Local politicians help to launch Grange Pavilion
23 June 2016
Local politicians Stephen Doughty MP, Vaughan Gething AM and Grangetown Councillor Lynda Thorne have supported the launch of the newly renovated Grange Pavilion as a temporary community hub.
The Grange Pavilion was officially opened by Councillor Thorne on Saturday 18th June in the presence of Grangetown residents and members and partners of the Grange Pavilion and Community Gateway projects.
The pavilion has had several improvements including a new kitchen courtesy of IKEA, lighting, floors and has been painted inside and out with help from the local community and students from Cardiff and Vale College.
The former bowls pavilion and bowling green in Grange Gardens was opened as part of the Grangetown festival, in a bid to engage the local community in the project and to continue to explore new ways of using the facilities as a community space as suggested by local people.
Resident Richard Powell, of Grange Pavilion Project, said the university, through moral and financial support, was helping the community to achieve local aspirations and come forward with proposals that are “believable and do-able”.
Ideas as to how to use the pavilion put forward by local community members will now be explored and put into practice. It is hoped that local business owners will help to launch a pop-up community café at the pavilion a few times a week to provide a social space for the community to gather.
Mhairi McVicar, Programme Manager of Community Gateway said of the launch:
"It was great on the launch day of Grange Pavilion to see the results of three years of collaboration between community members and Cardiff University staff and students - but this is only the beginning. The pavilion is now open for communities in Grangetown to drop in and tell us what should happen next, to propose, run, or join in activities, to meet up and simply enjoy using the Pavilion and its grounds. The next big step is applying for funding this coming September to support an application in 2017 for a Community Asset Transfer, and we need your ideas, feedback, and help in making that happen!"
Members of Community Gateway, Grange Pavilion Project and Grangetown Community Action will now open the doors to the pavilion every Monday and Friday from the first week of July so that members of the local community can pop in for a chat to share ideas and make suggestions or simply to find out more.
If you have any ideas or want to get involved please pop in to the pavilion or contact us on Twitter @CommunityGtwy or email: communitygateway@cardiff.ac.uk