Dear Community,

It’s no secret that the last couple of years have been incredibly tough. We’re sorry that we’ve not been better at communicating but we’ve been ploughing all our energy into resolving some extremely complicated issues and we’re pleased to say that we’re finally making some progress. Here’s a brief update.

Insurance 

We were forced to close the building suddenly back in the summer of 2023 when our insurers, unjustifiably, withdrew our policy. We logged a complaint with the Financial Ombudsman Service straight away and it’s been a long and painful process. After initial investigations the Ombudsman appears to agree that the fault lays with our insurers, but this process is still ongoing. We have not yet reached an agreeable outcome with the insurers, so the matter is still in the hands of the Ombudsman. 

Legal issues 

We are hopeful that we will be able to reopen the building at some point and our aim is to renovate it to bring it up to modern standards. But to apply for money to fund this work it’s vital that we change the legal structure of our organisation from an unincorporated charity to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). This has been extremely complicated and time consuming: we began this process five years ago. We are finally making some progress, but we have had to fight to overcome the barriers we have faced.

Part of this process involves transferring our building’s ownership into the new CIO structure (same charity/trustees, different legal structure). To do this we needed permission from the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation (CISWO), and we’ve been trying to obtain this for the duration of the process (five years). Thankfully, CISWO have now given us permission and we have commenced the legal work required. This is still likely to take some time but now it’s underway we can finally start applying for large funding grants.

Feasibility study

We raised £63k, through funding grants, to pay for a comprehensive feasibility study. Without this robust investigation we would not be able to access large funding grants. The study concluded in February 2023 and has provided us with comprehensive resources including architect’s drawings, mechanical/electrical surveys, structural engineer’s report, business plan and a fully costed quantity surveyor’s report. This work will put us in a strong position with funders. A summary of the feasibility study is available on our website – https://resolvenwelfare.co.uk/document/feasibility-study/

Funding for our renovation plans

With the feasibility study under our belt and the legal work underway we are now (finally!) in a position to apply for funding. We’ve been working with our partner organisations, Neath Port Talbot CVS, Coalfields Regeneration Trust and CISWO to create a funding strategy and we’ve been busy meeting with funders to discuss our ideas. We’ve spoken to The National Lottery Community Fund, National Heritage Lottery, the Welsh Government’s Community Facilities Programme, the UK governments’ Community Ownership Fund, Pen y Cymoedd and more. Applications will be winging their way to them soon!

Next steps

  • Continue talking to funders and get those applications in.
  • Keep on our solicitors’ tails to ensure they’re pressing on with the legal work required.
  • Update our website to tell the world about our plans.
  • Launch a new community consultation. We’re looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Thanks for taking the time to read this and keep your eyes peeled for more exciting updates to come! 😊

Please direct any questions to info@resolvenwelfare.co.uk