(For release 10th August 2011)
Although the former Llandovery College head boy and star rugby player cannot personally attend the festival on September 24-25 – as the former X Factor star will be busy recording his new S4C show – he has sent the organisers a signed copy of his album O Fortuna, a copy of his new release Waves and a signed photo to be raffled at the event.
The Llandovery Sheep Festival is being held on 24-25 September and is being funded by Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority’s Collabor8 project, Lloyds Bank, Llandovery Town Council and many other businesses throughout the town of Llandovery.
Speaking of his support of Llandovery and the Sheep Festival, Rhydian said: “Llandovery – both College and town – played an important part in my life and it is great to see the efforts being made to help regenerate the town.
“I wish the Festival a sunny and successful couple of days and that the Prize Draw will raise much needed funds for the future success of the initiative as well as raising public awareness of the event.”
“I am hoping that my new album Waves will get everyone dancing to the music in the Market Square.”
The Rhydian Roberts albums and photo are only just a few of the star prizes on offer in the Prize Draw. HRH The Prince of Wales – loyal patron of the Festival – has donated a plate, designed by a student of The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, the Cambrian Mountains Initiative has donated a luxury hamper and an Abaca organic wool mattress is also a fitting prize to raise funds for a Sheep Festival.
Many other prizes from local businesses and festival stallholders will help boost sales not only for the benefit of the Festival but for other charities including the Llandovery Hospital League of Friends and the Size of Wales initiative. Prize Draw tickets will be on sale throughout the town over the coming weeks and can also be purchased at the Red Giraffe Cafe and Red Lion Inn in Llandovery’s historic Market Square.
The festival will give the significant number of visitors that will already be in to the town more to see and do, and hopefully generate and keep visitor spending in the town centre. As well as providing a lot of fun things for children and adults alike to see and do, it will also hopefully educate visitors about sheep farming and the issues faced by sheep farmers who have seen the price of wool decline in recent times.
The festival is also being held around the time of National Wool Week, which is being held in September this year, as part of The Campaign for Wool which was founded by The Prince of Wales.
For more information about the Llandovery Sheep Festival please contact Fiona Walker, Chairman of the Llandovery and District Chamber of Commerce on 07974 434 991.
-ENDS-
Pictures: Copyright of Rhydian Roberts
EDITORS’ NOTES
1. The COLLABOR8 Project is 50% funded by the ERDF Interreg 4B North West Europe Programme. This partnership project involves nine different partners from Ireland, Wales, England, Netherlands and Belgium. It aims to actively involve clusters of small businesses in developing quality, sustainability and services that promote local ‘sense of place’. In this way each tourism cluster will be able to capitalise on the uniqueness of their regions to compete better in the EU and global markets. For more information about Collabor8 contact Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority’s Collabor8 Officer Nick Stewart on 01874 620490 or nick.stewart@breconbeacons.org
2. The partners involved in the COLLABOR8 project are: South Kerry Development Partnership Ltd. (IE) -(Lead Partner); DLG Government Service for Land and Water Management: Office of the National Project New Dutch Waterline Department (NL); Stichting Studio VMK (NL); Flemish Land Agency (BE); Tourism East Flanders (BE), Westcountry Rivers Trust (UK); South Downs National Park Authority (UK); Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority (UK); and Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council (UK).
3. If you are a journalist writing a feature and would like to visit Bannau Brycheiniog National Park or to obtain more press information and images, please contact Samantha Games, PR and Events Officer for Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority on 01874 620 420 or email samantha.games@breconbeacons.org
4. Bannau Brycheiniog National Park is a landscape that offers a legacy of unparalleled proportions with spectacular mountain ranges, internationally renowned geology, bountiful wildlife and diverse recreational opportunities. It contains some of the most spectacular and distinctive upland formations in southern Britain and covers an area of 1347 sq km (520 sq miles).
5. Size of Wales is a unique national scheme to sustain an area of tropical forest the size of Wales as part of our national response to climate change. An area the size of Wales’ is frequently used to measure the rate of forest destruction and the aim is to turn that negative use of the country’s size on its head, by encouraging the people of Wales to take positive action and help protect an area of tropical forest equivalent to the size of the Principality.