The brand new £1.35m Aberporth Village Hall opened to the community this week.

The five year project – which attracted major funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, the Welsh Government Community Facilities Programme and the UK Government Community Ownership Fund – has seen the old 1930s hall demolished and a brand new one built in its place.

At a packed opening, village hall committee chairman Mike Harwood thanked fellow trustees and builders Jamson Estates Ltd for delivering the project.

He added that the majority of the builders working on the project were local lads who had attended the village school.

“It is a great example of how the funding gained for this hall benefited the local community,” he said.

Project officer Sue Lewis, who put together the funding package, thanked funders for supporting the project, saying: “The community worked hard for decades to fundraise for a new hall and it was this community support that persuaded funders to back us.”

Blaenporth Choir – who performed at the closing of the old hall – were back on stage to open the new with a rousing programme of songs.

The new building was blessed by local vicar the Rev Fiona Beale, with an official opening planned for the summer.