Community groups urged to apply for Ffos-y-fran funding of up to £½m

Merthyr Tydfil voluntary and community groups are being urged to apply for funding of up to £500,000 towards projects benefitting local residents.

The Ffos-y-fran Community Benefit Fund Large Panel, which is managed by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, is making grants of between £5,000 and £500,000 available for projects that have ‘an educational, environment or leisure emphasis and are able to demonstrate a lasting legacy for residents’.  

Previous recipients include Gellideg Foundation Group, which received an award of £500,000 towards building a brand new Wellbeing Centre on the site of the old social club. The building has training facilities, a youth centre and an Early Years Unit.                                                

Projects must be based in and benefit the residents of the county borough and meet one or more of the themes in the Council’s Focus on the Future, Wellbeing in our Community Plan, which are:

• Best Start to Life - children and young people get the best start to life and are equipped with the skills they need to be successful learners and confident individuals  
• Working Life - people feel supported to develop skills required to meet the needs of businesses within a developing, safe infrastructure which makes Merthyr Tydfil an attractive destination
• Environmental Wellbeing - communities protect, enhance and promote our environment and countryside 
• Living Well - people are empowered to live independently within their communities, where they are safe and enjoy good physical and mental health

The Ffos-y-fran Community Benefit Fund programme was established by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council in collaboration with local mining company Merthyr (South Wales) Limited, which donates £1 for every ton of coal sold from the Ffos-y-fran land reclamation scheme.  More than £5m has been awarded to a wide range of groups and causes since the site opened in 2007.

Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Public Protection Cllr Geraint Thomas said: “We’re delighted to be able to manage the Ffos-y-fran Community Benefit Fund, which has contributed so much to so many of our local clubs and organisations that otherwise just couldn’t have afforded to make progress.”

The deadline for applications for the latest round of awards is Friday, 27 September.  For further information or an application form, contact the Ffos-y-fran Benefit Fund Coordinator on 01685 725000 or ffosyfran@merthyr.gov.uk