A Borth community group have been awarded £360,000 in National Lottery funding.

Borth Community Hub manager Helen Williams said the team are “delighted” to have been awarded £360,000 from the People and Places National Lottery Community Fund.

“I am delighted that our funding application has been successful and we can continue to expand our work in this area,” Helen said.

“Our thanks to the National Lottery People and Places Award.

“This funding is essential for us to develop our services and the need has become even more apparent in the last 18 months.

“But Borth Community Hub is only as strong as it is because of our volunteers, staff and trustees and all those who have supported us over the years. My thanks to them all.”

With the remit of extending the Borth Community Hub’s work, including their Youth Club, Helen said “plans are afoot” to start a face-to-face Borth Men’s Shed and to continue the Caring Community initiatives developed during the pandemic, “to wide acclaim”.

Throughout the pandemic, the family centre has been “instrumental” in supporting the community; supporting elderly people, including those with memory loss issues, with home based art projects, afternoon teas at home, a community plant growing project, the virtual pedometer walking group, and befriending and support work in the community.

The Youth Club continued to meet either via zoom or in person, “providing an essential forum of activities for young people”.

During the first lockdown, a virtual Men’s Shed was established and now this will reform as a face to face group meeting for weekly sessions in the Hub or in the Hub’s newly built outdoor area.

The Family Centre will continue offering walk and talk groups for new parents, a Bumps and Babies group, Outdoor Language and Play, Forest and Beach Schools, Baby Massage and a whole range of family support courses and services.

The People and Places: Large grants, which can range from £100,001 to £500,000, are for “projects where people and communities are working together and using their strengths to make positive impacts on the things that matter to them the most”.

Chair of Borth Community Hub trustees Ray Quant said: “The Trustees are truly delighted that Helen, as the Borth Community Hub co-ordinator, has once again been highly successful in gaining a further term of critical support funding from the National Lottery.

“Without that support the Hub would find it extremely difficult to continue to provide the valuable and much needed support for young families and the elderly of Borth and the surrounding area.

“The Community Hub, widely known as the Borth Family Centre, has been part of the community well-being ethos since 2008 and their success is attributable to the dedication of Helen, her staff and many helpers. Long may it continue.”