Marchwell Studios is being brought back to life thanks to the support of the Community Ownership Fund (COF). This investment has secured the future of an important local heritage building and made it possible for it to become a community-owned creative hub from 2026.

Over the past two years, COF funding has supported the vital but often unseen work that makes everything else possible — stabilising the buildings, repairing historic fabric and making the site safe, weather-tight and ready for its next phase of use. Without this support, the buildings would have continued to deteriorate, putting the entire project at risk.

The construction period took place during one of the most difficult markets in recent years, with rising costs and limited contractor availability. COF’s backing allowed the trustees to pause, reassess and take the right decisions for the long term — protecting the quality of the buildings and the future of the project, rather than compromising under pressure.

Thanks to this investment, local contractors and trades were able to carry out critical repairs including structural strengthening, brickwork, heritage restoration and access improvements. These works have transformed Marchwell Studios from a vulnerable historic site into a secure, sustainable asset ready for fit-out and occupation.

Most importantly, COF has ensured that Marchwell Studios remains in community ownership, with decisions taken in the best interests of local people, not short-term commercial pressures.

We are incredibly grateful to the Community Ownership Fund for believing in this project. Their support has laid the foundations for Marchwell Studios to open in 2026 as a place for creativity, learning, enterprise and community — a heritage building with a future, owned by the people it serves.