A night of enterainment in Llangynidr has raised more than £13,000 for a new play area and track.

A night of music and a promise auction was held in Llangynidr Village Hall recently - the first major event held in the venue since 2019.

The night was organised with the aim of raising funds for the redevelopment of the children’s play area and track, which the new Hall Management Committee had all been working towards over the past 12 months. All 250 tickets for the event were sold.

Billed as a night of music with a promise auction, doors opened at 6.30pm and was soon full by 7pm with the bar in full swing.

Local talented singing duo Noted opened the show with a one-hour set of well-known classic pop songs and people were up dancing even at that early stage.

The auction then took place, with over 60 lots of quality goods, services and merchandise generously donated by local businesses and individuals. Lots included a rugby ball signed by the Welsh squad, a specially-commissioned painting by local artist Tony Malone, meals at local pubs and restaurants, Green Man tickets and so many other quality items, all corralled and presented by local raconteur and businessman Gene Taylor in a non-stop one-hour machine gun auctioneering delivery.

There were jokes, quips, insults and lots of heckling but all in good humour as people generously put their hands in their pockets to raise a substantial amount of money on the auction alone.

Husbands were unknowingly bidding against wives and the odd nods and flailing hands of people in conversation were securing bids.

Once completed, the Black Rat Effect rock covers band from Abergavenny took centre stage and delivered a blistering two-hour set of mixed genre songs, from Abba, Tom Jones and Madness through to the Stereophonics, Oasis and Blur.

It was an excellent night of entertainment, and an opportunity for many locals to catch up with old friends and neighbours, and make new friends in the process.

To top it all off, more than £13,000 was raised for the children’s play area and track.

Glen Perry, of the Llangynidr Village Hall Management Committee, said: “Many thanks to so many local businesses and people, too many to mention for their generosity and support.

“Special thanks also to a number of people behind the scenes who did so much work to achieve such a result, besides those mentioned already Dai Evans and Jan Sharpless deserve a special mention.

“We need more of these events to bring people back together in the community and we have more planned at Llangynidr Village Hall. Catch up on our social media sites.”