£3m lottery cash for old school, shed and harbour land

An empty school, a former railway goods shed and harbourside land will be transformed with £3m of lottery grants.

Volunteers in Y Fron, Gwynedd, hope to turn the 170-year-old Ysgol Bronyfoel into an 18-bed bunkhouse, shop, cafe and community rooms.

A Grade II-listed shed at Meliden, Denbighshire, will become a cafe and heritage centre with a bike hire facility, allotments and orchard.

Land at Porthcawl, Bridgend county, will house a new maritime centre.

The funding is part of the Big Lottery Fund project to help community groups take on local facilities and put them to better use.

Work on the school at Y Fron in the Nantlle Valley will start in 2017 and the project is expected to open in early 2018.

Jim Embrey, chairman of Canolfan Y Fron, the group behind the scheme, said the £947,000 grant would "genuinely transform" the area.

The renovation of Ysgol Bronyfoel, which closed in 2015, will also include a new treatment room for health, therapy and beauty services and changing rooms for the adjacent playing field.

The £1.1m renovation work on the shed will also begin next year.

Located on the Prestatyn to Dyserth cycle way, the project will also feature two workshop units and a small shop.

Grwp Cynefin community initiatives manager, Mair Edwards, said: "The shed is going to provide valuable employment, volunteering and learning opportunities, and preserve the heritage of Meliden."

Porthcawl Harbourside CIC will use £1.1m to build a maritime centre and community hub on land transferred from the county council.

It is located in the Porthcawl harbour quarter and will provide an all-weather community and visitor attraction with an emphasis on coastal science, maritime history, maritime-related sport and leisure, and community learning and employment.