Students give Caffi Hafan a TV makeover

Coleg Menai art students helped to refurbish a community café as part of S4C show ‘Prosiect Pum Mil’.

Learners from various courses at the Parc Menai campus volunteered to help paint and redecorate Caffi Hafan in Bangor.

Prosiect Pum Mil sees presenters Emma Walford and Trystan Ellis-Morris given a budget of £5,000 to tackle a community project.

They enlist the help of local people and businesses – and called on Coleg Menai to help with painting Caffi Hafan.

The café is supported by Age Cymru, and as its name suggests, it is a haven for people in the local community to come together and socialise.

But while Caffi Hafan provides a much-needed community service, it was in need of a lick of paint – and that’s where the students came in.

In the episode – which is available to watch on BBC iPlayer and S4C Clic – the presenters are seen visiting the college’s art department, with some of the students’ work showcased on screen.

Learners then turned up early on a weekend morning and spent two days helping with the project.

The students cleared out the café, removing furniture and taking paintings off the walls, before getting to work sanding and painting tables and chairs.

They painted huge colourful murals on the outside of the café to help attract new customers, as well as revamping the outside area by planting flowers and painting signs.

At the end of the episode, viewers see the delighted reactions of café manager Meryl Williams and her regular customers at the transformation of Caffi Hafan.

Paul Edwards, Coleg Menai’s Creative Arts Manager, said:

“Prosiect Pum Mil approached us, as the art college, to work with them to create a mural for the building.

“They came to film an intro in the college with the learners, and then the learners volunteered to take part in the programme on the weekend of 15/16 April.

“It was an excellent opportunity to work on a very worthwhile project, and the learners who took part thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Learners from Level 2, Level 3, Art Foundation and HE courses were involved, and it was one of the highlights of the year.”

To watch Prosiect Pum Mil (Caffi Hafan, Bangor) go to BBC iPlayer or S4C Clic.

Interested in studying Art and Design with Grŵp Llandrillo Menai? Click here for more information about our courses.