Club transformed into heritage centre and hub for community
A £350,000 transformation of the Nantymoel Boys and Girls Club has created an all-new community hub and heritage centre for the Ogmore Valley.
The centre features a full-size sports hall, a community café area, leisure and recreation rooms equipped with pool tables and large-screen smart TVs, baby changing facilities, space for meetings and community use, full disabled access and more.
The refurbishment has been carried out using technical innovations such as an infra-red heating system, digital information displays and free Wi-Fi throughout the building.
As well as providing a permanent base for the community policing team, the building will also act as the all-new Ogmore Heritage Centre, a visitor attraction which will use the existing community route to link with Bryngarw Country Park and form the new Ogmore Valley Heritage Trail.
Featuring proposed bicycle hire facilities at Bryngarw and voice-app information displays placed along the route, the trail will culminate at the new heritage centre, which will act as a bikefriendly venue complete with repair stands, pumps and bike racks.
Deputy Leader Hywel Williams said: “When the former Berwyn Community Centre had to be demolished because of its structural issues, the council pledged to invest in a replacement facility.
“The Nantymoel Boys and Girls Club is a landmark venue with a proud history within the Ogmore Valley, but this upgrade and refurbishment has helped to secure a new future for it as well.
“It will continue to act as the home of the Boys and Girls Club while also serving the community as a fully modernised hub suitable for a wide range of uses, and as a new visitor attraction which will support tourism in the Ogmore Valley while also enhancing its history and heritage.
“With new artwork and community seating planned for the site of the former Berwyn Centre, this has been a real partnership effort, and I want to thank everyone who has helped to deliver this fantastic new facility for the people of the Ogmore Valley.”
The project has been supported by Bridgend County Borough Council, Ogmore Community Council, Friends of the Berwyn, Reach Rural De- velopment, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Wales, Logicor Group, Rockwool, the Welsh Church Act Fund, the Rural Communities Development Fund, Matthews Removals and the Wales Co-operative Centre.
The project has received funding through the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government.