Village brings former school back to life 16 years after closure

Nation.Cymru staff

A Welsh-speaking rural community is preparing to reopen its former village school 16 years after falling pupil numbers forced it to close.

Ysgol Cribyn in Ceredigion has been bought and renovated by the local community and will reopen as an education and community centre rather than as a conventional school.

Part of the building is also being converted into an affordable home for a local family as part of efforts to encourage younger families to settle in the village.

The school closed in 2010 after pupil numbers fell into single figures.

Euros Lewis, who leads the school’s regeneration project, said: “It was a sad time. It was a very difficult time – seeing such a vibrant Welsh-speaking community losing one service after another. And losing young families more than anything.”

Following the closure, representatives of local organisations formed Cymdeithas Clotas, described as a form of community parliament, in an attempt to counter some of its effects.

Efforts to bring the school building back into community use gathered pace following the Covid pandemic.

In October 2024, a public meeting was held and a campaign began to persuade Ceredigion County Council to sell the building to the community.

A Community Benefit Society was established and the council agreed to sell the former school in January 2025.

Community

A community share offer raised more than £70,000, while the project also secured a £195,000 Welsh Government Community Resources grant and £500,000 from the Community Lottery.

The community took ownership of the school for £175,000 in October 2025 and renovation work began.

Alan Henson, chair of the school initiative, said: “Everything was at a standstill. Something needed to be done!

“And here we are – exactly two years later – with the school not only owned by the community but ready to operate as a centre of such a high standard for the benefit of one and all.”

Education

Children will not return to Ysgol Cribyn for conventional schooling, but education will again form a central part of its work.

Teacher Bethan Eynon-Stobbs has been appointed as its education and community officer, with plans to use the area’s history, culture and natural environment as educational resources.

Mr Lewis said the project had also helped change attitudes in a community which had become accustomed to losing services.

He said: “Where, previously, there was a grudging acceptance of the loss of services and amenities, now the attitude is ‘What are we going to do about it? How can we make a difference? How do we change things for the better?'”

Organisers say families with young children have recently begun settling in Cribyn again, while the affordable home being created within the former school is intended to provide another opportunity for a local family to remain in the community.

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