Historic miners’ welfare hall secures £40,000 for redevelopment plans

Nation.Cymru staff

A historic miners’ welfare hall in mid Wales has secured £40,000 to develop plans for a major refurbishment of the 90-year-old building.

The Welfare Ystradgynlais, which welcomes 45,000 visitors annually, was awarded the funding from the Arts Council of Wales’s Arts Capital Investment Fund, the community venue’s first funding boost in 35 years.

The Welfare was set up as part of the miners’ welfare movement, when local miners contributed ‘pennies’ from their wages to create places where their communities could access education, recreation, entertainment, culture and the arts.

Built at a cost of £9,000 (almost £1 million today), Ystradgynlais Miners’ Welfare Hall was opened on 7 July 1934 by Jim Griffiths, the Chairman of The Welfare and President of the South Wales Miners’ Federation.

The original vision for the 1934 Miners Welfare was to create a “centre from which will radiate fellowship that will enrich the community,” and provided education, and a home for local clubs and organisations, hosting performances, films, dances, meetings, classes and community events.

The Welfare was also part of the community’s welcome to refugee artist Josef Herman who lived and worked in Ystradgynlais shotly after the second world war.

This connection continues to this day after Josef’s widow Nini Herman donated a collection of his works to The Welfare for the benefit of the community, resulting in the creation of the Josef Herman Art Foundation Cymru which still houses this archive.

During the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike, The Welfare was a food parcel distribution centre for local mining families, with fundraising activities that included receipt of the fundraising efforts by Lesbians and Gay Men Support the Miners group.

It is now one of the few independently run miners’ welfare halls in Wales still operating for the cultural, educational and community purposes for which it was established.

In 2025-26, The Welfare hosted 45 community groups, 58 live productions, more than 100 film screenings and 269 participatory events including dance, musical theatre and creative arts.

The Welfare team intends to use the £40,000 Arts Council of Wales funding to develop more detailed proposals for the centre’s redevelopment with the community, including appointing a specialist design team.

The plans will consider how to improve accessibility and the building’s facilities while retaining its historic character and community use.

Wynne Roberts, Executive Director of The Welfare Ystradgynlais, said: “The Welfare has always belonged to its community. It was built through the contributions of local miners because they believed people here deserved access to culture, education, recreation and somewhere to come together.

“More than 90 years later, that community purpose is still at the heart of everything we do”.

For more information, visit The Welfare’s website here.

The funding forms part of the Arts Council of Wales’s £8 million Arts Capital Investment Fund and is supported by Powys County Council and Ystradgynlais Town Council strategic plans for Ystradgynlais’ future.

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