Community and commerce unite at rural market

A FOOD and crafts market which is helping to maintain a village hall is also stitching social bonds together in a rural area of Swansea.

- RICHARD YOULE Senior local democracy reporter

Upwards of 30 traders attend the monthly market in Felindre and celebrations were in the air last Saturday when it marked its second anniversary.

Rhian Ivey helped get Felindre Food and Crafts Market up and running with other members of the committee who run the community's village hall. She said something needed to be done as financial support for the hall was lacking.

"We had to come up with ideas," said Miss Ivey. Although she works in finance in London she lived in Felindre when she was younger and said it always had a place in her heart. Around a year before the market started she and her younger sister Carys Ivey had turned a candle-making hobby into a venture called HollyStar Candle Company.

Having started attending crafts markets herself, she sought to incorporate the bits of them into the new one in Felindre - a community with many Welsh speakers around seven miles north of Swansea city centre.

"It's a beautiful spot here, and we've got an indoor area and outdoor area," said Miss Ivey.