Over the last three years the local social enterprise Rhondda Life has done great things. It has
- supported the reconstruction of the Morlais Hall
- led the development and construction of the award-winning Glynrhedyn building, which includes a restaurant, bars and community facilities
- successfully helped people back into work through the Welsh Government's Job Match programme
- renovated a shop in the centre of Ferndale as the original base for Rhondda Life, available for letting
Added to this it has organised events such as Rhondda at War and promoted the Rhondda's heritage in other ways, such as the Stanley Baker lounge facility, as well as being involved in a variety of community activities.
I was delighted when the then Deputy First Minister, Ieuan Wyn Jones, agreed the funding for Rhondda Life on behalf of the One Wales Government and announced it in May 2009:
You can read the full text of the DFM's statement here.
The success of Rhondda Life in getting people into work was acknowledged by the then Deputy Minister for Housing and Regeneration, Plaid Cymru's Jocelyn Davies, on behalf of the One Wales Government, in December 2010:
Jocelyn met four people who had been given training and skills by Rhondda Life and heard their stories. You can read the full text here.
The Glynrhedyn officially opened in May 2011. In May this year, it was announced that Rhondda Life's Glynrhedyn building had won the top 'property Oscar' awarded by the RICS, the Welsh project of the year. As the Chair of the RICS in Wales said:
The building that previously stood in place of the Glynrhedyn was old and practically in ruins. Through community support and government backing, as well as hard work and perseverance, the old building and site has been completely transformed. The Glynrhedyn is now a thriving local business and a community hub, which we believe will stand the test of time. It is truly a Welsh project and we are delighted to award it RICS Wales Project of the Year.
When Rhondda Life was originally established, there were three partner organisations behind it, the Cor Meibion Morlais, the Ferndale Rugby Club, and Blaenllechau Community Regeneration (BCR - owners of the Bell Centre). I note that BCR is no longer listed as a partner organisation on the Rhondda Life website, and I am told that there has been little contact between Rhondda Life and BCR since early 2011.
There has been no question that Rhondda Life has faced serious financial challenges over the past six-nine months in delivering the Glynrhedyn building. The Bell Centre, owned by BCR, was meant in the original plans to be sold and the proceeds of the sale after debts were cleared to be invested in Rhondda Life. I have a number of questions as to why that has still not happened and I will return to those in a separate article. There was a small construction over-spend due in part to delays after the discovery of an unmapped water culvert. There had been an expectation that Rhondda Life would obtain a grant from the SEWCED scheme, but for whatever reason, that was not forthcoming. On top of that, the closure of the Job Match scheme because of the UK coalition government's welfare reform agenda meant Rhondda Life lost a further source of income and had to lay off two members of staff.
These difficulties have had an impact on the ability to maintain trading at the Glynrhedyn building on the basis of a full-time employment model, although forward bookings are I understand being honoured. There is no secret about these issues. However, rumours of course are rife. A week or so ago, on Saturday June 23rd, I got a text suggesting that the receivers had been called in and the brewery was now in control of the Glynrhedyn building. I drove over to Ferndale and met a member of my constituency staff there in order to try and find out what was going on. We found that the brewery certainly had representatives there intending to operate the bars but after making enquiries I was told that Rhondda Life was not in receivership.
Checking today, we have found that according to the Companies House website, there is a section 38 receivership issue with regard to Rhondda Life. As I understand it, this means that the receivers are in action with regard to an asset owned by the company - I assume the Glynrhedyn - rather than the company itself.
What next for Rhondda Life? It is clear that the organisation has contributed significantly to the regeneration of Ferndale over recent years. The Glynrhedyn building was intended to be a three-stage development and I hope that the further stages still have potential. As constituency member for the Rhondda, I certainly hope Rhondda Life's full plans come to fruition.
However, it is also clear that the challenges of the Glynrhedyn development have been testing for all involved in Rhondda Life, and I wonder whether this is now the time to consider a different model for the future of Rhondda Life in respect of the Glynrhedyn building, whereby Rhondda Life retains the ownership of the building and looks after the community facilities, but allows the trading element to be managed and operated by commercial operators who pay a rental or franchise for the privilege? These are obviously matters for the directors, but I hope that they will be given active consideration.
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.