Major £235,532.59 investment awarded to The Fern Partnership to strengthen communities across the Rhondda and Cynon Valleys
A major £235,532.59 investment over three years has been awarded to The Fern Partnership to help secure vital childcare, community and wellbeing services across the Rhondda and Cynon Valleys.
The funding will support the organisation’s ambitious Anchoring the Valley’s Future: Rooted in Place, Built to Grow plan, safeguarding the core infrastructure that underpins its wide-reaching work with children, families and communities across the area.
The Fern Partnership is a deeply rooted local organisation delivering joined-up support through six childcare settings, two community hubs, and social enterprises. Together, these services provide a vital lifeline for local people — supporting early years development, reducing isolation, improving wellbeing, creating routes into work and training, and sustaining more than 60 local jobs.
This investment will secure three critical core staff roles responsible for leadership, finance, HR, safeguarding, compliance and operational coordination so they can continue to provide trusted, accessible support in communities facing deep and long-standing economic and social challenges.
The funding recognises not only the scale of the organisation’s current impact, but also its long-term importance to the fund area. By strengthening the foundations of the organisation, the investment will help protect essential services, support local employment, and build resilience in communities where the need for joined-up, place-based support remains high.
“The Fern Partnership is an outstanding example of a deeply rooted local organisation delivering real, lasting change and this is a major investment in an organisation that sits at the heart of local communities — protecting vital services, sustaining jobs, and creating opportunity where it is needed most. Through this fund, we are committed to supporting organisations to grow, diversify and build long-term resilience, and we are proud to back The Fern Partnership’s ambitious vision for the future.”- Shayla Walsh, Pen y Cymoedd Community Fund
“We’re absolutely delighted to receive this funding from Pen y Cymoedd Community Fund. This investment will help secure three core staff roles that are essential to keeping The Fern Partnership running and ensuring we can continue delivering support across the Rhondda and Cynon Valleys.
These roles provide the leadership, coordination and operational support that sit behind our childcare settings, community hubs and social enterprises. By securing them, we can continue providing trusted services for children, families and local residents while supporting local jobs and strengthening our communities. We’re incredibly grateful for this investment in our long-term future. It gives us the stability to build on what we do best, working alongside local people to create opportunities, improve wellbeing and help our communities thrive” – The Fern Partnership
The Fund was established by energy company Vattenfall to benefit the communities hosting the Pen y Cymoedd wind farm across the upper Neath, Afan, Rhondda and Cynon Valleys. It exists to support local people, groups and organisations to invest in themselves, their ideas and their communities.
The Community Fund has a substantial annual budget that is index-linked, meaning it increases in line with inflation. As an example, this equated to around £2.5 million in 2025. The Fund will continue to support communities until 2043, creating long-term opportunities for growth, resilience and positive change.
The Fund is managed by an independent, locally based not-for-profit Community Interest Company. It is overseen by a Board of Directors with strong local connections and delivered by a small but dedicated staff team with extensive community engagement experience. We are here to help ensure the Fund delivers on the vision and priorities of local communities.
Over the next 10 years, the Fund is focusing on investment in people, places and businesses — helping the Valleys to thrive, driving bold ideas, supporting transformation and creating lasting impact for current and future generations.