1. Rock musical Operation Julie arrests The Guardian
Operation Julie was an infamous LSD bust in 1970s mid-Wales which looms large in local legend- and is the subject of a song by punk rockers The Clash. The story has been woven into a new rock musical by Theatr na nÓg and we’ve been working with them to secure coverage for the production. On the hottest day in Welsh history, we arranged for The Guardian to visit rehearsals in Aberystwyth, meeting cast, director/writer Geinor Styles and Alston ‘Smiles’ Huges, who was jailed for eight years. The interviews formed part of a piece that made page three of Wednesday’s print edition of The Guardian and can be read online here. The play premieres in Aberystwyth Arts Centre on July 30th before touring. Tickets here.
2. Hitting the headlines with house price news
Now we’re firmly in the third quarter of 2022, this week marked the release of Principality’s House Price Index for Wales Q2 – a detailed report on the rise and fall of house prices in each of the 22 local authorities in Wales. We sent the report out to media across Wales and beyond, sharing the news of Wales’ average house price reaching more than £240,000 for the first time. The report secured covered with BBC Wales, ITV, the Western Mail and more.
3. BBC Radio Cymru Wales plays Class-tonbury
We were booked by BBC Cymru Wales to join their summer of live music and ramp up the applause as they took Welsh bands back to school to inspire the next class of budding Welsh artists and singers. BBC Radio Cymru’s ‘Taith Haf o Gerddoriaeth’ (Summer Tour of Music) visited four schools across Wales taking in St Asaph, Bala and ending in Cardiff. Fresh from performing at the BBC Introducing Stage in Glastonbury you can catch coverage of Adwaith supporting local heroes Mellt who went back to perform at the school where they met in Aberystwyth here.
4. Helping businesses across Wales say Helo to free Welsh translation
We’ve been working with the Welsh Government’s free Welsh translation service, Helo Blod, to introduce businesses to the benefits of using a little more Cymraeg – part of the push to double the daily use of Welsh by 2050.
Our film team have travelled across Wales to meet businesses already using the fast and friendly service to help spread their message further, turn customers into regulars and bring communities together – from a cheese shop in Prestatyn, to a community café in Machynlleth and an art gallery in Caerphilly.
5. Exploring the sights of West Wales with an Irish travel influencer
We’ve been living vicariously through travel influencer Nicola and her blog All About Rosalilla this week, as she ventured on a Celtic Routes press trip which we organised in its entirety (we even sorted the weather for her too). Travelling from her native Ireland over to West Wales, Nicola spent the week exploring Wales’ Celtic Routes offering between Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire. She shared the highlights from her week on her social media – take a look her Nicola’s highlighted Stories here.
