The Story So Far
Capel Rhondda is a grade II-listed chapel, vestry and graveyard in Hopkinstown, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and an iconic Welsh heritage asset.
It is the chapel where the famous hymn Cwm Rhondda, or Bread of Heaven, was first sung in 1907, to mark the installation of the new organ.
The chapel was closed in December 2024 due to a dwindling congregation before being listed for sale for £47,500 by the Baptist Union of Wales.
The local community, led by Rhian Hopkins, responded to this and launched an online crowdfunder to keep the chapel in local hands. This campaign received donations from across Wales and the world. The total raised so far currently sits at circa £74,000.
Since their appointment in October 2025, our Board of Directors have been hard at work developing ideas for the future use of the buildings.
This has included collaboration with Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Interior Architecture course with students presenting proposals to the Board whilst working on their own skills.
Our purchase of Capel Rhondda completed in February 2026, which we celebrated with an event at the chapel, attended by Mark Drakeford, Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language, and included a performance of Cwm Rhondda by members of the Pontypridd Male Voice Choir.
The completion of our purchase means that we can continue developing our plans to turn the buildings into a thriving community hub with local and national heritage at its heart.
This will be supported by the remaining crowdfunded money and the £10,000 we were recently awarded by Welsh Government through the Perthyn grant scheme. One of the aims of the Board of the Directors is to identify more opportunities to raise funds needed to carry out necessary works and maximise potential revenue streams to support this project.
As we enter this exciting new era for Capel Rhondda, we want to involve local residents and the wider community as much as we can to feed into this collective vision.
Please visit the ‘Contact Us’ section for further details if you would like to get involved.
Timeline
Spring 2026 – community engagement of future of Capel Rhondda
12 February 2026 – Welsh Government visits
February 2026 – Sale to the Community Group completed
November 2025 – Cardiff Metropolitan Design Day
October 2025 – Board of Directors appointed
28 July 2025 – Bid deadline
17 July 2025 – Crowdfunder launched by Rhian Hopkins
May 2025 – Capel Rhondda put up for sale
December 2024 – Capel Rhondda closes
News Coverage
Our campaign and subsequent work have generated significant media attention, symbolising the importance of Capel Rhondda to the community in Hopkinstown and Wales as a whole. Our community fundraising efforts in the summer of 2025 were covered by BBC News, ITV News, The Guardian, and Nation.Cymru amongst others. The collaboration work with Cardiff Metropolitan University was reported by Nation.Cymru, News From Wales, Herald.Wales, and Wales 24/7.
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Who are we?
In October 2025, a Board of Directors was appointed to help realise the vision of Capel Rhondda as a thriving community hub again.
These are:
Rhian Hopkins
Matthew Thomas
Richard Huw Morgan
Rhian Smith
Colin Lewis