Save The Pop Factory

Aim

A 125-year-old creative heart of the Rhondda is up for sale. We need your help to buy it back for the community, before it's gone for good.

Do you believe that a building shaped by a community should stay in that community's hands?

If yes, you're exactly who we're looking for.

Welsh Hills Works has been standing on Jenkin Street, Porth since 1897. It started life as the home of Thomas and Evans' famous Corona Pop. It went on to become a TV studio and live music venue that put Porth on screens across Wales. Today it's a working creative hub, used every week by artists, musicians, theatre companies, choirs, and community groups.

Now it's at risk. The current owners are selling. If a private buyer gets there first, the creative life inside those walls could be gone for good.

We're a group of tenants, artists, and local residents who have come together to do something about it. We've formed The Pop Factory Ltd. with one aim: to bring this building into community hands, before it's too late.

That's why we're here. And if you're still reading, we think you might feel the same.

"This building belongs to the community. Help us keep it that way."

The Story

Where it all started

Welsh Hills Works has been standing on Jenkin Street, Porth since 1897. It was built to house the Thomas and Evans soft drinks operation, producing the Corona Pop brand that became a household name across Wales and beyond. For decades it was the engine of a local industry, and a source of real pride for the community.

Lights, camera, Rhondda

At the turn of the millennium, Avanti Media moved in and everything changed. The Pop Factory became a nationally recognised TV studio and live music venue. The Guest List, Session Hwyr, and TPF brought performances from Stereophonics, Tom Jones, and many others to Welsh screens. For a few extraordinary years, Porth had its moment, and the whole of Wales was watching.

What's happening right now

Today, Welsh Hills Works is very much alive. Independent artists, theatre companies, choirs, training providers, and community organisations call it home. Events happen. People create. The building buzzes. It's just that not enough people know about it yet. That's something we intend to change.

What We're Trying to Do

The Pop Factory Ltd. was set up specifically to buy Welsh Hills Works and put it in community ownership. We want to protect what's already here and build on it: more community events, more affordable workspace for local creatives, more reasons for people to walk through those doors.

Our vision for the building includes:

• Affordable workspace for artists and local creative businesses
• A platform for live performances and cultural events
• Training and skills programmes for people of all ages
• A genuinely open, inclusive space for the whole community
• More footfall and activity in Porth town centre

This isn't about preserving a building. It's about preserving what happens inside it.

About the Funding

The building is on the market for £475,000. We're raising £50,000 here on CrowdFunder as the first part of a wider funding plan. Initially we set the target at 250,000 but reduced this after speaking with funders.

Once we demonstrate enough public support through this campaign, we'll engage formally with capital funders and grant programmes to raise the remainder. The crowdfund is what opens that conversation. The more people back this, the stronger the case we can make.

We start formal engagement with those funders once we reach £25,000 to £30,000. That's the first milestone that matters. Every pound you contribute is doing real work.

Who We Are

We're not developers. We're not a quango. We're the people who already use this building, and local residents who care about what happens to it.

The Pop Factory Ltd. is a registered company (number 17109994), made up of current tenants, artists, and community-minded business people. We're your neighbours, and we want to keep this place alive for everyone.

We're committed to full transparency with every supporter, throughout the campaign and beyond.

Our Partners

We're not doing this alone. Alongside the donations coming in from the public, we have the backing of some brilliant organisations and individuals who are contributing their time, resources, and expertise to make this campaign happen.

We have engaged the services of Coalfield Regeneration Trust, who have provided funding to undertake a survey of the building and support our plans.  

Spectacle Theatre and Manage Money Wales are key partners in the project, providing organisational and financial support that covers marketing, PR, promotions, and materials. Both organisations are also donors in their own right.

Andy Coleman and The Semantics supply the PA system for our gigs, keeping costs down and quality up. And many members of our wider working group are donating their services and goods in kind, from design and web development to printing and logistics.

Every contribution, whether it's money, time, or expertise, goes directly towards saving this building. We're grateful for all of it.

Meet the Directors

Stephen Davis
Stephen is a Director of Spectacle Theatre and has been making theatre in Wales for seven decades. He believes artists need space, and that The Pop Factory provides that alongside an unmatched support network for artists, communities, and individuals. Two of his plays have been drawn directly from the oral history of this building, and he describes the audience response as profoundly moving. His vision is a collectively led management team, with the community at its heart.

Jennifer Hare
Jennifer is a Director of Manage Money Wales, a social enterprise that has been based at The Pop Factory for nearly ten years. The organisation runs The Community Sharing Shop: a free community hub offering a charity shop, food bank, community cafe, money management support, wellbeing services, and volunteer and training opportunities. Jennifer regards the building as a work home: vibrant, inclusive, and genuinely diverse. She considers it the beating heart of the Rhondda.

