A unique Machynlleth project, which is looking to bring a community sauna to the Powys town, hopes to be up and running by the end of 2024.  

Having received £20,000 in funding from the National Lottery Awards for All grant earlier this summer, the Sawna Dyfi Project are hoping to make their initiative a reality by creating a community sauna for Machynlleth by the end of 2024.

With a permanent home for the sauna already in mind, the team behind the project are looking into organising a pop-up scheme that they will begin work on in the “next few weeks”.

Sawna Dyfi’s Rob Key said: “There have been a few similar successful projects in the UK over the years and I also knew there used to be some semi-informal community saunas in Machynlleth, mainly from people building their own private ones and inviting people round.

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“When I became aware of both I was inspired by the similar projects and decent demand in the area, I kicked off the project in early 2024.

“It began with just me but then grew to a non-profit company made up of a team of four, which now has National Lottery funding behind it.

“We’ve approached the council over having a permanent site at a disused piece of land in Y Plas grounds, with an understanding to lease the site when the project is up and running, but as that’s a Grade II listed building that would be a lengthy planning process.

(Image: Dyfi Sawna Project)

“In the meantime, we’re looking to build a portable unit that we hope to have at pop-up locations for 28 days at a time.

“We spent a long time figuring out costs and logistics before applying for any grants, so hopefully it will all come together quickly.

“We hope to be ready by the end of 2024 and will start building in the next few weeks.

“People often associate saunas with bit hotels and luxury resorts, but they should be for people to use regularly and socially, which you can only do if they are affordable and accessible.

“We want to import the sort of Scandinavian sauna culture in which they’re just a communal space that could be used by anyone.

“We’re still looking for anyone interested in hosting the pop-up when its going, so we’d encourage anyone interested to get in touch via our Facebook or Instagram pages.”