A project to turn the former Caerphilly Miners’ Hospital into a community centre has been left a £50,000 donation through a will.
Local woman Betty Holroyd passed away in 2010 aged 98 and left her estate to St Martin’s Church, Velindre Hospital and the Caerphilly and District Miners Hospital League of Friends.
The League of Friends is now dissolving and decided to give Caerphilly Miners’ Centre for the Community £50,000.
The money will be used to build the Betty Holroyd Music room, bringing together her two main passions of music and history.
Jeff Cuthbert AM, Chair of Caerphilly Miners Centre for the Community, said: “This generous donation will enable our project to complete the music room which will bring the therapeutic benefits of music and the arts to our community. In acknowledgement of her hugely generous donation to our project and reflecting her love of music, we would like to name the music room in her honour.”
Miss Holroyd was born in February 1912. She spent most of her life in East View, Caerphilly. After leaving school she entered the Civil Service and was employed at the Ministry of Labour. Her postings took her to the North of England and to London where she lived for 22 years before she returned to Caerphilly.
One of her principal interests was the Music Club, to which she belonged for many years; she held the posts of both Secretary and Treasurer. She was also a member of the League of Friends and the Caerphilly Historical Society.
To bring the original Beeches building into community use, the charity Caerphilly Miners’ Centre for the Community needs to raise £1 million.
The Beeches building was paid for by the miners of 29 pits in the Rhymney Valley after they each put aside 6d out of their weekly wage of 12s 6d to raise the £30,000 needed.
In February the charity was boosted by a £300,000 grant from the Welsh Government.
This is great news for the caerphilly miners community centre so well done but I cannot understand why the NHS was allowed to sell oakdale hospital instead of giving it back to the community when the local miners paid for it in the first place. It's is an absolute disgrace!