Andy Coleman, Treasurer

Andy is an experienced musician and businessman, and serves as Treasurer for The Pop Factory Ltd. A Porth local through and through, he performs regularly with his band The Semantics and is passionate about keeping this building open to the public, particularly as a platform for nurturing local talent.

Dawn Hoban
Dawn is a ceramic artist and Director of Mud Art & Soul, based at The Pop Factory. Her work draws on the industrial heritage and landscape of the South Wales mining communities around her, and she runs workshops alongside her own high-end ceramics practice. Dawn says The Pop Factory changed her life, giving her a safe and supportive environment in which to build a business she loves. Her first post-studies exhibition, held here in 2017, drew over ninety visitors. The community she has built at the Factory, including her students, feels, in her own words, like a second family.

Frequently Asked Questions

About the campaign

Why are you raising £50,000 when the building costs £475,000?
The crowdfund is the first piece of a bigger funding puzzle. Once we hit our target, we'll use the public support it represents to approach capital funders and grant schemes for the rest. Think of it as evidence. The more we raise, the stronger our case.

Who is actually behind this?
Current tenants, local creatives, and community-minded business owners who already know and love this building. We live and work here. This is personal.

Is The Pop Factory Ltd. an official organisation?
Yes. We're a registered company (number 17109994), fully committed to being open with our supporters about how money is raised, spent, and managed.

What's the rush?
The building is on the market now. If someone buys it privately before we get there, the community loses it. We have a window and we're using it.

How does the crowdfund actually lead to buying the building?
Every pound raised here is proof of public backing. We are in discussion with funders and we are using the crowd fund as a source of match funding. Once we reach £25,000 to £30,000, we start formal conversations with the capital funders who can help cover the rest. The crowdfund gives us credibility. The funders help us close the gap.

About donating

Is it safe to donate here?
Yes. CrowdFunder is one of the UK's most trusted community crowdfunding platforms. Your donation is secure.

Can I donate by bank transfer instead?
You can. Just send to: Account name: The Pop Factory Ltd. Sort code: 20 18 17. Account number: 03896773.

What if you don't hit the target?
This is a keep-it-all campaign, so your contribution gets to work straight away whatever happens. If we ultimately can't secure the building, any money left after campaign costs will be donated to a local charitable organisation serving Porth and the Rhondda. We'll be transparent about where it goes.

Is Gift Aid available?
Not currently. We're not a registered charity at this stage. We'll let supporters know if that changes.

Can I give anonymously?
Yes, CrowdFunder gives you that option at checkout.

Can a business or organisation donate?
Absolutely. We'd love to hear from you. Get in touch at [email protected] to talk about larger contributions or partnerships.

Is there a minimum or maximum?
No minimum and no maximum. Give what you can. If you're thinking big, get in touch and we can have a proper conversation.

About community ownership

What does community ownership actually mean in practice?
It means the building is owned and run for the benefit of the community, not a private landlord or developer. Decisions about how it's used, who it serves, and where it goes are made with the community's interests at the heart of everything.

Who will run it once you've bought it?
The Pop Factory Ltd. will manage the building on behalf of the community. We're building a governance model that gives tenants, local residents, and community organisations a real say in how things work.

What about the people and activities already in the building?
Protecting everything that's already there is the starting point, not an afterthought. The studios, rehearsal spaces, and activities all continue. We want to build on them.

Will it be open to new groups?
That's the whole point. One of the core ambitions is to open the building up to more people, more groups, and more of the community who've never had a reason to come in.

About the building

What exactly is Welsh Hills Works?
It's the building on Jenkin Street, Porth, that has been known as The Pop Factory since the early 2000s. It's been a factory, a TV studio, a live music venue, and now a creative hub. Three lives and counting.

Why hasn't it had more visibility in recent years?
Fair question. The building has been doing good work quietly. The activities inside have gone largely unannounced. Part of what we're doing is fixing that, and making sure the Rhondda understands what it stands to lose.

Three Ways to Help #SaveThePopFactory

Not everyone can donate, and that's OK. Here's how you can help:

• Share this page. Tell someone who cares. Post it. Forward it. Word of mouth is priceless.
• Volunteer your time and skills. Got something to offer? Whether it's a practical skill, a few spare hours, or an idea, we want to hear from you. Get in touch at [email protected].
• Tell your story. If The Pop Factory means something to you, whether it's the Corona Pop days, the TV era, or what's happening inside right now, share it. Visit thepopfactory.co.uk and let us know.

Every bit of support, big or small, makes a difference.

Help Us Bring it Home

This building has survived more than 125 years. It has made pop, made TV, and made space for communities to gather and create. It deserves a future that belongs to the people it's always served.

Help us make that happen.

Find out more and follow the campaign at thepopfactory.co.uk

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 28th July 2026 at 10:44am