Aberporth residents have had the best Christmas present ever – work has started on the £1.35m project to rebuild the village hall.

The Heart of the Community project has attracted over £1.1m in grants thanks to a variety of funders including the National Lottery Community Fund, the Welsh Government Community Facilities Programme plus a welcome addition of £280k from the UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund which was announced last week.

Extra funds have come from the Garfield Weston Foundation, Moondance Foundation as well as Ceredigion County Council and Aberporth Community Council.

The new hall – which is being built by local builders Jamson Estates – should be finished in time for Christmas next year.

The project – which started in 2019 – was hit by a series of obstacles including Covid lockdown, Brexit, and spiralling prices.

The new hall will be a warm and welcoming community hub, eco efficient, open longer hours and offering an array of community services.

Hall chairman Mike Harwood said: “We are delighted that all the hard work over the past three years has finally paid off – the community has been behind us every step of the way.”

Project officer Sue Lewis – who put the funding package together – praised all funders for supporting the project.

“Getting all the different funds in place was similar to putting together a huge jigsaw puzzle – we knew we had an excellent project and an exceptional team of trustees and funders saw that and gave us their backing.”

Pictured are past and present trustees with Rachel Richards from the National Lottery Community Fund and Sam Morris from Jamson Estates. Also there were Tony Bott representing his mother, the late Mary Bott who was a stalwart supporter of the project, and Eve Evans, widow of long-standing hall treasurer Hywel Evans.