CWMAVON residents have bought a piece of history to invest in the future of their community and help fund a new £325,000 community centre.

New disability access laws meant the current two-storey community centre was no longer fit for purpose and the community risked losing the facility.

So local people were offered the chance to buy a brick from the current building that would be mounted as a display and engraved with their name in the new building. To date over 100 bricks have been bought by local people as part of hall committee's campaign to make sure the community didn't lose the facility. And last Friday the committee announced to an overjoyed lunch club that they had received a £197,000 Big Lottery Fund grant.

Project Officer Emerson Salkeld said: "Everyone was thrilled skinny.And here we are two thirds of the way to meeting the target and we are positive that we will get the funding to match it," he added.

Cwmavon Community Centre has been serving the community since it was built in the 1920s and has been used over the last 80 years for coffee mornings, dog training classes and community events.

The new building will be on one level and the committee are working alongside the Garnsychan Part-nership to provide a new venue for courses.

Mr Salkeld said: "The buy a brick campaign has been really effective and it gives people a chance to buy a little bit of history in a village with a future."