Strengthening community through CRT Hwb Cana in the South Wales Valleys

In the South Wales Valleys, coalfield communities have too often been left without the buildings, services and opportunities they need close to home. 

In Penywaun, the challenge is stark. More than 42% of adults have no qualifications, 44% are involuntarily excluded from the labour market, and 60% of households are income deprived — all figures that are more than double the national average. 

That is why safeguarding community assets matters. CRT Hwb Cana had stood derelict since 2015, despite its potential to serve a community facing significant deprivation. Working with local people every step of the way, the Coalfields Regeneration Trust helped bring the building back into use as a community hub offering support, training and services shaped by what local residents wanted. 

Natalie Sargent, Development Manager for the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, explains: “We've taken the community along with us on that journey. Everything from the architects' plans, everything went through the community.” 

Today, CRT Hwb Cana is supporting people at different points in their lives. As local beneficiary Rachael says: “It's not just furthering your education because you get qualifications, but it's also getting you out of your bubble.” Through activities including sugar craft training, she and others have gained NVQs, built friendships and found something positive to work towards. 

Working together with the community, CRT Hwb Cana has become a place for conversations, signposting, learning and upskilling — a practical example of how protecting the right local asset can help reconnect people to opportunity and to each other. 

If you want to talk about community assets, skills and support in Wales’s coalfield communities, contact the CRT Wales team coalfieldsregen.uk/contact