Local television service launched for county’s residents

A new local television service for a county’s residents is set to launch ‘to promote local pride, confidence and creativity’.

‘Shwmae Sir Gâr’ is an online platform television service for Carmarthen which is set to launch this month following the creation of a new ‘TANIO’ project from Canolfan S4C Yr Egin.

The launch follows a successful application worth £178,636 from the Sustainable Communities Fund, which is part of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund distributed by Carmarthenshire County Council.

New talent

The team behind the online ‘local TV’ service for Carmarthenshire say they want to ‘give ownership to the county’s residents to have their say, share their hopes and stories, as well as reflecting the history and living culture of the regions within the county’.

Yr Egin will be working with the production company, Carlam, to create the material, and the new content of “Shwmae Sir Gâr” will be shared on Instagram, Facebook and Tik Tok platforms from this month onwards.

Across the year, ‘Shwmae Sir Gâr’ will share resident stories from all parts of the county in various features, as well as serving to promote the Welsh language within the county, as well as encourage learners to use the language.

One of the project’s aims is also to create opportunities for developing new talent, be it in front of or behind the camera.

The officer who will be leading on this work on behalf of Yr Egin is Lowri Sion.

She said: “I am extremely excited to coordinate the ‘Local TV’ project which gives people from all over the county the chance to experience and grow confidence in the creative field in a convenient way.

“I grew up in this beautiful county, and I’m proud of the fact that I’m part of something special that will allow the voice of communities across the county to be heard.”

Opportunity

The Carlam production company has called Yr Egin home since the early days and has a clear focus on nurturing talent and sharing grassroots stories.

The company employs 14 staff and freelancers and they have just been nominated for the New Voice Awards 2024 for their project for Hansh (S4C).

Euros Llŷr Morgan, a recent university alumnus, is the Company Director. He said: “It is an honour to collaborate with Canolfan Yr Egin once again on this exciting project.

“This multi-platform content service is a special vehicle for sharing what is important to the residents of the county but is also an incredible opportunity to nurture new talent in front of and behind the camera.

“As a company, we are very proud to employ 80% of our workforce from West Wales.”

Development

Tina Evans from Burry Port previously benefited from the ‘Shwmae Sir Gâr’ project. She said: “I enjoyed the experience of filming with the ‘Shwmae Sir Gâr’ crew last year.

“It was great to be able to show people a beautiful part of Wales many wouldn’t be familiar with. It has been a great opportunity to develop my presenting skills, and to gain confidence in front of a camera which has led to many other opportunities including presenting from the Paralympics.”

Another aspect of the TANIO project is already underway – working on creative and digital clubs for children and young people.

The clubs aim to feed into the channel, with the hope of ensuring an inclusive community-led linguistic, cultural, and creative impact.

Carmarthenshire residents and fans alike can contact [email protected] or drop by Yr Egin for a chat to discuss news and features.

Follow Shwmae Sir Gar on the following platforms:

https://www.facebook.com/shwmaesg

https://www.instagram.com/shwmaesirgar/

https://www.youtube.com/@yregin287