A NEW modern community centre is almost complete and expected to be handed over to the community by the end of the year.

The former Hendy Cricket Club has been going through an extensive redevelopment project to turn it into the new Canolfan Gwili Centre.

There had been a significant amount of building work that was needed to be done to complete the project and Llanedi Community Council provided a large investment as well as a £126,000 grant given to the project by the Welsh Government Rural Communities Development Fund.

South Wales Guardian: What the building looked like before refurbishmentWhat the building looked like before refurbishment (Image: Llanedi Community Council)

A further grant has been awarded to the community council from the Sustainable Communities Fund which has provided £124,000 to go towards fitting out the new building including installing energy-saving solar panels on the roof.

The new community centre will become the home of a number of community facilities including Cegin Beca café/bistro which will also cater for parties, conference and events. There will also be conference meeting rooms with free WiFi and video conferencing capability, activity rooms for community groups and small businesses to use, a large sports hall with a seating capacity of 100+ people for concerts and conferences, a function room to seat more than 100 people for private conferences, parties or events.

There will also be a hot desk hire, electric car charging points and a picnic area overlooking the Hendy nature trail.

The community centre sits on a nature reserve and is surrounded by a variety of wildlife and lovely natural views.

The community council will be hiring members of staff to assist with the running of the centre including centre manager/community co-ordinator, chef/kitchen manager and a café/restaurant manager as well as a caretaker, café/restaurant supervisors and team members.

More information about the roles and how to apply can be found at www.llanedi.org.uk.

The community council is hoping that the public will take a real ownership of the centre as a community asset and are creating a new community organisation which will – they hope – eventually take over the running of the centre and making it sustainable for future generations. Anyone who is interested in joining the group or who has a business that may be interested in using the facilities in the future can contact the council’s clerk David Davies on clerk@llanedi.org.uk or by calling 07971 026493.