Community centres keeping warm thanks to council grants

Local community venues are lifelines for their neighbourhoods and voluntary groups providing much-needed facilities for services like food banks, children's play groups and adult get-togethers.

But some were worried that they might have to put up costs or reduce opening hours so that they could cover soaring bills brought about by the cost of living crisis.

Now the council has stepped in with funding from its Energy Support Fund (ESF) to ease the pressure and support the centres to keep going when they are most needed.

So far almost £115,000 has been paid out to 40 community centres to help cushion the impact of energy price rises. More is expected to be paid out in the coming months as bills rise due to winter pressures and rising energy costs.

Rob Stewart, Leader of Swansea Council, said: "We created the ESF this year because the council recognises the critically-important role played by community venues right across the city.

"They're often run on a shoestring by volunteers who themselves go out of their way supporting their neighbours. They make a huge difference to young families, older people and so many others as a hub for socialising, tackling loneliness and providing services which will be sorely missed if lost.

"They're a brilliant network and I want to thank all those involved for going the extra mile every day for their communities.

"The cost of living crisis is a crisis not of our communities' making and the ESF will go some way towards helping make sure community venues and their supporters can keep going, even as energy bills continue to rise."

Feedback from community centres which have accessed the ESF has been very positive and it was making a huge difference.

Manselton Community Centre

"The support funding has meant that we have not had to think about increasing the hire charge for our users, which was a real concern."

Dyfatty Community Centre said:

"The energy support scheme has come as a huge relief to us at Dyfatty Community Centre. Until this funding was provided we were really concerned about the cost of our energy bills after the huge increase in costs for the next year. This funding has enabled us to ensure that we are keeping the community centre adequately heated while our groups are in. We had considered reducing the amount of time the heating was on while others were using the building/increasing the hire charges (which would be unaffordable for a lot of our existing groups).  Thank you so much for this help. It's really been appreciated by us all."

Gors Avenue Community Centre

"The fuel help funding came at the most desperate times for us as a community building.  We were so grateful it helped keep the building up to date with payments which means it kept the building open to the community."

Penclawdd Community Centre

"We are delighted to have the additional support from Swansea Council to better manage our utilities bills. The subsidy of 50% of the projected increase in costs for 2023/2024 from their Energy Support Scheme will be a huge help to us this year alongside the Council's new Energy Viewer software. This will enable us to track usage and ensure we are managing costs online with our budget. This is especially important with the ongoing cost increases as we maintain Penclawdd Community Centre as a valuable asset in the local community."

Gendros Community Centre

"The energy support scheme has been a great help. As it would have used our money up very quickly."

Bonymaen Community Centre

"The difference in our bills has been amazing. We have been able to put the heating on for our younger and older groups and not have to worry so much about the costs or putting hire fees up.  This makes the centre a warmer and more welcoming place to be."