Urban HQ officially opens as Swansea’s new creative hub

The former central police station on Orchard Street has been transformed by regeneration specialists Urban Foundry into a vibrant space offering workspaces, private offices, and event venues.

The project, supported by Shared Prosperity Fund investment allocated by Swansea Council, was officially opened at a special event attended by local businesses, community organisations and civic leaders.

From pop‑up to permanent

Urban HQ began life as a pop‑up café through Urban Foundry’s Pop‑Up Wales initiative, which has delivered almost 100 temporary spaces across South Wales. It has now evolved into a permanent home for values‑driven enterprises, with refurbished rooms including The Idris Room, The Courtroom and The Courtyard Garden.

The hub already houses several creative businesses and hosts events ranging from conferences and training sessions to weddings and community activities. Its café, run by a local chef, has quickly become a popular meeting place serving locally sourced food.

‘A place where ideas can grow’

Cllr Rob Stewart, Leader of Swansea Council, who officially opened the venue, praised the project:

“Urban HQ is about creating opportunities for businesses and ideas to grow. It gives people the space and the support they need to develop their businesses, grow their ideas, and make Swansea thrive.”

Naomi Webborn, Head of Marketing at Dawsons Estate Agents, described the space as capturing “everything that makes our city special: collaboration, creativity, and community.”

Swansea‑born singer‑songwriter and Grand Ambition Co‑Director Steve Balsamo added:

“Spaces like this are essential for a creative city like Swansea, with its deep arts and cultural roots.”

Dr Ben Reynolds, Founding Director of Urban Foundry, said the project was the culmination of years of testing and learning through initiatives such as Pop‑Up Wales:

“We’ve shown that meanwhile spaces can become long‑term catalysts for regeneration. Thanks to Swansea Council’s support, we’ve been able to bring a landmark building back to life and create a place where good ideas and good people can grow together.”

Urban HQ is now open for workspace enquiries, café visitors and event bookings.

🔗 Find out more at urbanhq.co.uk

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#CllrRobStewart #creativeHub #GrandAmbition #office #officeSpace #OrchardStreet #SharedProsperityFund #SteveBalsamo #Swansea #SwanseaCityCentre #SwanseaRegeneration #UrbanFoundry #UrbanHQSwansea

Swansea’s Richard Mylan wins Best Director at The Stage Debut Awards for Mumfighter

The award is a major national recognition for both Mylan and the city’s theatre scene, with Mumfighter praised for its emotional depth, bold staging and powerful storytelling.

Swansea roots

Born and raised in Swansea, Mylan trained at the Mark Jermin Stage School before going on to a successful career in television, film and theatre, with roles in Waterloo Road, Coupling and Grownups. In recent years he has become a driving force in Swansea’s cultural revival, working to create new theatre that speaks directly to local audiences.

From Sorter to Mumfighter

Mylan’s latest success follows the impact of Sorter, his hard‑hitting debut play staged at Swansea Grand Theatre in 2023. Written by Mylan and performed alongside Swansea‑born Sophie Melville, Sorter told the story of two heroin addicts and drew on his own lived experience of recovery. The production was named one of the UK and Ireland’s top 50 shows of the year by The Stage, praised for its “almost unbearable authenticity” and its unflinching honesty.

Both Sorter and Mumfighter were developed under the banner of Grand Ambition, the creative collective in residence at Swansea Grand Theatre. Formed in 2021 by Mylan, Steve Balsamo, Michelle McTernan and Christian Patterson in partnership with Swansea Council, Grand Ambition has been credited with revitalising the city’s theatre scene, producing original work and nurturing new talent.

Mumfighter: a story of resilience and fight

Written by Swansea‑born playwright Tracy Harris and directed by Mylan, Mumfighter tells the story of a mother raising a child with cerebral palsy, and the daily battles she faces to secure the support and services her family needs.

