outside The Beeches building
Work to transform the former Caerphilly Miners’ Hospital into a community centre is gathering pace.
The restoration of the ground floor of the former hospital’s Beeches building has begun. The work will create a community café, IT suite and a learning centre. The project is being led by charity Caerphilly Miners Centre for the Community.
Funding for this phase of work is coming from the Big Lottery Fund, which has awarded £250,000, The Veolia Environmental Trust, which has awarded £39,900 through the Landfill Communities Fund, and Caerphilly Borough Council, which has awarded £25,000 through its Community Regeneration Fund. A GE Aviation Community Grant for £3,000 has also been awarded together with community fundraising of £9,000. The charity has also enjoyed the support of its partners, United Welsh.
The Veolia Environmental Trust and Community Regeneration Fund have specifically funded the Seminar Rooms, whilst GE Aviation has offered funding and volunteering to build the IT Suite.
The project will completely refurbish the ground floor, install a new heating system and electrical and mechanical services, refurbish or replace doors and windows, and lay new carpets. It is expected that work will be completed by Summer 2015.
Once funding becomes available, the building’s first floor will also be redeveloped to accommodate a large community function-room, a training kitchen, and music and craft rooms.
Katherine Hughes, from Caerphilly Miners Centre for the Community, said: “It is fantastic that work on phase two has started. The hospital has been at the heart of our community for over 90 years and so far the community has been fully supportive of the work to restore the fabric of the building.
“But, it is only with Phase Two that we can start to open up the building, and fulfil its new purpose, one that will be true to the spirit of serving the needs of the local community.
“The Learning Resource Space will be a base where everyone, including the most disadvantaged and excluded members of our community, can participate in intergenerational learning, share and develop new skills, gain experience and develop themselves. We are longing to see it complete.”