A CO-WORKING project is launching in the Vale - encouraging people to work local, shop local.

Cowork Local is launching in the Vale of Glamorgan - along with Swansea and Denbighshire - giving people a flexible space to work in within their community rather than working from home or commuting to an office.

This follows a successful trial in 2021 which saw Fonmon Castle and National Trust's Dyffryn Gardens transform into collaborative workspaces for remote and hybrid workers.

Within the Vale of Glamorgan co-working spaces will be hosted at:

  • Dinas Powys Library;

Penarth Times: Work space at Dinas Powys LibraryWork space at Dinas Powys Library

  • Glamorganshire Golf Club, Penarth;

Penarth Times: Glamorganshire Golf ClubGlamorganshire Golf Club

  • Emporium, Cowbridge;

Penarth Times: Work space at EmporiumWork space at Emporium

  • Y Cwt, Pendoylan.

​Penarth Times: Y CwtY Cwt

Other venes in the Vale of Glamorgan can sign up; venue owners who apply before June may be eligible for a grant of up to £5,000 to cover the cost of setting up, including marketing and photography.

Cowork Local is being run by Town Square Spaces Ltd (TownSq), which operates coworking hubs across Wales and England.

TownSq chief executive Gareth Jones said: “The primary objective of Cowork Local is to help reduce long commutes and to provide local, flexible working options for workers across the Vale of Glamorgan.

“We want to help make sure that venues in communities benefit from this new workstyle and see cafes, pubs, 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 ‘level-up’, it has to start from the grassroots."

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

If you own a venue and would like more information or to register interest in Cowork Local, you can: