New £1.2m Coleg Cambria community education centre to open in north east Wales

Coleg Cambria is to build a £1.2million community learning hub at its land-based Denbighshire campus.

Llysfasi college has been earmarked for a project supporting the Welsh Government’s Prosperity for All vision to provide more education links in towns and villages across the country.

Work is expected to begin next year on the Ruthin Road centre, with facilities and services to include bilingual adult and community family learning resources, meeting rooms, IT and multimedia digital technologies, and development of new partnerships with the private, public and third sectors.

Chief Executive David Jones said the new building will further strengthen the relationship between the college and its communities, and their commitment to the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act (Wales) 2015.

“The project provides an innovative approach to widening the community use of local facilities by providing a central hub that would facilitate a variety of services in a single setting,” said Mr Jones.

“The centre itself would also support communities in north east Wales and have a broader geographical reach for some specialist provision, making education more accessible in more rural areas.”

He added: “Together with the Welsh Government and Denbighshire County Council we are also aiming to support local businesses with valuable training and skills development in ICT, business, marketing, farm diversification and more.

“Crucially, we are listening, as always, to our partners and people in the area to find out what they want and where there is demand.

“This hub will deliver a lot of the services and resources that are essential for rural growth, as well as learning, so we see it as being of huge benefit to our Llysfasi site and surrounding communities.”

Coleg Cambria Llysfasi will be working alongside agencies including the Rural Agricultural Benevolent Institute (RABI), the Farm Community Network and local health boards to deliver opportunities.

There will also be a strong emphasis on bilingualism and increasing the number of Welsh community and workplace courses linked to Cymraeg 2050 in a bid to boost the number of fluent employees of all ages across the country.

Iain Clarke, Head of Llysfasi, added: “At Cambria we are all about challenging the norm and providing opportunities for people to explore and achieve their full potential.

“The new community learning hub will allow us to do that, giving learners in hard-to-reach places in this area a chance to upskill and develop themselves personally and professionally, while working with some of the biggest and best organisations in North Wales and beyond.

“It will also have a positive impact on the rural economy, as well as supporting and enriching the social, cultural, economic and physical well-being of the communities we serve.”

Cllr Hugh Evans, leader of Denbighshire County Council, added: “Coleg Cambria and particularly the excellent facility at Llysfasi work very closely with the council, and we are therefore very pleased see this further investment in the site. 

“Llysfasi has a long and proud history of supporting rural and other local communities in the Vale of Clwyd and the broader agricultural sector in north and mid-Wales. This new project will support further development and the realisation of the ambitious longer-term plans for Llysfasi. 

“We are delighted to support and be part of these new plans and congratulate Coleg Cambria on securing the funding for this significant new investment.”

For more on Coleg Cambria, visit the website: www.cambriaold.ac.uk