A FORMER tourist information centre (TIC) in Builth Wells is enjoying a new lease of life as a community hub, thanks to funding secured by Powys County Council.
The council awarded £45,860 towards the cost of refurbishing the site on the Groe Car Park, to turn it into a well-being centre for Builth Wells Community Support, and other charities and voluntary groups, to use.
The funding was provided as a Welsh Government Placemaking Grant, through its Transforming Towns programme, and has been used to:
- Create a new fully equipped kitchen area.
- Refurbish the toilet and create more suitable facilities for disabled visitors.
- Install solar panels and new electric heaters with timers and thermostats.
- Replace guttering, facias and a door.
- Install new flooring and built in storage.
- A new security system.
- New furniture.
Builth Wells Community Support has over 600 members and provides community transport, shopping and prescription deliveries, a lunch club and befriending. It also provides a base for a satellite branch of Llandrindod Foodbank (also supported through Transforming Towns) and covers the town and the surrounding communities of Llanwrtyd Wells, Llangammarch Wells, Garth, Cilmery, Erwood, Aberedw and Llanelwedd.
It has secured the use of the building, which is now being called Together In the Community (TIC) and had been empty for six years, on a 30-year lease from Powys County Council.
The well-being centre opened in September and is being used regularly by 10 groups: Age Cymru Simply Nails, RNID, Cymraeg i Blant De Powys, Builth YFC, PAVO Community Connectors, Builth Ladies’ Choir, South Parkinsons Support Group, Mid and North Powys MIND, Community Support Lunch Club and Builth Heritage Society.
It is also used to host Warm Space sessions and has received a 5-star food hygiene rating after its Environmental Health inspection.
Cathy Warlow, Manager of Builth Wells Community Support, said: “We are thrilled to have taken on the lease of the TIC, transforming the building into a valuable asset for the local community.
“This initiative enhances the range of services available in the area and further strengthens our charity.”
The Transforming Towns programme in Mid Wales is supported by Powys and Ceredigion County Councils’ Economic Development and Regeneration teams.
Councillor David Selby, Powys County Council’s Cabinet Member for a more Prosperous Powys, said: “I’m pleased to see a prominent empty Powys building being brought back into use with the help of the Transforming Towns programme.
“Builth Wells Community Support are doing sterling work to help some of our most vulnerable residents and this investment will help to broaden the range of services they, and their partners, are able to offer and make them more accessible.”
The Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns programme is focused on supporting the vibrancy of our town centres, developing green infrastructure, enabling job creation, and improving community facilities and access to services. Bringing empty properties back into beneficial use is a central pillar of the programme, and Mid Wales has been allocated £11m since 2022 to deliver town centre regeneration projects.
The Placemaking Grant is designed to be flexible, and delivered through the local authority, to support smaller scale interventions (up to £300,000 grant) that help improve town centres.
Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, Jayne Bryant, said: “Our Transforming Towns Programme is helping to bring disused buildings back to life, revitalising our town centres and boosting local economies.
“I’m so pleased to see the refurbishment work in Builth Wells town centre. Our investment in Mid Wales is supporting local communities to shape the regeneration of their town centres, creating employment and volunteering opportunities and improving access to services.”
The need for the refurbishment was evidenced through a town investment plan.
The project has also been supported by The National Lottery Community Fund, NFU Mutual and Co-op Local Community Fund.
The contractors working on it included Builth Building Services, J Kelham Electric and Graham Flooring.
