North Wales Youngsters Benefit From Innovative Cyfle Training

Four sixth formers from the Caernarfon area are reaping the benefits of a Cyfle writing course designed for professional freelancers.
The four budding writers, from Ysgol Brynrefail and Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle, attended a two-day multi-platform workshop at Galeri, Caernarfon, which was delivered by Bethan Marlow, a freelance scriptwriter on the innovative Cyfle scheme.
Bursary winner of 24 Degrees scheme BBC/Royal Court, Bethan is originally from the Bethel area. And she was also amongst two writing talents from North Wales to successfully complete Cyfle's innovative part-time Writing for Multi-platform scheme, in collaboration with Glass Shot in July.
The ground-breaking training programme, designed for six professional freelance writers in Wales, included on-line writing tasks and mentoring by professionals. The writers also attended five weekend workshops with multi-platform experts from Bebo, BBC, Channel 4 and critically acclaimed award-winning writer/director Lance Weiler from the USA. During the six-month scheme, the participants also created Wale's first ever online drama series - Break Free.
Following the scheme, and in collaboration with Cyfle and Sbarc!, Bethan was delighted to be able to bring her skills back to North Wales to inspire young writers through the two-day workshop. She explained: "I have learnt so much more than I expected on this course and I've also enjoyed it thoroughly. being able to pass on my new knowledge to young writers from my local area is truly fantastic."
As well as occasionally delivering workshops for young people, Bethan is also working on her own multi-platform project. She said: "We had extremely useful feedback from the panel during the final weekend. This has provided me with the confidence and the motivation to launch my own independent series in September. Look out for Hatty Rainbow!"
Channel 4's Head of Cross-Platform Commissioning Louise Brown was on the panel: "This is a unique and innovative scheme that produced fresh, interesting ideas from all of the participants. The hands-on experience that the writers gained from the scheme will be invaluable for their future work as digital drama formats evolve."
Responding to even wider developments within the sector, Cyfle will be venturing from its original office in Gronant, Cyfle's North Wales home since 1986, to join the prestigious art hub in Galeri, Caernarfon. Known as the Creative Enterprise Centre, Galeri is home to some of North Wales's leading creative companies and is based at the town's Victoria Dock. This is a significant move for the training provider who hopes to extend its innovative training provision and explore possible diversification opportunities within the broader creative sector in Wales.
(KMcA/GK)