It has been an exciting and extremely busy time, and here is an update on where things stand with Menter Y Vale.

We hope that by now you have already heard the excellent news that we have reached the challenging target of fundraising through selling shares in the initiative. Shares were bought all over Dyffryn Aeron, Ceredigion and throughout Wales; and also as far as in Los Angeles, Canada, Hong Kong and Portugal.

Now that we have had time to count and secure payments, we wish to share the excellent news with you, that we have managed to raise £380,788, with some money still to come. This is a very respectable amount and thanks to all the investors this will allow us to move forward with the next steps confidently.

The next steps will include completing the purchase process, which we will pursue as soon as possible. At the same time we will be proceeding with a series of grant applications from the various funds available to support similar initiatives and projects, in order to secure financial assistance for the necessary improvements to the building. That will include developing ideas for improvements, i.e. to consult our whole stakeholders; this process is likely to take some time, with one of the most obvious funds having already postponed the date for the next applications. However, we will work hard on this task. Crucially th investments have already enabled us to move ahead with buying the property, and ensured that we have an adequate amount of money to contribute to the renovation and development project.

It is therefore certain that there are still months of work before there is certainty as to the scope of the refurbishment and development project. However, we can confirm that the intention is to re-open the Vale’s doors as soon as we can, as it is. There is still some way to go before we can confirm exactly when and how that is going to happen, but we can say with certainty that we will be keeping in touch with you, all our supporters and investors in the coming weeks and months to seek your opinion, ask for volunteers and share any news.

In the meantime I would like to thank all those who have supported the initiative and who have been so generous in investing. Wishing you the best for the coming year. We look forward to sharing a little beer in the Vale with you soon. Cheers!