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North Wales Live
a day ago
- Business
- North Wales Live
Closed Gwynedd attraction under redevelopment receives another £3.3m
A major tourism attraction - currently being redeveloped - has received another significant funding boost. The National Slate Museum in Llanberis has been closed since November last year and will reopen in 2026. It is undergoing a significant upgrade to create a new learning centre, play area, shop and café at the museum, as well as making the whole site more accessible. Today Welsh Government announced an additional £3.3m boost to support the re-development. This brings the Welsh Government's total contribution to the project to £5.8m - with £2.5m previously awarded. On top of this the last Conservative UK Government approved £6.2m from the Levelling-Up fund, part of a wider regeneration bid by Cyngor Gwynedd. In addition the project has had £12m from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This brings the total investment to £24m - raising expectations of what will be unveiled when the site reopens. As well as paying for the redevelopment funding will also enable the site to continue to develop its role as a living museum by offering training and opportunities for people to learn about and develop traditional heritage skills. The museum has temporarily closed to safely carry out the conservation and renovation work. But Amgueddfa Cymru is taking the museum on the road around local attractions and community events in north Wales and through 'pop up' museums at the Quarry Hospital and Penrhyn Castle. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox Today's announcement consists of an additional £3m plus the award of a £300,000 Communities Facilities Programme grant towards the construction of a new café, Learning and Volunteering Centre and Changing Places facilities. Culture Minister, Jack Sargeant said: 'As Culture Minister and a proud north Walian, it's been an ideal summer for me – visiting one exciting development or event in the Gogledd after another. The almost-finished, new-look Theatr Clwyd; the National Slate Museum at the beginning of its own transformation journey; the Maes of the National Eisteddfod in Wrexham where I joined tens of thousands of other visitors to celebrate all things Cymraeg and was updated on the progress of the new Football Museum for Wales within Wrexham Museum. 'We have increased day-to-day spend on culture by 8.5% this year and tripled investment in venues and sites compared to a decade ago. But our spend on culture goes far beyond this - it is woven into budgets across Welsh Government. 'Our investment in the National Slate Museum today is an excellent example of how this works in practice with £5.5m from my department's budget combined with community regeneration funding to ensure the redeveloped museum offers a world class experience for visitors to the slate landscape of north-west Wales – a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2021.' They added that the Government had allocated over £230m this year to culture and cultural programmes outside of the Culture Minister's portfolio - across departments including education, local government, economy, health, the Welsh language, energy and social justice. This includes funding for familiar and culturally significant projects like the National Music Service, the Urdd, National and Llangollen Eisteddfodau, the summer reading challenge across all libraries in Wales, the investment in our film, TV and live music sectors and high-profile events like Tafwyl and the year-long 2025 Richard Burton Centenary programme.
South Wales Argus
29-06-2025
- Business
- South Wales Argus
New fund launched to help improve towns across Wales
The Tidy Towns Fund, announced by First Minister of Wales Eluned Morgan at the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno on Saturday, June 28, will provide £5 million to support improvements in cities, towns, and villages throughout the country. Ms Morgan said: "When our surroundings feel cared for, we feel cared for too and our new Tidy Towns Fund is a direct investment this year in the places we call home. "Tidy Towns is about more than just bricks and mortar. "It's about belonging and pride of place, because when a town centre feels alive, a street is tidy or a park is looked after, pride in our places means pride in ourselves." The funding will be distributed to all local authorities in Wales and could be used for a range of projects, including footpath repairs, replacing signage, refurbishing bus shelters, and maintaining street furniture. Other potential uses include litter removal, clearing fly-tipping, tidying overgrown areas, and painting community murals. The fund builds on the Welsh Labour Government's ongoing investment in community spaces. Since 2015, the £63 million Communities Facilities Programme has supported the creation, improvement, or preservation of more than 450 community spaces across Wales. It also complements the existing £100 million Transforming Towns programme, which focuses on bringing underused or derelict properties back into use as businesses, housing, leisure facilities, commercial space, or community hubs.