The one‑woman play, performed by Katie E. Payne, blends humour, anger and raw honesty as it explores resilience, prejudice and the fight for dignity in the face of systemic barriers. The staging — part boxing ring, part cage — underscored the sense of struggle, while music by Steve Balsamo and inventive lighting and sound design heightened the emotional impact.

Rooted in Harris’s own lived experience and informed by conversations with parents across south Wales, the play was described by critics as “heart‑wrenching, poignant and exhilarating” — a production that left audiences laughing, crying and reflecting on the realities faced by families of disabled children.

Mylan, himself a parent of an autistic child, said directing the piece felt deeply personal:

“It is important to us to tell the stories of marginalised people, representing voices less frequently heard on our stages. Mumfighter is about resilience, hope and going the distance — and to share that story on home turf in Swansea was incredibly meaningful.”

National recognition, local pride

The Stage Debut Awards celebrate emerging talent across British theatre, with winners selected from productions staged nationwide. Mylan’s win places Swansea firmly on the cultural map, underlining the city’s growing reputation as a hub for bold, original theatre.

Related articles

• Swansea theatre production named one of UK’s best
• A Grand Ambition for Swansea

#Autism #culture #GrandAmbition #GrandTheatre #KatieEPayne #Mumfighter #Play #RichardMylan #Sorter #SteveBalsamo #Swansea #TheStageDebutAwards #theatre #TracyHarris

National theatre show news attracts huge attention for historic venue

The Welsh National Theatre (WNT) has just unveiled its debut season for productions across the country. The company had been established three months earlier by actor Michael Sheen.

Sheen, as WNT’s artistic director, wants to create world class work in Wales and to tour it globally, bringing together Welsh talent to create ambitious theatre and tell Welsh stories.

Its first two productions will be a new interpretation of Pulitzer Prize-winning play Our Town and epic new play Owain & Henry. Both plays will feature Sheen.

Our Town, WNT’s inaugural play, will premiere at Swansea Grand Theatre from January 16-31 next year. Tickets will go on sale soon.

The venue already attracts more than 125,000 visitors a year and now Swansea Council says it’s set for even more success.

Elliott King, council cabinet member for culture, human rights and equalities, said: “The Grand is already a fantastic venue with great shows; the decision by the WNT to come to Swansea first is another great boost for the city’s cultural scene.

“It’s brilliant for local audiences and the many creative people who help make our local culture so vibrant, innovative and diverse.

“I’m delighted the WNT has chosen the Grand for its premiere – it already has fantastic programming and support; this news brings even more confidence for the future.”

The WNT is working with a rich seam of Swansea talent on Our Town, including screenwriter and TV producer Russell T Davies and Swansea-born director Francesca Goodridge.

Goodridge’s directorial talent was spotted by Michael Sheen when he saw the production Sorter, staged at the theatre by Grand-based creative collective Grand Ambition.

The Grand’s current programme already features highly acclaimed shows, including Strictly Come Dancing star Anton Du Beke, TV’s Professor Alice Roberts and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Drifters.

There’s comedy from the likes of Julian Clary, music from The Bon Jovi Experience and many others, and children’s entertainment such as Bing’s Birthday.

Coming soon is another piece of new playwriting with a strong Swansea flavour, Hot Chicks, delivered by Grand Ambition in conjunction with Cardiff’s Sherman Theatre

Swansea Grand Theatre opened in 1897 and quickly established itself as a venue for the best touring companies and star names. Its fortunes dipped until the late 1960s when the former Swansea Corporation came to the rescue.

Swansea Council continues to own, manage and fund it.

#GrandAmbition #GrandTheatre #MichaelSheen #Swansea #theatre #WelshNationalTheatre

Grand Theatre stage show to address criminal exploitation of young people

Sherman Theatre and Grand Ambition’s production of Rebecca Jade Hammond’s new play Hot Chicks has received four-star reviews and broad critical acclaim since its premiere in Cardiff last month. Whilst its run continues in Cardiff before a move to Swansea’s Grand Theatre, the education and engagement work running alongside the play is hitting full steam, with teams in both cities working with partners to engage young people with the issues in the play.

