A former maternity hospital is set to be reborn as an entrepreneurial husband-and-wife duo reveal their plans for the Ludlow site.

The former maternity unit at East Hamlet is a two-storey brick building, constructed in the mid 1800s, with later extensions, and was sold in 2017 to widespread dismay.

Award-winning roastery Hundred House Coffee, run by husband-and-wife duo Anabelle de Gersigny and Matthew Wade will both further expand their sustainable coffee business and give back to the community with the establishment of a separate creative community hub.

The hub, named Gather, will offer co-working spaces for people to rent and a curated programme of creative events, talks and workshops that will run there throughout the year.

"This building came up and lends itself perfectly to what we want to achieve," says Anabelle.

“We hope that people from all backgrounds working in all different industries will use this space and come forward with their own ideas for how the space can grow to further support the local South Shropshire community.

"We have some exciting programming ideas that we’d love to activate, like film nights, writing workshops and support for people setting up their own businesses.

"Through Hundred House Coffee, we run a non-for-profit arts programme distributing a proportion of our profits to these initiatives.

The first event programme will be ‘Artists in Conversation’ on June 4 with James and Tilla Waters, award winning ceramicists from Carmarthen.

Before Christmas a soft launch was held with Local to Ludlow produce market hosting their seasonal market.

Tish Dockerty, market manager, comments: “Local to Ludlow were delighted to work collaboratively with Anabelle and her team for our Christmas market. We were pleased with the reception we had from locals, our regulars and many NHS staff who all enjoyed the opportunity to buy local food and drink”.

"We are really excited to get working on the project and to open the doors to Gather as soon as possible," says Anabelle.

Anabelle and Matthew would love to hear from local businesses, individuals and creatives with their thoughts on what they would like to see at Gather.