AN EXCITING building project for brand-new Dryslwyn Post Office, Dryslwyn Community Shop and Café premises, has started this week (19/1). Major fundraising has already raised more than £1m.
2026 will be a monumental year for this rural village in Carmarthenshire as construction of a new home for its community-run shop starts in January and will be ready by this autumn.
A site for the new development adjacent to Parc Bryers, Dryslwyn, has been gifted for the purpose by local community member Thomas Lloyd OBE, DL, FSA. The highly environmentally friendly design is by Welsh-speaking Swansea architect Huw Griffiths.
This new location will provide sufficient space to build a bigger, better, shop, Post Office and Café – which will be double the size. This will significantly improve facilities to meet the needs of Dryslwyn and surrounding communities. Better overall accessibility including off-road customer parking with disabled spaces will be features of the new location.
In 2008 when 2,500 Post Offices closed to streamline the network, Dryslwyn was scheduled to be one of them. However, through remarkable grass roots efforts the Community Shop was launched as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. It has successfully served the community ever since and safeguarded Dryslwyn Post Office.
Dryslwyn SiopNEWydd Project Chair, Nigel Jones and Lead, Dr Rosie Plummer, have been busy driving the project forward and applying for grants from numerous sources including the Welsh Government, National Lottery, Carmarthenshire County Council and a number of trusts and foundations including local supplier Castell Howell Foods Ltd. Notable others including local solicitor Edward Friend of Carreg Law and Richard Pryce ecologist all gave their time free to carry out the necessary legal work and ecological surveys.
The new location is just 30 metres from the existing shop and Post Office in Cwrt Henri, which will stay open until the new premises is built and ready to occupy – a win-win situation for the rural community.
Dr Plummer said: “We’ve already raised £1,030,000 including substantial cash contribution from Dryslwyn Community shop itself. And we are keeping up our grants applications to close the funding gap.
“Our ambition is to cover the full £1.2m needed for the project in various ways.
“From saving the Post Office and shop in 2008 and now expanding the community-run business, we are investing in local people to build a better future. With the bulk of the money already raised we are very excited to start our next new chapter.
“We knew we were starting work this month, with the precise timing weather dependent. We have secured planning permission and have a very well-respected and experienced Carmarthenshire firm Lloyd and Gravell as Principal Contractor for the building work.”
In 2021 The Dryslwyn Community Shop and Post Office proudly won The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. This award, described as the MBE of Voluntary Service, is the highest award achievable by a voluntary group.
That enterprising attitude ensured a continued lifeline to the surrounding rural community and kept going throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
The community-run shop draws on the existing skills of its volunteers and helps to develop the skills of the whole team.
Dryslwyn Community Shop was shortlisted by Plunkett for the ‘Investing in Local People’ category at the Rural Community Business Awards 2024. Plunkett UK helped the village initially set up its community shop by sharing its extensive knowledge of community-run shops across the UK.
The enlarged shop, which will still be run by volunteers, will have a Post Office serving point at the retail counter and a much wider retail range.
