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From the Ring to Renewables: Lauren Price throws her weight behind south Wales Valleys comeback

Guest blog by Lauren Price MBE

She’s won Olympic gold, she’s fought her way to the Unified Welterweight World Champion title and now Lauren Price is our guest blogger for April 2025.

Bute Energy will be supporting Lauren as she continues to dominate women’s boxing. Here she blogs about the importance of community and how a greener, brighter future is the knockout performance we should all be talking about.

Growing Up in a Community That Shaped Me

After every career high, every major title, there’s nowhere else I want to be other than home. I was born in Bargoed, which is just two or three miles from Ystrad Mynach. No matter where I’ve been – the Tokyo Olympics, the Commonwealth Games or the Royal Albert Hall – there’s nothing like coming home to a cup of tea with my Nan.

These days, I return home to cars tooting and kids wanting selfies with me. They’ve lined the streets for my homecoming after big wins. They love what I do and enjoy my success. What they may not know is that if it wasn’t for them – this community – I wouldn’t be where I am today.

"It’s a Welsh thing – we’re a small nation but we are there for each other."

The Special Strength of the South Wales Valleys

The south Wales valleys are special. We’ve been through some tough times but we have pride and grit. It’s a warm-hearted sort of place, everyone knows everyone and we come together to support each other.

I was just three days old when I went to live with my grandparents. My Grandad ran the local boys and girls club and coached football for the Fleur de Lys side. This is where I started when I was eight years old.

Everyone would rally around – playing on the pitch, making tea, coaching or cheering from the sidelines. It’s a Welsh thing – we’re a small nation but we are there for each other.

When I won my world title at London’s Royal Albert Hall in March this year, Ystrad Mynach turned it into a village outing. They poured into buses so they could cheer on one of their own. I could have been in Wales. Flags were flying and the cheering was off the charts.

A Green Revolution for Caerphilly and Rhondda

Before I was born, Grandad worked down the mine at the Penallta Colliery alongside his brothers. He was born in a house just opposite. While life was difficult, it unified us and there was pride in our work.

As the Valleys were at the forefront of the industrial revolution, we’re now set to lead the way in the green revolution. Bute Energy’s Twyn Hywel Energy Park opens a new chapter for the area. New jobs, a greener and healthier future and opportunities to change lives. That’s something I’m very happy to throw my weight behind.

“There’s deprivation here in south Wales valleys with lots of families that are struggling.”

How I think Bute Energy’s Investment Could Make a Difference

I’ve been impressed by Bute’s commitment to getting to know the people who live locally and to find out what matters most to us. It’s setting up a Community Benefit Fund which will provide a long-lasting impact. And I definitely know of some great projects and places that could do with some funding.

Take Gelligaer Amateur Boxing Club, my first boxing club. I still go back to where it all started. It’s based right in the heart of Gelligaer. There’s deprivation here with lots of families that are struggling. But kids go along to the club and it gets them off the street and out of trouble. It gives them a sense of purpose, goals and dreams. And it’s all thanks to people like Dai Gardner who’s been coaching there for years.

We’re not talking about a top-notch facility. It’s a basic hut with a roof that leaks. We’ve done what we can with local fundraising. We’ve auctioned off my Olympic vest and glove as I try to do my best to give back when I can. But it’s just one of the many, many projects that could do with a bit of support.

5 Reasons Why I Think This Could Really Benefit Where I Grew Up:

  • giving young people a purpose and motivation
  • fuelling interests and passions – whether it’s sport, music, film-making, art or whatever.
  • helping run community hubs for older people and making life a bit easier
  • improving the energy efficiency of community buildings to cut costs
  • developing better public transport

Feeling optimistic..

Bute is at the beginning of this journey but they’ve promised:

  • no red tape

  • lots of long-term impact

Sounds good to me.

If you do get a chance to go along to one of Bute’s public consultations or spot them at a public event (they’re at the Hay Festival this May and the Royal Welsh Show in July) then do go and speak to them.

I want to leave a legacy. I want to leave my print on Wales as a good role model to the next generation. But I’m only able to do that because of local projects and local volunteers. I’m looking forward to a new era – a healthy, greener future with new jobs, new skills, new opportunities and new investment in projects that make all the difference to people like me.

What is the Community Benefit Fund?

Every year, we will invest up to £7,500 per megawatt of generating capacity into a Community Benefit Fund. That means that up to £800million will be given back to the community where it matters most, over the lifetime of our turbines.

Want to know more? Click here.
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