SWAN Lake Project Bookshop in Colwyn Bay has been officially named the new hub for two major cultural projects by the Queen of the Congo. 

Queen Bakembisa Kuyalu Mafuta of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, visited the shop on Hawarden Road on the invitation of Colwyn Bay cultural Community Interest Group NWAMI - Networking for World Awareness of Multicultural Integration - for a ceremony to dedicate the new facility.

The building will now be the Centre for Cultural Exchange and Commonwealth Research and the Office of the Congo House Revival Project - which aims to use the historical links between the Congo and Colwyn Bay to help both communities share cultural, economic and social ideas and opportunities. 

Queen Mafuta, former Clwyd West MP David Jones and Dr Balasubramanyam Chandramohan, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London, unveiled two plaques to mark the occasion.

The event took place on NWAMI's International Integration Day.

Vice President of NWAMI Clive Wolfendale said: "This is a very special occasion for me. The relationship between the Congo and Colwyn Bay goes back 140 years to when the Reverend William Hughes visited the Congo and opened Congo House in Colwyn Bay.

"Now thanks to the work of Queen Mafuta, Chief Thomas Bikebi and their delegation we hope to build a partnership to create new opportunities for young people in both our countries to share skills and common experiences for the benefit of all."

The unveiling, also attended by Colwyn Bay Mayor Ricky Owen, was a dual event as NWAMI also launched its Centre for Cultural Exchange and Commonwealth Research.

Supporting that project is Dr Chandramohan, who told the delegates that the work of the centre would help improve integration and partnership working on a global scale.

"For 75 years the Commonwealth nations have worked together in alliance without treaties," he said. "It is the only global alliance of its kind to function without a treaty and represents 2.5 billion people, around a third of the world's population. 

"That shows the power of our shared values and goals. What we need to do is to find new ways to work together for the benefit of all within the Commonwealth.

"That will be the work of the Centre for Cultural Exchange and Commonwealth Research. To explore new ways to work together, to share our cultures with each other and understand that we have so much in common wherever we are. 

"I am looking forward to getting started."