1. Introducing Cymru, Well-being and the World
With the World Cup kicking off in a little over a week, we’ve been helping the Football Association of Wales with some long-term thinking which could benefit Wales and world for the long-term. Our team worked with the FAW to launch their first sustainability strategy- developed with the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales- creating a film, social content and securing media coverage with BBC, ITV and S4C. Read the strategy here.
2. Celtic Routes showcased in leading US travel title
Word of the Welsh and Irish tourism collaboration, the Celtic Routes, travelled as far as the United States this week in an in-depth online article published by travel giant, TRAVEL+LEISURE (circulation = 14 million +). The piece has been published following a press trip we organised last month for travel writer, Stacey Wreathall, as part of our international outreach.
During the trip, Stacey travelled through the counties of Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire in Wales and Wicklow, Wexford, Waterford in Ireland, experiencing everything from foraging for shellfish and seaweed, hiking around Glendalough in the Wicklow Mountains and cutting crystals at the Waterford House of Crystal. You can read the piece online here and an Instagram takeover of the TRAVEL + LEISURE Instagram channel (and its 6.1m followers) is coming soon…
3. UAE national writes about Welsh values in World Cup warm up piece
The ethics of the Qatar World Cup are rightly being debated across the media right now. But Wales’ place in the tournament does give us a chance to share our values with the world. That’s what this in-depth piece we helped co-ordinate with UAE flagship news site The National does. Interviews with fans charity chief Tim Hartley; Constitutional Commission co-chair Laura McAllister; Delwyn Derrick from Wales’ first fully inclusive grassroots team and Rob Dowling from the FAW showcase Cymru’s values on inclusivity, multiculturism and compassion. Take a read here.
4. Swansea is Wales’ start-up central
Where in Wales does that start-up spirit burn brightest? Swansea, according to a data-driven release we sold to media on behalf of the Bank’s Start Up Loans programme, identifying the most entrepreneurial local authority in Wales in terms of how many loans had been drawn down per 1,000 people since the programme started in 2012. Coverage included pieces in the Western Mail and South Wales Evening Post and online on Insider, Business Live and South Wales Argus.
And on Wednesday we flipped open the Western Mail to a four-page feature focused on the Welsh start-up scene sponsored by the British Business Bank sharing entrepreneur stories and opinion from Jess Phillips, the Bank’s senior manager for Wales. The articles also ran online here.
5. Spotlighting mental health matters for young learners
This week we shared how Wales-wide skills provider Itec has invested in the wellbeing and mental health of its learners by adopting new technology after it was revealed that 49% of 16–24-year-olds do not feel well-prepared to get the job they want. The software, called Red Dot 365, enables Itec to monitor what issues have the greatest impact on their learners in real time. In turn, the team understand what areas of support to focus on, creating a positive emotional climate for the learners to succeed and ultimately reach their full potential. You can read more about the mental health investment of Itec’s learners on Wales 247.
