Businesses, community groups and residents have joined forces to give a street in Brynmawr town centre a one-day makeover.
The project took place on Beaufort Street as part of Blaenau Gwent Council’s new Towns Together initiative, which sees the local authority working alongside communities to improve their town centres.
More than 70% of people polled selected Beaufort Street as the location for the makeover.
Volunteers of all ages turned out to help transform the street, painting shop fronts and street furniture as well as cleaning, weeding and installing new planters and flowers.
A new nature-themed mural has also been created by local artist Matt Dey, while a new ‘Thank you for supporting Brynmawr Town Centre’ banner has been installed.
Ahead of the community makeover, the council’s neighbourhood teams carried out a deep clean of the area, including jet washing and road sweeping.
The Towns Together programme forms part of the council’s new Blaenau Gwent Deal approach, which focuses on working alongside local communities.
The Brynmawr makeover was funded through the UK Government’s Pride in Place Impact Fund.
Councillor John Morgan, Cabinet Member for Economy and Place said:
“Thank you to everyone who came along on Saturday and gave their time. Towns Together is a perfect example of the Blaenau Gwent Deal, demonstrating how communities can come together with the council to improve the area in which they live. It was absolutely fantastic to see people of all ages take part and the children were brilliant, so inspiring!
“With this collective action, we hope to make our town centres into areas where people want to visit and businesses want to invest.”
One volunteer said:
“We live in Brynmawr and we wanted to make the town centre look better and we certainly have this morning. It’s lovely to see it looking so much better already.”
Local councillor Wayne Hodgins said:
“This was a fantastic example of Brynmawr at its best. Residents, local businesses, community groups, schools, councillors and council staff coming together to make a real difference in the heart of our town centre. The community spirit on display was amazing and I’d like to thank everyone who took part.”
Those involved in the makeover included volunteers, the Rotary Club, businesses on Beaufort Street, Dawn at the Hospice for the Valleys, Ross Cable, The Men’s Shed, Brynmawr Town Partnership, Brynmawr Museum and local councillors Wayne Hodgins, Jules Gardner and Jon Hill.
Further details about the next Towns Together makeover are expected to be announced in due course.
