The Glanyrafon Arms is located in the village of Talgarreg, with the nearest town being Aberaeron which is a seaside town located approximately 9 miles away. Talgarreg has a population of around 300, and has a Village Hall, a Church and a mobile shop and also a mobile Post Office which visits twice a week.
The Glanyrafon Arms has been in Hefin Evans family since 1954, and the family bought the pub when he was a three year old boy. Hefin met and married Megan, who is a trained nurse, and together they took over the family business from his parents in 1976.
Hefin describes the pub as a great community pub, and both he and Megan are big supporters of the village, and they in return receive a fantastic support back from the locals. The pub organises regular charity events, and have raised up to £30k in one day for various charities including the Air Ambulance, cancer research and also local charities.
The Glanyrafon Arms boasts various awards for their fantastic charity work carried out including South Wales community pub of the year 1999 and the South Wales Brewers Association runners up in 1994 in the Pub with a Heart Contest.
The pub also offers a monthly hair-cutting service with a mobile hairdresser visiting and cutting between 5 and 14 customers’ hair during the visit.
One of the issues locally is that the village suffered from poor Wifi signal, and this was something that Hefin and Megan decided they would like to try and improve at the pub, to offer to locals using it and also various organisations who were looking for meeting space locally.
Hefin and Megan got in touch with Pub is The Hub, who advised them that the Ceredigion Micro Business Investment Grant was available, and discussed the options available to them.
A grant was agreed, and Hefin and Megan used this to improve the Wifi signal, also buying a computer, a screen and a sound system that was provided free of charge for community organisations who needed somewhere to meet. These organisations currently include the Vintage Club and also the local Racing Committee, which both meet there on a monthly basis.
The feedback received has been really positive, with the number of people visiting the pub increasing and also regular visitors happy that they have more resources than they did previously.
Total project cost £10,299
Ceredigion Micro Business Investment Fund Grant of £3556.79
For more information telephone 01423 546165 or email enquiries@pubisthehub.org.uk