An unsettling and darkly comic play; Hot Chicks tackles one of the most urgent national crises of our times; child criminal exploitation. In developing the production, the creative team liaised with charities, social services and third sector organisations including CMET in Swansea, SAFE in Cardiff, Cascade Wales (Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre) and YMCA Swansea. An Arts Council of Wales-funded education and engagement programme, borne of that research, is being delivered alongside the play to raise awareness of exploitation.

In Cardiff, Sherman Theatre’s Francesca Pickard has worked with freelance Outreach Facilitator Katie-Elin Salt to deliver a programme of creative workshops for young people developed alongside SAFE and with funding from Cardiff Council and the Youth Endowment Fund, bringing these young people into the theatre for the first time.

Swansea Grand theatre-based creative collective Grand Ambition have been working with staff at Swansea Council’s CMET (Contextual, Missing, Exploitation and Trafficking – Safeguarding Children and Young People in Swansea from Extra-Familial Harm) and YMCA’s YHub to support service users’ engagement with Hot Chicks, with weekly workshops at YHub exploring creative ways to express the emotions evoked by the piece.

Grand Ambition Engagement Director Michelle McTernan said:  “The contribution from CMET staff and service users has been invaluable. Our writer, Rebecca Jade Hammond and the play’s director Hannah Noone attended a young people’s panel and picked up lots of tips from them to help flesh out the characters and make them human and believable. The girls in the play speak like young people from Swansea, they dream about their future.     .

“Members of the CMET Youth Panel, along with pupils from Morriston Comprehensive School and YHub users then came to the theatre to sit in on an early read-through of the script and to give us their feedback – they have really helped us to bring this story to life. It is important to us to represent voices less frequently heard on our stages. For all the attention county lines is currently receiving, there’s been very little in the media that gives voice to the young people affected. This a powerful story, with a razor-sharp, darkly funny script that sweeps you along, before bringing the reality of the situation many young people are facing painfully to light. We really hope that young people and their adults will come to see it. We believe that the arts have a valuable contribution to make in helping to highlight societal issues, and hope that Hot Chicks can do just that.”

Before starting rehearsals, the team consulted leading expert on Childhood Criminal Exploitation, Dr Nina Maxwell of Cardiff University, on the script. Dr Maxwell returned to see the production in Cardiff: “This is a must-see production for practitioners working with vulnerable young people, for teachers, for parents of adolescents, and importantly for young people themselves to become aware of the temptation and traps of exploitation, and how ‘one job’ can escalate to a spiral of fear, coercion, violence, sexual exploitation and criminality. 

“It would be wonderful to see this impactful play and its educational resource rolled out across Wales to inform young people and hopefully prevent them becoming victims themselves.” 

The Hot Chicks Education pack has been created by Cardiff Curriculum Team Wellbeing lead, teacher Kate Martin. This bilingual resource to accompany the play will be available to all schools in Wales via Welsh Government’s Hwb network.

Playwright Rebecca Jade Hammond said: “In recent years, cuts to youth clubs, community centres and closing of parks have made vulnerable young people easy targets for organised crime networks.

“More recently, there has been an increase in girls and young women playing key roles and it is those women I wanted to put front and centre of this play. Hot Chicks is about those young girls who fall through the cracks of education and society, forgotten.”

Hot Chicks  was performed at Sherman Theatre in Cardiff 21 March-5 April 2025. It transfers to Swansea Grand Theatre 16-25 April 2025.

#ChildExploitation #CMET #Exploitation #GrandAmbition #GrandTheatre #Swansea #theatre #YMCA

I have a #GrandAmbition for this weekend.

It is to not move further from my bed than the living room sofa until Monday morning.