St Collen’s Community Hall in Llangollen  and the St Asaph Diocesan Office are among the first church venues across Wales to join a new programme aimed at providing more flexible ways of working for local people and receive £5k in funding to get started.

The two buildings have signed up with the Cowork Local Project which is launching in three locations across Wales including Denbighshire.

Cowork Local aims to support local areas by having people work within their own communities. Not only will this give people the benefits of working closer to home – getting up later, ditching the commute and saving money – but it will also give them a professional environment to work within, without the distractions and difficulties of living and working from the same space.

The organisers are now calling for venues, churches, church halls or similar in Denbighshire to sign up and give their space a new lease of life by offering flexible working opportunities and business support to the community around them. Venue owners who apply may be eligible for a grant of up to £5k to cover the cost of setting up, including marketing and photography, before they are ready to welcome coworkers and generate extra income.

The Engagement Officer for the Diocese of St Asaph, Sarah Wheat, said: “This is a different way for churches, church halls and other property to open their doors and welcome members of the local community.  The opportunity to apply for a grant could help facilitate wifi connections or building improvements for a suitable workspace.”

Community Coordinator for Cowork Local in Denbighshire, Mike McKenna said that it’s an exciting opportunity for local spaces: “Churches and church halls have long been at the centre of any community – but they are not just places of worship. These fantastic buildings can be used for so much more, and by offering themselves as a place to work for local people, they can continue to be a pillar of modern communities.

“The aim of Cowork Local is to help reduce long commutes and to provide local, flexible working options for workers across Denbighshire. We want to help make sure that venues in communities benefit from this new workstyle and see cafes, churches, old town halls or even castles and manor houses turning into great places to work closer to home.

“When people work locally, they shop locally. They buy lunch, they grab a coffee, they do a bit of after-work shopping – it’s all a part of reclaiming our economy. If we truly want to make our communities thrive again’, it has to start from the grassroots.

“We’d encourage any local venue interested in making more of their space, to get in touch with us, and see how we can help them grow their community.”

Cowork Local is being run by coworking and small business experts, Town Square Spaces Ltd (TownSq), which operates several existing coworking hubs across England and Wales. The Cowork Local team will provide ongoing support to venues from getting up and running to managing bookings as a fully operational site.

If you manage a venue and would like more information or to register interest in Cowork Local, you can visit coworklocal.co.uk/become-a-venue, call 0330 043 0443 or email coworklocal@townsq.co.uk for further details.

Cowork Local is funded by the UK Government through the UK Community Renewal Fund.