WIREDGOV

Cadw, the Welsh Government’s historic environment service, has been working with a group of young people in north Wales to ensure local communities and visitors alike continue to benefit from one of Wales’ most popular UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Working with local arts company, Cwmni Frân Wen, the youngsters have prepared films showcasing the opinions of local businesses, visitors and locals of the four communities of Caernarfon, Conwy, Beaumaris and Harlech, which house the castles and town walls which make up the World Heritage Site in north west Wales.

The films will be shown in a community based arts space in Doc Fictoria, Caernarfon as part of a celebratory event on 19 February. The aim is to raise awareness of a new, long-term vision and plan for the monuments and surrounding communities.

Lord Elis-Thomas, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport said: 

“This is a significant milestone for the World Heritage Site, reflecting a culmination of two years of work with partners and the local community. Over 600,000 people visited the monuments last year, contributing over £30m to the local economy. The new plan is a platform to ensure the status of the site is protected, and to ensure that these spectacular monuments bring real benefits to the communities they sit in.

“A key strand of the vision aims to encourage greater awareness and understanding of the World Heritage Site, to help people value and appreciate these special places even more. We’re therefore delighted to have worked with young people on this project– as the main objective is to safeguard and protect these important monuments for future generations.”

Carl Russell Owen of Frân Wen added: 

“The young people involved in the project have gained important skills in helping plan, script, edit and prepare the films, which will become useful for them in their future studies and job roles.

Hosting the event in the new, CARN community arts-based venue, funded through the Gwynedd Council and Arts Council for Wales’s STAMP project, within the shadows of the Caernarfon town walls shows how communities can look to regenerate such places in creativeand innovative ways.”

A recent report by the Historic Environment Group, based on data from 18 Wales’s premier heritage organisations, has identified that the Heritage Sector generates £963m into the Welsh economy each year and supports over 40,500 jobs. The report also highlighted an increase of 4.4% in the number of visits to sites in the last seven years, and membership of heritage bodies in Wales standing just short of 440,000.

For information on this and other Cadw events visit www.gov.wales/cadw, find Cadw on Facebook or follow @CadwWales on Twitter.