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Caerphilly Workmen’s Hall could be transformed into a fully-fledged creative and cultural centre – and those behind the plan need your help.

The historic hall celebrates its centenary in 2025 and while it still attracts headline names such as John Cooper Clarke, it is recognised it needs further development to save it.

The ambitious community-led project, Cynefin Caerffili, which has recently registered as a Community Interest Company, wants to develop the hall into a free-to-access public cultural space with other facilities, such as cinema screens and studios.

Views are being sought via a survey on what the centre could offer the town’s residents and visitors.

One of the driving forces behind the project is Emlyn Davies, who runs the award-winning creative animation company Bomper Studio.

He explained: “We want to create somewhere to showcase and inspire a generation, not just in performance, but also in animation, film, and the wider creative sector.

“A place to inspire, educate and entertain people.

“There is little to do in the town centre after 5pm as a family. I want it to be a place where we can provide entertainment, pull in festivals, have workshops, and attract high calibre directors, performers and showcase to people how you get into these creative sectors.

“We want a venue where we can pull in comedy shows or live performances and the hall has that potential. We’ve already had the likes of John Cooper Clarke, and it was amazing to see all those people gravitate towards the hall.”

Looking towards Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff as a potential future model, the project has enlisted the help of Sally Griffths, an arts industry veteran who used to be director of cinema at Chapter.

Sally said: “When the team told me about their plans, I knew this could be something special. Coming from the town, their vision for a cultural arts and entertainment centre in the heart of Caerphilly was built on a love and respect for the place and a desire to create something the town would enjoy and be proud of.

“A place they wish they could go to, to work, to socialise and to enjoy with their children. 

“The plans are ambitious and rightly so. Caerphilly and the surrounding areas deserve this. 

“Throughout, there has been the desire to create an open and accessible community space where everyone feels welcome, and to do that while celebrating the talent and the communities of Caerphilly alongside world-class films, art, performance, workshops and of course, food and drink.”

The project has already got support from Caerphilly County Borough Council’s 2035 regeneration project and scored highly with the public as part of a consultation on the wider scheme.

Paul Pole, who has been a volunteer trustee at Caerphilly Workmen’s Hall for around seven years, said the cultural centre would be “amazing for Caerphilly”.

He said: “When I first came to the hall I was taken aback by the damage caused by rain ingress, but also by the beautiful plasterwork.

“My view is that this building needs to be restored, but that its use is for the community. We are near some of the most deprived areas in Wales and we want to see the hall benefit them – that’s my motivation.”

He added: “This needs to be driven by the people of Caerphilly for them to tell us what they want.”

Visit cynefincaerffili.org for more information about the project. To share your thoughts on what you want to see at the centre, please fill in this survey.