Ceredigion MP Ben Lake cut the ribbon to officially reopen a refurbished New Quay Memorial Hall last weekend.

Following its recent £250,000 refurbishment - funded through a combination of local fundraising volunteers and Welsh Government’s Community Facilities funding - New Quay’s 96-year-old Memorial Hall opened its doors last Saturday to a “new and exciting chapter in its history.”

The reopening event, which saw Mr Lake cut the ribbon, took place amid a programme of community events in the town.

Working4NewQuay organised its Annual Firework Spectacular and a Halloween Pumpkin Hunt around the town, while Rural Futures – with an array of local organisations – invited local residents into the newly refurbished Memorial Hall to share their stories and aspirations for the future of the town.

Reopening the hall, Mr Lake said: “It is a particular treat to be invited to reopen such a facility at a time when, sadly, many facilities are closing.”

During his speech he publicly thanked Julian Evans, the Hall Committee’s chairperson, who has been instrumental in securing the funding for the project and managing the refurbishment of the Memorial Hall.

The reopening itself was ‘drama-bombed’ by young people from New Quay-based, Coastal Ceredigion Youth Forum who went on to highlight and discuss their concerns about climate change with Mr Lake.

Built in 1925 as a memorial to New Quay’s World War One fallen, the hall’s future looked bleak in 2018 due to a mounting repair bill and lack of investment.

But the New Quay War Memorial Hall Rejuvenation Project landed a grant of £223,253 from the Community Facilities Programme which, together with funds raised locally by volunteers, meant a total of just under £250,000 was available to repair the building.

Rural Futures also invited people to a local ‘Story Studio,’ to drop in and share what matters most for future generations to thrive in the area; what to safeguard and what to change, which “created a real buzz of excitement and generated many ideas for future improvements.”