Our Vision
Ein Gweledigaeth (darllen yn cymraeg)
The vision for Salem Memorial Hall is to welcome and support the whole community; reducing rural isolation, celebrating Welsh culture, advancing equality & diversity, providing opportunities to volunteer, learn, work and play and ultimately improving quality of life for residents and the wider community.
A Welcoming Space
Our vision is to create a welcoming, inclusive, permanent social space, by improving and extending the existing facilities at Salem (Heol-galed) Memorial Hall, so that people of all ages and backgrounds from the village and outlying areas can come together to connect, socialise and unwind. Our project is born out of the loss of our only village pub and is designed to address rural isolation from services, reduce loneliness, improve community spirit and village amenities - all the issues identified in our community survey in 2024.
We aim for the revitalised Hall to become the centre of village social life (just as the Angel Inn was), while offering a variety of activities and services to meet the diverse needs of the local community, as well as holidaymakers staying in the village. We hope it will become a place where residents come to relax, engage, and be inspired, promoting Welsh language, culture and intergenerational interaction, and ultimately strengthening the resilience of the community for present and future generations.
The project is born out of the community campaign to save the Angel - and run entirely by volunteers, with busy lives, work and other commitments - so we are working hard to make it happen - but there are no guarantees - not until we’re sipping a pint in our new social space that is! Our Vision is needed to ensure we move forward collectively, to shape the project and show funders we are serious; it reflects our long-term community aims and where we want to be.
What’s the idea?
Existing Salem Memorial Hall remains at the heart of the site, upgraded to maximise flexibility of use, and to run on clean energy.
‘Green new Build’ – net zero construction extension & refurbishment project using 100% sustainable materials to cut running costs, benefit the planet and ensure the good health of the people using and working in the spaces.
Enable site to run ‘off-grid’ to act as an emergency hub during a power cut and offer a warm space for residents who have lost power during regular power cuts experienced by the village.
Safe and accessible off-road parking spaces for less mobile or users living out of village.
Attractive indoor and outdoor spaces, to appeal to residents, wider community and tourists – a ‘place people want to be’.
Maximising the benefits of the site – with small, enclosed field to side and rear, so that café, hall and other spaces have attractive ‘green views’.
Options to raise revenue from: café and bar sales, room rentals, membership fees, shop takings, grants and fundraising.
What facilities could the refurbished hall offer?
Café & Kitchen
A warm, inviting atmospheric space where residents can meet for breakfast, morning or afternoon tea/coffee and cake, lunches, an evening meal and a pint.
Offering freshly cooked food, supporting local businesses and prioritising local suppliers wherever possible, promoting Welsh food and drink.
A space for community food nights, where local chefs and small catering businesses can run ‘pop up’ nights, and community meals Eg village Christmas dinner can be held again.
An attractive space for occasional private and community hire including special parties and wedding receptions.
Small Shop
A small one stop shop for essentials – bread, milk, store cupboard essentials, everyday household items an emergency supplies - batteries, kindling & firewood, LPG gas.
Supporting local and food sovereignty – selling locally grown vegetables and fruit, and other local produce as much as possible.
Showcase products created by local makers, and entrepreneurs, offering visitors the chance to purchase one-of-a-kind items while supporting the local economy and promoting a sense of pride in the community.
Garden and Outdoor Amenity
Attractively designed outdoor space– ensuring all aspects are sited to maximise visual appeal and user engagement.
Flexible space for outdoor community events Eg village BBQ, annual Salem Show.
Small community garden adjacent to building, with polytunnel to supply café and shop managed by volunteer group to support local emergency food resilience.
Gardening, outdoor learning & forest school learning opportunities (formal or informal) for volunteers, and activities for all ages including large population of home educated children locally.
Establishment of community orchard (Salem Orchardeers).
Activity spaces promoting exercise - safe and attractive childrens’ play area with a flexible multi-use space for football, tennis etc
Accessible paths - perimeter and crossing wheelchair and buggy-friendly paths with benches to encourage use of field for socialising for older residents and young families.
Extended programme of activities could include:
Building on the range of existing activities to offer more educational workshops, fitness classes, cultural events – including local music, theatre, drama, art and dance – designed to enhance wellbeing and community cohesion. Extend informal Welsh chat group to include formal lessons.
A planned programme of volunteering to supplement paid staff, enabling young people in the village to gain work experience and develop transferable skills.
A safe and supportive environment for local people to access support services, such as specialist support groups, counselling and essential health services.
Enhanced Community Facilities could include:
Improved main hall space to enable hall to be used for a range of uses, Eg room dividers, storage, atmospheric lighting and decor, hooks for bunting and festoon lighting.
Fully accessible toilets and changing place including shower for residents to use during power cuts.
Car charging / electric car club
Wi fi and space for home workers
Meeting rooms for hire
Parcel collection / drop-off
Our Vision has been developed through extensive community consultation and engagement, and a Welsh Government funded Feasibility Study.
Following a grant from Carmarthenshire Council in 2026 enabling us to build capacity and buy in professional expertise we have now entered RIBA project stage 0-3, with architects Rural Office engaged to draw up concept designs, and a site survey, ecology survey, planning and cost consultant all funded by the grant to take us up to planning application stage. We hope to start fundraising for our other costs at this stage soon.
Can you help us? Have you got skills and experience Eg in fundraising, project management, law / property, facilities management, hospitality, finance, volunteering / HR, community projects or IT, marketing / press that could help us make our vision a reality? We’re all volunteers and we’d love some more help on the project. Get in touch!
Frequently Asked Questions
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We hope so! But the team are all volunteers giving their time freely, and we need to raise funds to do the project - through community fundraising and grants, plus getting planning permission for the extension. So there are a lot of hurdles to jump through - but we are on the right track.
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The simple answer is we don’t know. We need to get planning permission and funding for the project - and until those are in place it’s hard to say as delays can be inevitable. We hope that we might be able to start building in a year or two!
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Again it’s difficult to say - and subject to planning and funding. Within 3-5 years would be a sensible estimate given that everyone working on the project is a volunteer - and sometimes people are busy with work, family and other commitments.
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You can help support us in a number of ways:
come to events in the hall
communicate your thoughts & ideas to volunteers
share our posts on Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp
contribute to the fundraising campaign when it opens
help as a volunteer at events or if you have skills to offer - in fundraising, finance, marketing, admiistration, project / facilities management, property / law - get in touch & join the team!
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We hope to start fundraising in earnest as soon as we have planning permission in place for the work. Although we may need to run a small campaign to cover the fees to get us up to the planning application stage - so watch this space, follow us on socials or sign up to our newsletter for more info.
Our project is supported by..
