Grange Pavilion

Transforming a closed bowls pavilion into a new social hub for the community.

The idea

"We want to turn the now closed bowls pavilion into a revivified ‘social hub’ with a community café and garden." (Grangetown Resident)

Planning

Following a number of community consultations including an ideas picnic and workshops with local primary schools, Grange Pavilion Project, Grangetown Community Action and Cardiff University's Community Gateway has worked with with a number of partners to explore the potential of turning the derelict bowls pavilion into a community hub and café with community garden.

Since 2013, over 200 undergraduate architecture students, as well as students studying business and architecture master's programmes, have worked with Community Gateway to develop ideas for the building as part of their research and learning.

Progress

In 2012, residents of Grangetown in Cardiff proposed activating a vacant and rapidly deteriorating bowls pavilion and bowls green located in a popular local park. As Wales’ most ethnically diverse ward, ranked in the top 10% of deprived areas in the country, residents described Grangetown’s strength as its diversity and sense of community, but highlighted a lack of common spaces, a lack of park amenities, a lack of green spaces in land-locked schools, and litter as key barriers.

A partnership between residents' groups Grange Pavilion Project, Grangetown Community Action and Cardiff University was formalised in 2014 to test resident-led ideas for use of the Grange Pavilion and green.

Securing a temporary licence in 2016 enabled pilot use of the Grange Pavilion and Green by over 3,000 residents. Since then, regular activities suggested by Grangetown residents, such as Homework clubs, a Youth Forum, ESOL classes, a community garden, mental health peer support, a Tech café, arts therapy, the Friends and Neighbours group, cricket and football training with peer mentoring, and play sessions, as well as one off and annual events including a Community Iftar, a Winter Fayre, and Love Grangetown, have helped bring the Grange Pavilion to life.

Over 150 initiatives have been launched on site including outdoor activities and green initiatives such as environmental crowd-sensing, after-school gardening, a pollinator garden, sports mentoring and creative workshops in partnership with RSPB Cymru, Pollen8Cymru, Urban Buzz, Federation of City Farms and Gardens, Eggseeds, Grow Cardiff, Cardiff Youth Service, Hafal, Sport Wales, Welsh Athletics, C3SC, South Wales Police and Fire Service, Innovate Trust, Run Wales, and National Museum Wales.

Next steps

In 2018 Community Gateway and partners secured £1.17m capital funding from Big Lottery Fund CAT 2 Programme to redevelop the Grange Pavilion.

Find out more about the redevelopment of the Grange Pavilion

Get involved

We still need your help, and the project is still very much open to anyone who would like to get involved. If you have any skills, expertise, or time to offer us, please do get in touch.  In particular, we would welcome further support in facilities management, gardening and landscaping, business development, legal advisory services, finances, communications and marketing, volunteering at regular or pop-up events and activities, and anything else you can offer.

The Community Gateway team and the local community are also currently fundraising for the redevelopment of the Grange Pavilion and would welcome any help with organising fundraisers or any fundraising ideas that you may have.

Donate to the Grange Pavilion redevelopment

If you’d like to find out more or get involved in any way, contact the Community Gateway team.