by Tania Russell-Owen | 16th Jan 2019

2018 was a busy year here at ProMo-Cymru with lots of things going on. We thought it apt that the first blog of 2019 looks back at all the things we did last year, spurring us on to continue and achieve more this year.

We look forward to working with some of you and to exciting new developments in the year ahead.

Events at the EVi

The first article that appeared on our blog in 2018 looked back at the eventful year they’d had at the EVi. The Ebbw Vale Institute was an empty building before ProMo-Cymru took on the task of regenerating it in 2009 to create a community and cultural centre for the people of Blaenau Gwent and beyond. There are lots of exciting things going on at the EVi with classes, gigs, events and meetings. There’s a large performance space with a bar, meeting and training rooms, a cafe, and a recording studio. It is also home to a number of organisations. If you’d like to find out more about the EVi and for details of how to hire the venue for an event, meeting or rehearsals then visit their website.

Enterprising Solutions

Last year we told you how we were helping to develop community enterprise ideas. Our Project Manager, Cindy Chen, took on the role of programme coordinator for Enterprising Solutions. This is a three year programme developed by DTA Wales. She is responsible for a number of projects in the Cardiff and Vale area. Since the blog, published in January, the Ministry of Life have come on board to develop a new governing structure and direction of growth.

Radio Platfform

A big development in 2018 was the official launch of Radio Platfform. ProMo-Cymru is supporting this Wales Millennium Centre project to develop a youth led radio station. We have been training young people since 2016 in Radio Broadcasting, getting them ready to host their own shows. What started as a pilot for the Festival of Voice in 2016, soon developed into something more and they started broadcasting in May 2017. The official launch took place in November at the Wales Millennium Centre. Listen to Radio Platfform here.

Sharing knowledge

During the year we shared some insights with you about new technologies and developments in digital media and marketing trends. We looked at how Facebook organic reach was in decline and what the solutions were to this. We also explored the rise in video and live video and how you could use this to your advantage. Lastly we looked at the rise of digital assistants and chatbots and how this was becoming more mainstream. These were a popular gift over Christmas 2018 as prices become more affordable. We encouraged you to think about how you could take advantage of this trend.

In November we shared findings gathered from our research into how children and young people communicate after we looked at changing trends in how they contact the Meic helpline. We shared this information with you as we felt this might be useful to other organisations in their communication developments.

The services we offer

Our blog is also an opportunity for us to tell you about the services we can offer here at ProMo-Cymru.

We are experts in effective engagement, communicating with different target groups to find out what they need and proposing ways to create positive change. Our work with Invest Local is an example of this, engaging with communities to decide how they want to spend money developing their areas. We also worked with two Welsh housing associations , engaging and communicating with their tenants to make sure that their voice is heard and that they are put at the centre of services.

Our creative team has produced a number of films for other organisations, filming at events, creating promotional videos, highlighting a specific service or project and so on. We also offer film training, last year creating music videos with young people by using green screen proved very popular. Check out some of the work we did at the South Riverside Community Development Centre with funding from Ffilm Cymru.

Since the launch of Meic in 2010 ProMo-Cymru have become leading developers of open access helplines with a bespoke virtual call centre offering bilingual phone line, text messaging, instant messaging and e-mail facilities. 2018 saw us developing two new helplines. Cardiff and Vale Advocacy Gateway supports the citizens of Cardiff and Vale to have a voice and a choice when it comes to social care support services. Bridgend Voice and Choice offers information and advice to those eligible to access social services.

Last year we also gained investment from the WCVA Social Business growth fund. This will be used to expand our ability to produce and sell design and communications content and further strengthen our existing enterprise activity.

Award winners

One of our proudest moments last year was winning two awards for our work. The first was an award for a communication campaign created for the Meic service. Meic is the National Information, Advice and Advocacy helpline for children and young people in Wales, and is run by ProMo-Cymru.

Butterflies was a piece created for the Meic Healthy Relationships campaign that ran in February last year. We were honoured to work with talented spoken word artist Sarah McCreadie She writes and performs her pieces across Wales and the UK. She wrote a special piece about a toxic relationship for Meic and recorded the vocals to create our award winning video. Find out more about its creation and Sarah’s thoughts.

In June we were totally blown away when the campaign won the Best Marketing Communication at the Wales Online Digital Awards. We were further delighted to have won the Tech for Good Award at the Social Business Awards for our work in supporting the third and public sector with digital communication, engagement and transformation.

Digital Youth Work

Last year we accepted a grant from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. This allowed us to enhance our existing work and develop future options for virtual youth work and information services. As a consequence of this we attended and presented at the National Seminar on Youth Information and Counseling Services in the Ukraine.

Following a meeting in the Ukraine between our Chief Executive, Marco Gil-Cervantes, and Montserrat Herguido from the Catalan Government, a visit to Wales was planned. ProMo-Cymru was pleased to host four guests from the Catalan Youth Agency. We look forward to developing relationships further and learn from each other when it comes to digital youth information and advocacy.

Aurevoir and hello

2018 was a year of farewells and welcomes. We welcomed our new Communications Apprentice Tom Morris, a post supported by the European Regional Development Fund. Tom’s main duties have been working on theSprout He writes content, develops the website and has helped establish the revamped and new Editorial Group of young people. He has also been a huge support to other projects. He promotes Meic at various events and supports with training and filming.

Sadly we had to say au revoir to our European volunteer Manon De Lalande in July. Manon was an integral part of the team taking part in various communication campaigns and events and producing multimedia projects and videos. Before she left she shared her experience of a year in Wales with us.

After Manon returned to France to start a two year Political Communication Masters Degree we welcomed our current European volunteer, Daniele Mele from Italy. Keep an eye out for our piece on him on this blog soon.

New building

And last, but not least, 2018 was an exciting year for ProMo-Cymru as we held the official opening of our new head office. We held an Open Day for invited guests in September. The move to new premises in Cardiff Bay was an important one for us, the whole team together under one roof at last.

There was lots of preparation in getting the building ready for the open day. We worked on presentations, demonstrations and a tour for our guests. Vaughan Gething AM officially opened the building and we had fantastic performances by Sarah McCreadie and Sabrina Islam. All the guests seemed to enjoy the demonstrations and seeing the diversity of the work that goes on at ProMo-Cymru.

If you’re interested, we also have meeting spaces of different sizes to hire at our new building. Contact for further information.

Looking ahead

So phew…. that was 2018 (some of it at least). We look forward to a busy, productive year of co-working, engaging and communicating. If you are interested in any of the services we have to offer please get in touch. Contact Arielle Tye, Business and Funding Manager, on 029 2046 2222 or email arielle@promo.cymru

To find out more about our work check out our Services – What We Do section.