"The Sleeping Giant Foundation is a community development organisation based in the Upper Swansea Valley. We are named after the Cribarth mountain which, from the south, looks like a giant sleeping figure and represents the giant potential of this valley and our community.

The Sleeping Giant Foundation works to actively promote the area through community led projects in New Media and Oral History/Heritage and Community Events. We offer opportunities to people of all ages and backgrounds to be involved in these projects, which not only develop new and exciting skills, but can also lead to a more profound understanding of the diverse history and beautiful nature of our valley.

Our New Media Studio was set up in house in July 2005 to provide training opportunities in film and DVD production to the local community and as a way of further promoting our area. Since then the studio has been busy with requests for filming coming from small community groups to commissions from larger organisations. No experience is necessary to become part of the team, just enthusiasm and commitment, as training is done in house.

Past productions include a tourism promotional DVD of our area which is now being used in most tourism information centres, a promotional DVD for our local mountain boarding centre and educational DVDs on childhood in Abercraf in the 1940s and the experiences of evacuees who came to our valley in the second world war. There are many current DVD projects underway for those people who would like to join us. We have also forged close links with the Department of Film and Media in the University of Wales Lampeter and run partnership projects with their students.

Our Oral History Project has been designed to record the memories of the older generation of our community, especially looking at life before and after the second world war. We are lucky to have a dedicated Oral History Group who have been trained by St Fagan's in the use of our recording equipment and in interviewing techniques. We always welcome new people to the group and are especially keen to hear from people who would either like to share their memories or who would like to interview a friend or relative.

We also organise community events, our main one being the Owain Glyndwr Festival in September. This is a celebration of the rich music, art and history of our area and was met with great successes when it was piloted in 2005. An annual event, this gives local musicians, artists, poets and craftspeople a chance to showcase their skills in a family friendly and supportive atmosphere. This has helped to put the Upper Swansea Valley firmly on the map and has attracted many visitors from outside the area."

Article by Eleanor Flaherty, Development Officer with the Sleeping Giant Foundation