Protecting community assets in the Welsh coalfields

In the Welsh coalfields, community buildings and local services matter. When a trusted space is lost, people lose support, activity and connection close to home. 

The Next Steps for the Valleys report (2025) says the Valleys are possibly the most disadvantaged former industrial region in Britain. It also shows how the shape of Valley communities has changed, with net commuting out of the Valleys estimated at 93,000 and many places becoming increasingly residential rather than places where people both live and work. Deprivation remains deeply entrenched too, with more than half of neighbourhoods in towns such as Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil among the 30 per cent most deprived in Wales. 

That’s why the Coalfields Regeneration Trust works with local organisations to protect valued community assets and help them stay open, active and useful to local people. In Ystradgynlais, that support included help around the asset transfer, support with a grant for a failed heating system, and backing to develop a 3G pitch that could bring in income and widen community use. 

Speaking about the support, Carl Williams from Ystradgynlais Community Centre says that when the lease was signed “it was really difficult”. After Covid hit and the heating system failed, they say: “If I didn’t get the grant for the heating system and didn’t get in contact with Natalie Sargent from CRT then, I don’t know where we’d be - we probably wouldn’t be here.” 

That support helped protect more than a building. They explain: “If this place had closed down there wouldn’t be a youth service running in Ystradgynlais.” They also say the 3G pitch has helped bring the community together, with Game On using it to let children play 5-a-side football free of charge. 

Working together, the Coalfields Regeneration Trust and local partners are helping community organisations in Wales’s coalfield communities to stay resilient, protect valued local spaces and keep support close to home. 

If you want to talk about protecting community assets in Wales’s coalfield communities, contact the CRT Wales team: 
Message via coalfieldsregen.uk/contact