6 projects get £4.59m to improve communities and buildings

14 October 2024

Six Powys projects have received Shared Prosperity Fund support worth a total of £4.59 million in the last eight months to help build "resilient, healthy and safe neighbourhoods".

The awards have been made by the Powys Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) Local Partnership Board, supported by Powys County Council's Economy and Climate Service, under its Communities and Place theme.

The successful projects are:

• Community Hall Decarbonisation, £1,717,559, to Powys County Council's Property Department, to work with 18 community halls to reduce their energy use and carbon footprints.
• Rebuilding Community Foundations, £1,717,257, to Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations (PAVO), for the second phase of a scheme supporting the managers of community buildings to make them more self-sustaining. (Including installing electric vehicle charging points.)
• Transition and Resilience Scheme to support the Arts and Culture Service, £687,999, to Powys County Council's Cultural Services, for grants to support organisations which failed to secure multi-year Arts Council Wales backing in 2023.
• Welsh Language in Powys, £250,000, to Powys County Council's Education and Welsh Language Services, to promote the council's plans for the Welsh language and Welsh-medium education, recruitment opportunities for Welsh speakers and Welsh language support for businesses at the Maldwyn 2024 Urdd Eisteddfod.
• Property Flood Resilience, a further £200,000, to Powys County Council's Highways, Transport and Recycling Service, for a grant scheme to help households that have been damaged by floodwater to become more resilient in the future.
• Energy Efficiency and Decarbonisation, a further £12,999, to Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority, for a project delivering reduced energy bills and CO₂ emissions for community buildings.

"Our objectives under the Communities and Place theme are to strengthen our social fabric and foster a sense of local pride and belonging, and to build resilient, healthy and safe neighbourhoods," said Councillor David Selby, the council's Cabinet Member for a More Prosperous Powys and Chair of the Powys SPF Local Partnership Board.

For more information on the UK SPF in Powys visit: UK Shared Prosperity Fund or email: ukspf@powys.gov.uk

The Powys SPF Local Partnership Board is responsible for deciding how the just over £26 million in SPF money allocated to Powys for 2022-25, by the UK Government, should be spent.

The partnership includes Powys County Council, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority, Powys Teaching Health Board, NPTC Group of Colleges, Business Wales, Mid Wales Regional Skills Partnership, Mid Wales Tourism, Mid Wales Manufacturing Group, Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations, Wales YFC, NFU Cymru, Farmers' Union of Wales, Chambers Wales, and One Voice Wales.