An innovative training course for organisers of community events and festivals, which has been coordinated and promoted in Pembrokeshire by PLANED since February 2003, is now being emulated in other parts of Wales. Following confirmation of a successful application for European Union Leader+ Action 2 funding, PLANED is working collaboratively with other Leader+ funded organisations in Wales on a project that focuses on the development of festivals and events to benefit the rural economy. One of the elements of the collaborative project is the exchange of good practice. PLANED will advise the other organisations, which are Adventa in South Wales, Cadwyn Clwyd in Ruthin, and Northern Marches Cymru in Wrexham, on setting up training courses to support event organisers in their areas. Another innovative aspect of PLANED's support for festivals and event organisers that will be shared with the other Leader+ groups is the Organising Community Festivals and Events handbook which is given to all course participants. The training course, which is available free of charge in Pembrokeshire, equips community event organisers with a solid knowledge base for staging events in a professional manner. It is run in Pembrokeshire with the support of the licensing section of Pembrokeshire County Council and Dyfed-Powys Police, whose officers run a session on licensing, and of Pembrokeshire Association of Voluntary Services, who deliver a presentation on grant funding. Other facilitators with expertise in various fields deliver sessions on event planning, risk assessment, writing press releases, budgeting, and sponsorship. More than 160 people have participated in the training already, and the next course commences in May. PLANED officers have already helped Antur Cwm Taf Tawe to roll out the course in Carmarthenshire. For further information about PLANED's training courses for organisers of community festivals and events, please contact Helen Thomas on 01646 682972 or email her at [email protected]">[email protected] • PLANED's EU Leader+ festivals and events project is part-funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, the Welsh Development Agency, ELWa, and Milford Haven Port Authority.
