavilion. This project is an excellent example of what the scheme is all about - nurturing a resilient, welcoming and united community while benefitting the environment.”

Speaking about the project, WCVA’s Grant Funds Manager, Catherine Miller said:

“The Grange Pavilion project is a great example of taking a rundown community space and transforming it into an urban greenspace for the use of all generations of the local community. The community is fully engaged with the development and implementation of the project and the result will be a valued public space with increased biodiversity.”

Project Lead for Community Gateway, Mhairi McVicar added:

“The redevelopment of the Grange Pavilion is the result of seven years of huge efforts from so many Grangetown community members, and it's been an absolute privilege to be able to support their vision through a partnership with Cardiff University.

“The ongoing community leadership of this facility will be supported by Cardiff University, Cardiff and Vale College, Taff Housing, RSPB Cymru and Cardiff Bay Rotary Club, and we are all absolutely delighted that Welsh Government has been able to support the project through the LDTCS scheme.”