A £50,000 grant from the Big Lottery will help bring the dream of extending a community hall closer.

The Drill Hall in Chepstow is run by volunteers and hosts a range of events from broadcasts of top-class theatre and dance to concerts and talks.

The grant from the Big Lottery will enable all the design work, planning and permissions for a major refurbishment and extension.

In the 1990s the hall – where the local Territorial Army used to practise – was on the verge of closure but in recent years ownership has transferred to Chepstow Town Council and it has become an important community venue.

Trustee and town councillor, Mark le Peltier, said: “We’re absolutely stunned and surprised but delighted that we have been successful in obtaining the grant.”

Fellow trustee and town councillor Ned Heywood added: “It has been a lot of hard work to get to this stage – the application ran to about 200 pages – but now the really hard work begins.

“We already get requests from other small community organisations from around the country about how we run things such as the live broadcasts.”

Trustee David Rock said: “The extra space will make it a lot more flexible.”

The venue will now be entered into the second stage of the capital asset transfer competition and if successful it will receive money to complete the work and employ a full-time manager and workshop tutors for some years.

Mr Heywood said: “There is no guarantee that we will get the full money but the chances are now better than 50-50.”

There will be a public meeting on Thursday, March 16 at 7:30pm where the plans will be explained.

The trustees are also looking for volunteers with legal or financial expertise and more people to help with marketing.

For more details e-mail [email protected]