More than half a million pounds has been handed to two Aberystwyth community projects as part of the National Lottery Community Fund.

Penparcau Community Forum and Aber Food Surplus have both benefited from the latest £3.2m round of funding, as the fund celebrated its Volunteer Week.

Penparcau Community Forum successfully bid for £498,824 to spend over four years and six months, delivering activities and events from the renovated and refurbished community hub building in the village.

The projects will be “intergenerational, physical, cultural and social”, and will “break down barriers to isolation and inclusion, improve health and wellbeing, creating opportunities for people to learn new skills and develop citizenship by taking responsibility for their own community, and encouraging volunteering,” the group said.

Dylan Jones, chair of Penparcau Community Forum, said: “Over recent years the forum has gone from strength to strength, in no small part due to support from the National Lottery.

“This new grant comes at a crucial time in our development and will help us raise our game even further and a great deal of local people will benefit in many ways within our community.”

Aber Food Surplus will spend £99,761 over 18 months developing a pioneering, innovative and sustainable community hub in the centre of Aberystwyth, where volunteers will collect food, sort donations and prepare meals.

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