A first-of-its-kind Pembrokeshire event on 8th May saw over 150 people talk about topics that are important to the local population.
Held at The Queen’s Hall in Narberth, ‘It’s Your Pembrokeshire’ was hosted by 4theRegion, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to improving the prosperity and wellbeing of the South West Wales region through collaboration.
Bringing together local businesses, individuals and community groups, the event facilitated dialogue between people and organisations who may not ordinarily have the chance to cross paths or share ideas.
The aim was to enable discussions to take place on issues that matter most to the people of Pembrokeshire, and help residents build local networks, which was clearly in-demand as almost two hundred people attended the all-day event.
Eight prominent topics were explored throughout the day, narrowed down from a wider list through consultations by 4theRegion in the preceding months.
Attendees stood up and asked questions, contributed to room-wide conversations and brainstormed individual topics in small breakout groups facilitated by local professionals. The topics were Transport, Creative Economy, Youth Empowerment, Climate & Nature, Jobs & Skills, Food & Farming, Community Action and Buying Local.
Discussions were interspersed with short presentations from Bluestone, Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum, PLANED, Silverstone Green Energy, PACTO and Pembrokeshire County Council.
Zoe Antrobus, Founder of 4theRegion said, “We were overwhelmed with the energy in the room for ‘It’s Your Pembrokeshire’. Over 180 business owners, organisations, residents and activists came together to co-create ideas for positive action around some of the hot topics in Pembrokeshire. We’d really like to thank our 4theRegion alliance whose passion for the region enables us to make events like this happen.”
Feedback was highly positive, with many attendees commenting about how successful the simple act of bringing people together could be. Helen Bantock from Frowen Fields Glamping and Camping said: “This event was a great opportunity to make new connections and meet likeminded people.
“As a small business owner, I was able to connect with other small businesses and we’ve arranged to follow up with each other. It can be really hard when you work for yourself, so events like this are really important for staying motivated, as well as finding out about some of the support available across the county.”
Jeremy Martineu from North Pembrokeshire Trade and Tourism said, “These events are so important for networking, for meeting people you already know and people you have not yet met.
“We need to develop new ways of working across Pembrokeshire – for the community itself to get hold of the problems we’ve got and to access the resources to solve them. This event was an opportunity to hear other people’s ideas which we can implement, as well as trying to influence other people with our own ideas and opinions!”
Dawn Lyle, 4the Region Co-Founder added, “Everything that was discussed on the day will be captured in a report, which we hope will lead to new collaborative projects and partnerships. It’s more important than ever to ensure we are all working together across South West Wales to create resilient and prosperous communities.”
