A new initiative has seen members of the community in Brynmawr join forces to give their town centre a makeover.

Over 70 per cent of those polled within Blaenau Gwent chose Beaufort Street, in the town, as part of the Towns Together programme to help breathe some life back into the county’s main high streets.

On the day, volunteers helped to paint shop fronts and street furniture as well as clean, weed and install new planters and flowers. A new nature-themed mural has also been painted by local artist, Matt Dey, and a new ‘Thank you for supporting Brynmawr Town Centre’ store banner has been installed.

"Thank you to everyone who came along on Saturday and gave their time,” said Cllr John Morgan, Cabinet Member for Economy and Place at Blaenau Gwent Council.

“Towns Together is a perfect example of the Blaenau Gwent Deal, demonstrating how communities can come together with the council to improve the area in which they live. It was absolutely fantastic to see people of all ages take part and the children were brilliant, so inspiring!”

"With this collective action, we hope to make our town centres into areas where people want to visit and businesses want to invest."

The makeover was funded by the UK Government’s Pride in Place Impact Fund and part of the council’s Blaenau Gwent ‘Deal’ approach to working alongside local communities.

Alongside all the local volunteers who came out in force, the Brynmawr Rotary Club, Ross Cable, the Men’s Shed, Brynmawr Town Partnership and Brynmawr Museum joined the businesses of Beaufort Street and local councillors, Wayne Hodgins, Jules Gardner and Jon Hill.

One volunteer said they were compelled to get stuck in to help make where they live that little bit brighter.

“We live in Brynmawr and we wanted to make the town centre look better and we certainly have this morning,” they said.

“It’s lovely to see it looking so much better already.”

Everybody came together on Saturday August 22 following a period of engagement with the local community designed to help the council understand what the people of Brynmawr wanted to see as part of the makeover.

Meanwhile, one local councillor said the day was a fine example of Brynmawr at its best.

"This was a fantastic example of Brynmawr at its best. Residents, local businesses, community groups, schools, councillors and council staff coming together to make a real difference in the heart of our town centre,” said Cllr Wayne Hodgins.

“The community spirit on display was amazing and I'd like to thank everyone who took part.”

“Ahead of the day, the council’s neighbourhood teams carried out a deep clean of the area including jet washing and road sweeping. Look out for details about the next Towns Together makeover.”

Now that the makeover in Brynmawr has begun, the next Towns Together event will take place just down the road, in Nantyglo.