Celebrating the Women of West Wales

A project to record and celebrate the Women of West Wales has been funded by Arwain Sir Benfro.

Arwain Sir Benfro – the Local Action Group (LAG) for Pembrokeshire, administered by PLANED has provided funding of £14,800 to Narberth Museum for a project to research and collate the diverse histories of local women in new and innovative ways.

This is funded through the LEADER programme, which is part of the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014 – 2020, Funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government.

The project will research and start to collate the diverse histories of local women in new and innovative ways including a searchable database, website, and app or virtual museum.

The main aims of the project are to redress the balance in recorded history, ensuring that women are fairly and accurately represented. We also wish to enhance the sustainability of the museum, provide volunteer & employment opportunities, develop new skills among staff and volunteers, provide meaningful, accessible information for all, create a more comprehensive legacy & something that can be consistently developed in the future.

This pilot will centre on Pembrokeshire and the focus will be on research and initial development of the web based searchable database and app. It’s hoped that to provide opportunities for older people to get involved and share their stories, with intergenerational oral history workshops and consultation. This will harness the valuable resource of memoir spanning the past century, as well as providing young volunteers, schools, and those on work experience with enriching and meaningful skill development.

Arwain Sir Benfro is currently supporting project ideas from local community groups, organisations and businesses. As the Local Action Group for Pembrokeshire, we bring together a mix of local community representatives, business, third sector, local authority partners.

LEADER is supporting all kinds of activity: mentoring, training, feasibility studies or pilot projects that test an innovative new idea. It can also be used for projects that improve local skills, make better use of a local resource or realise the economic potential of part of the locality leading to a ‘new’ outcome or product.