Tonyrefail FUNd Day Celebration

Local funding awardees gather to celebrate the positive impact their small grants have made in their community.

On 24 June, members from local Tonyrefail groups came together at Tonyrefail Leisure Centre to celebrate the inspirational work that they do and to share how the support they received through the Tonyrefail FUNd Day grants have made a difference.

Organised by a partnership group consisting of Trivallis, Tonyrefail Chamber of Trades, Tonyrefail Community School, RCTCBC, Newydd, Beacon (formerly RHA), Interlink RCT, and Linc Cymru, the celebration evening recognised the achievements of community-led groups who were awarded grants of £250-£500 in January 2025.

The FUNd Day hosted back in January, allowed local community groups to come and pitch for small grants to help them continue to have an impact in their community and build on their great work. The Fund Day offered an alternative to traditional grant application processes, making it easier for groups to apply.

Lisa Roberts, Community Development Partner at Trivallis said: “The Tonyrefail FUNd Day was inspired by a previous successful partnership project and the shared concern over how hard it is for new or inexperienced community groups to access funding. Instead of formal applications, partners pooled resources and invited groups to simply ‘pitch their passions’ by chatting about their groups over tea and cake.

“Today’s event followed the same informal, welcoming format. Celebrating how the funds have helped each group and the wider community, with stories, demonstrations, and plenty of cake. It’s been a memorable, inspiring day with extraordinary people who love their community.”

This celebration event, filled with personal stories, and community spirit, highlighted not only the impact that the grants have already had, but how this approach has been able to reach a wider variety of causes than a typical funding application would usually achieve.

Celebrating community successes

Among the groups honoured were:

• University of the Third Age (U3A) – Meeting monthly at the Leisure Centre, U3A used their funding to cover venue hire, supporting activities such as book clubs, walking groups, family history sessions, gardening, and Welsh language practice, along with coach trips and theatre outings.
• Tonyrefail Welfare AFC – Received funding for coaching and first aid courses, helping to upskill volunteers and ensure safer, more effective sessions for young players.
• Tonyrefail Ladies Choir – Used their grant to support venue hire and cover choir fees, enabling them to continue uplifting the community through music.
• Thomastown Community Centre – Granted funds to improve their facilities, including plans to install an outdoor display board and new storage racking. The centre serves as a hub for events, learning, and cultural activities.
• Tonyrefail Skatepark – Awarded funding to support plans for extending the skatepark, creating more inclusive recreational spaces for young people in Tonyrefail.
• Tref Y Rhug PTA – Secured funding to develop an outdoor education facility, enhancing the learning environment for local children.
• The Friends of St Johns – Received a grant to help replace memorial headstones, preserving local heritage and honouring community history.
• Yr Efail Community Group – With plans to use the grant to provide a warm, welcoming space for young people in the area, supporting their wellbeing and social connection.
• The Gentlemen Songsters – Funding enabled them to purchase a new speaker, improving the quality of their performances at community events, including their Choir in the Community initiative. This sees the choir going out to local groups, care homes, events, or venues and hosting a singalong with the choir – which they gave a little taste of at the celebration event.
• New Life Church – Received support to continue offering a free breakfast to residents four mornings each week, helping to create a warm welcoming space and a hot meal, to anyone who needs it.

Those who attended got to hear from some of the funded groups, through speakers at the event and video clips of performances. The event even ended with a singalong that demonstrated the sense of community spirit and joy the grants have helped raise.

Wayne Richards, member of The Gentlemen Songsters and Thomastown Community Centre committee expressed:

“It was great to meet other local organisations, learn about their goals, and share challenges at the celebration event.

“The funding has helped the Gentlemen Songsters by providing equipment for our Choir in the Community project. We’ve already performed at several locations in the community with our next event in Royal Glamorgan Hospital at the end of July. As for Thomastown Community Centre, we have used the funding to upgrade our facilities and attract more local people.

“We really appreciated the easy funding process, where we pitched our project ideas face-to-face without lengthy application forms. The Tonyrefail FUNd Day Celebration was a great idea and I would like to see it repeated; not just to celebrate receiving funds, but to bring organisations in the community together to share our experiences and promote our offerings. Thanks for making it happen.”

The event showed just how much the grants had made a real difference.  Hearing how the funding had helped bring people together, reduce loneliness, create learning opportunities, and celebrate local heritage.