💷 Free entry

Prema Arts Centre

Independent family arts centre in a converted chapel near Dursley, with gallery exhibitions, live performances, children's workshops and a café.

Where Dursley, Gloucestershire Price Free entry When wet Indoors SEND-friendly

✦ We visited

A genuine community arts centre that goes well beyond a gallery. The children's workshops in particular are thoughtfully run, and the space has an easy, welcoming feel that makes it good for children who might be uncertain about 'art'.

Prema occupies a converted Bethesda Chapel in the village of Uley, a few miles from Dursley, and has been running creative programmes for families and communities in this corner of Gloucestershire for decades. It is one of those places that is quietly excellent without making much noise about itself.

The gallery is free to walk around and usually holds a rotating programme of contemporary art and craft exhibitions. The work tends to be accessible rather than intimidating, and children often engage with it more readily than expected — particularly sculpture and textile pieces that invite close looking.

For families with younger children, the creative workshops are the main draw. Sessions in clay, painting, printing and drama run across the week and through school holidays; these are ticketed separately but prices are kept modest. Toddler sessions, after-school clubs and holiday activities mean the programme stays busy with families at most points of the year.

Live performance — theatre, music, storytelling and puppetry — fills the main space on evenings and some weekend afternoons. The chapel's original wooden gallery gives the room good sightlines and an atmosphere that suits intimate shows well. The café is a comfortable place to sit before or after.

Good for: arts, rainy-day, sensory. Ages: 0–2, 3–4, 5–7, 8–11, 12+.