With our £5million grant, the National Library has created a purpose-built storage facility and digitised around 240,000 hours of radio and television footage. The material covers almost 100 years of broadcasting and includes many iconic moments from 20th-century Welsh history and culture.
Over 1,500 community volunteers got involved in the process, developing imaginative and creative heritage activities such as storytelling and photography sessions and gaining new skills.
More than 300 interactive events, including digital learning programmes for young people, enabled people across Wales to connect directly with the material. Meanwhile, partnerships with Inclusive Journalism Cymru and Disability Arts Cymru have brought a wider range of perspectives to the archive.
The Wales-wide effort has saved over 180,000 items for future generations, spanning the Second World War, iconic sporting achievements, the Aberfan disaster, the campaign for devolution and the miners’ strike.
It’s also helped record and celebrate an important part of national identity. The footage charts the development of the Welsh language through unique productions of writers such as Dylan Thomas and Saunders Lewis and recordings of early Welsh language broadcasts.
Fourteen 'clip corners' have been set up at county archives, giving people free access to thousands of hours of material within their local areas and, where copyright allows, clips have been made available online.
