A tiny Ceredigion village is being brought into the 21st century thanks to its local pub – and a scheme with the blessing of Prince Charles.

Talgarreg, in the countryside between Llandysul and New Quay, doesn’t even have a mobile phone signal but it does have the Glanyrafon Arms and things are changing.

Landlord Hefin Evans and his wife, Megan, have taken advantage of the Pub is the Hub scheme to install a new broadband service with WiFi and a booster so mobile phones can work.

The traditional pub where Hefin, 64, has lived for 60 years will also become an internet café with a laptop in the bar for customers to use while the new broadband service will put its six room bed and breakfast service on the map.

Hefin, whose mother Annie Gwyneth Evans and her sister Jane, ran the pub before him, knows all about diversification – he and Megan also run a smallholding keeping sheep and a horse, breed dogs and also rent out cottages.

He said: “We are in a mobile phone blackspot here and having broadband will put us on the map and be a benefit to the village and to our customers who otherwise have to drive a mile to get a phone signal.

“We’re going to have a laptop in the bar so that anyone who wants to can use it to surf the net and it will also be good for us because we can have a website and that should help the B&B side of the business.”

The new developments, which also include a second laptop, a projector and screen for meetings in the function room at the pub, are being paid for by Pub is the Hub, with help from Ceredigion Micro Business Investment Fund, which aims to breathe fresh life into the time-honoured world of the village inn and which has been backed by Prince Charles.

It has been running in England for several years but was only introduced to Wales in 2012 by North Wales-based rural regeneration agency Cadwyn Clwyd who piloted it in Denbighshire.

After its success there they last year rolled it out to eight counties across Wales, including Ceredigion where The Glanyrafon Arms has been approved for a grant from the Micro Business Investment Fund of Ceredigion Council.

It has received funding through the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007-2013, which is funded through the Welsh Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and is part of a three-year plan to revitalise rural communities and their economies.Cadwyn Clwyd Rural Services Officer Helen Roberts, who oversees the scheme throughout Wales, said: “This is exactly the sort of community project that Pub is the Hub is all about.

“It’s so important for village communities to have focal points like schools, churches and chapels and pubs and shops too and this is a wonderful example with the pub becoming an internet hub.

“We’re also very proud that Cadwyn Clwyd, who launched the first Pub is the Hub scheme in Wales in Denbighshire, has now seen it spread to seven other areas of Wales, Flintshire, Conwy, Gwynedd, Anglesey, Ceredigion, Bridgend and Vale of Glamorgan.

“This is a pet project of Prince Charles and one that he has been monitoring closely since it began.”

Hefin took over from his mother at the Glanyrafon almost 39 years ago and has a very loyal clientele which includes a party from Cork in Ireland who come over every year for the Tregaron races with their horses which are stabled at the pub.

Hefin said: “We came here in 1954 when I was four and I still enjoy running the pub.

“We’re very much a local with local activities. We’ve run a whist drive every Monday for Cancer Research and we have raised thousands.

“We would sometimes have 100 people here – and only sell about ten drinks.

“But it’s about community and there’s times when you have to give something back.

“We’re looking forward to being able to connect with the outside world better and are grateful to Pub is the Hub and to Samantha Allan, from Ceredigion Council, who has guided us through the process.”

Samantha, Pub is the Hub Co-ordinator for Ceredigion, said: “Hefin and Megan run a very traditional local pub and there’s always a warm welcome there.

“This is something that will be of real benefit to the local community and hopefully it will help them too because it will mean their business can go on the internet.

“Ceredigion is a very rural county with some lovely old villages and traditional pubs and there has been plenty of interest in the Pub is the Hub scheme and we have had good take-up and hope to get more pubs involved in future.

“The Pub is the Hub scheme has been well received in Ceredigion where there are still villages where the only public place left is the pub and these rural pubs have been encouraged by the scheme and even those who have not yet decided to take it up may still decide to do so in the future.”

Pub is the Hub, whose patron is Prince Charles, has been running since 2001 in England where it has been revitalising rural pubs and their local communities by providing services ranging from a post office and shop to a school meals service.

It is estimated that five pubs are closing every day across the UK – almost 2,000 closed last year - and many of these are in rural areas where shops and schools are also under threat.

Prince Charles believes rural communities “are facing unprecedented challenges” and the country pub which, he says: “has been at the heart of village life for centuries, is disappearing in many areas".

He wants to see more pubs offer new services and that’s the goal of Cadwyn Clwyd’s Helen Roberts who added: “We want the village pub to be at the heart of the community, just as it is here in Talgarreg.

“Where appropriate we want to encourage people to use the pub as a meeting place and also perhaps as a grocer, a newsagent, laundrette - even a collection point for doctors’ prescriptions or a venue for the local mother and toddler group.

“Many pubs are under threat and we want to get the community involved as well as the landlords in thinking about what they can do to save the local pub.”

The service Cadwyn Clwyd and Pub is the Hub are offering includes expert advice such as help with business plans and even financial help.

The scheme is open to pubs in rural areas of the participating counties and licensees and communities who are eligible can benefit from financial assistance and from the services of a specialist pub advisor who will provide support and guide them through the process from start to finish.

For more information on Cadwyn Clwyd’s Pub is the Hub project ring 01824 705802 or e-mail info@cadwynclwyd.co.uk