New film to celebrate forgotten Black Welsh sporting pioneer

A pioneering Black Welsh sporting figure raised in the south Wales valleys during the Great Depression is to be celebrated in a new educational film after a heritage grant worth almost £22,000 was awarded to a local museum group.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded £21,960 to Brynmawr Museum and Historical Society to create a short film about rugby league trailblazer Roy Francis.

Born in Brynmawr in 1919, Francis went on to become the first Black coach in British sport and is regarded as one of the most significant figures in rugby league history.

The project will focus not only on Francis’s achievements, but also on the social and economic history of Brynmawr during the interwar years.

Organisers say the film is primarily aimed at young people and will involve them directly through workshops helping shape the style and format of the production, including animated elements.

The finished film is also expected to support learning during Black History Month.

Andrew White, director of The National Lottery Heritage Fund in Wales, said Roy Francis’s story was “an important and inspiring part of Wales’s heritage”.

“Thanks to National Lottery players, this project will bring his legacy to life for new generations while helping to preserve and share the rich history of Brynmawr and the people who shaped it,” he said.

The project will also bring together different generations within the community.

Museum volunteers, local pensioners’ groups and members of Brynmawr Rotary Club will contribute to workshops to help ensure historical accuracy, while younger participants will be encouraged to interview older residents and collect memories and stories.

Alongside Francis’s sporting achievements, the film will explore Brynmawr’s wider history, including its industrial growth and the hardship faced during the economic depression of the 1920s and 1930s.

It will also highlight the “Brynmawr Experiment”, a series of Quaker-led initiatives designed to create jobs and opportunities during a period of severe unemployment.

Legacy

Treasurer of the museum, John Hill, said the funding would help preserve both the town’s heritage and Francis’s legacy.

“We are thrilled to have received this support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund,” he said.

“Thanks to National Lottery players we are able to tell the incredible story of a man who was raised in Brynmawr and became a legend in the world of rugby league.

“Just as importantly we can preserve the heritage of Brynmawr.”

Because little surviving footage exists of either Roy Francis or Brynmawr during the period covered by the film, organisers are appealing for photographs, recordings or archive material from members of the public.