by promocymru_admin | 16th Nov 2011

ProMo-Cymru is delighted to announce that the EVi Project has been awarded a £750,000 grant from Community Asset Transfer Programme. The programme, which is a partnership between the Welsh Government and The Big Lottery Fund, will provide both capital and revenue funding to support the transfer of the Ebbw Vale Institute from Blaenau Gwent Borough Council to community ownership via ProMo-Cymru. The grant will also allow the redevelopment of many areas of the building that are currently in urgent need of refurbishment, with works set to begin in early 2012.

Through the Community Asset Transfer programme, the Welsh Government & Big Lottery Fund will invest up to £13 million in communities and organisations to help them transfer, develop, manage, and sustain assets to improve the livelihoods and neighbourhoods within the areas awarded the funding, with the EVi being one of only a few projects successful in obtaining the grant.

The Ebbw Vale Institute & Cultural Centre Project (EVi) is a landmark initiative of ProMo-Cymru. In 2007, ProMo-Cymru decided to take on the major task of saving and restoring the historic Institute building and turning it into a sustainable cultural centre of community activity and learning; which was its original function when it opened its doors as the first educational institute in Wales in 1852. The EVi, can now move forward from strength to strength developing the facilities & working with groups and individuals throughout local communities and the Heads Of The Valleys area helping them develop their potential in the cultural industries.