WELSH SLATE HELPS YOUNG PEOPLE GO DIGITAL
12 April 2019
A centuries-old plan to turn a former hotel in a North Wales village into a community hub is coming to fruition, thanks in part to Welsh Slate.
The company, which has its main Penrhyn Quarry just 20 miles from Penygroes, where Siop Griffiths is located on Heol y Dŵr, has provided discounted slates, amounting to a £1,350 donation, for the re-roof of an outbuilding at the 17th Century building which was also an ironmongers for 85 years until it closed in 2010.
Now owned by the Siop Griffiths Cyf (Community Benefit Society) of some 150 shareholders, the Grade II listed building is earmarked for a hostel, café and outdoor pursuits business, with the outbuilding used as a digital centre for young people to hone and share their media skills.
The digital centre supports local schools’ introduction of the new Digital Inclusion Framework, a cross-curricular responsibility aimed at developing digital skills that can be used in connection with a wide range of subjects and scenarios which can be transferred to the world of work.
It already has the support of the Pontio Innovation Centre and the School for Creativity and Media at Bangor University as well as Galeri Caernarfon, the creativity/arts hub in Gwynedd.
The new roof features some 900 500mm x 250mm Cwt Y Bugail Blue Grey Celtic-grade roofing slates.
Siop Griffiths Cyf board member Ben Gregory said: “Welsh Slate made a very generous offer which Siop Griffiths Cyf was delighted to accept.”
Welsh Slate general manager Mark Hodgkinson said: “We were delighted to be able to offer a supportive gesture to the work being carried out at Siop Griffiths Cyf as it is an important project within our locality.”
Siop Griffiths Cyf was set up by the Dyffryn Nantlle 2020 committee which was established in 2012 as a voluntary group to improve the economic and social conditions in the valley by creating opportunities for children, young people and the community, taking advantage of the area’s language, culture, history, heritage and landscape.
