FREE summer activities for 11 to 17-year-olds will begin next week as the award-winning Under the Bridge project returns to Milford Waterfront.

The initiative, delivered by the Port of Milford Haven in partnership with Milford Youth Matters, will offer activities and entertainment throughout the school holidays.

The first session will take place on Tuesday, July 21, from 6pm to 8pm, with events continuing every Tuesday and Friday evening until Friday, August 28.

Young people will be able to take part in a varied programme including inflatables, water safety sessions and workshops delivered by St John Ambulance and the VC Gallery.

Free refreshments will also be available at every session.

More than 250 young people took part in Under the Bridge last year, demonstrating the continuing demand for free and accessible activities during the summer holidays.

Emily Jones, Engagement Executive at the Port of Milford Haven, said the project had become one of the organisation’s most successful community initiatives.

She said: “Under the Bridge remains one of our most successful and well-established community projects, engaging hundreds of young people every summer.

“Working alongside the fantastic team at Milford Youth Matters, we are able to provide a safe and welcoming environment where young people can enjoy a wide range of activities, make new connections and develop valuable skills.

“The programme also plays an important role in promoting positive engagement and helping to reduce anti-social behaviour in the area.

“We are delighted to see it return for another year and look forward to welcoming participants throughout the summer.”

Dayle Gibby, Milford Youth Matters Co-ordinator, said the programme had become an important part of the summer for many young people in the area.

He said: “We are extremely grateful to the Port of Milford Haven for its continued support of the Under the Bridge summer project.

“The programme provides free and accessible activities in a safe and welcoming environment.

“Through our partnership with the Port, we are able to engage with hundreds of young people each year, helping them to build confidence, form positive relationships and make the most of their summer holidays.

“We are proud to work alongside an organisation that shares our commitment to supporting the wellbeing and development of young people across our community.”

Under the Bridge forms part of the Port of Milford Haven’s wider educational engagement programme.

The programme is guided by three themes: creating a safe, inclusive and enjoyable Waterway, building a skilled and confident community, and supporting a sustainable and resilient environment.

Solva Edge Festival will return from Friday, July 24 to Sunday, July 26, bringing three days of live music, literature, crafts and community activities to the Pembrokeshire coast.

Held at Solva Football Club’s Maes y Môr ground, the volunteer-run festival will feature performances across two stages, alongside poetry readings, storytelling, wellbeing sessions, creative workshops and outdoor activities.

The weekend will open on Friday with a performance by Gelliswick Community Choir, setting the tone for a festival rooted in Pembrokeshire talent and community spirit.

Main stage acts

This year’s main-stage headliners are The Stickmen Project on Friday, Electric Kicks on Saturday and UK Foo Fighters, who will close the festival on Sunday.

They will be joined by local favourites Twpsyn and Cardinal Sin, while Sunday’s Legends Slot will feature ABBA tribute act Bjorn to Be.

Stowaway, a young band from Ysgol Bro Gwaun and winners of the Pembrokeshire Battle of the Bands, will also make their Solva Edge debut.

Acoustic performances

The Shipwreck Stage will host a weekend of acoustic and intimate performances, including sets from Robyn Benge and Bryony Sier, alongside a line-up of emerging artists.

Literature at the Edge

The festival’s literature programme will include poet Ifor Thomas, reading from his new collection, The Undertaker’s Invoice.

Matthew Raggett will discuss his latest book, Crab Salad with Books and Bards, while Simon Alderwick will share work from his collections published by Broken Sleep Books, much of it inspired by the local landscape.

Storyteller John Roach will explore the origins of the Welsh Red Dragon through a mixture of history, writing and hands-on craft activities.

Pilates and dance sessions led by Viktoriia will also take place during the weekend.

Crafts and outdoor activities

Visitors will be able to take part in a range of creative workshops, including flower crown making with The Floral Goat, pottery design with Mary George and mosaics and printing with Penny Dafforn.

Outdoor activities will include coastal foraging with Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority Get Outdoors co-ordinator Ben Macare, a Smugglers and Pirates session with long-standing park volunteer Gordon Lewis and a Solva beach clean organised by EcoDewi.

Food, drink and family activities

The Green Scar Bar will return, serving local ciders, craft beers and traditional favourites.

Food stalls, makers, artists and family activities will operate throughout the weekend.

Solva Edge Festival is organised entirely by volunteers from the village, with surplus funds used to support youth and community organisations across the area.

Previous beneficiaries have included Solva AFC, St Davids Guides, Strength Academy Wales, Simpson Cross Activities Group and Roch’s Victoria Hall Association.

The festival will be held at Solva Football Club, Maes y Môr, Solva, SA62 6XW, with parking available.

Tickets can be purchased online or at the gate.

Further information is available at www.edgefestival.co.uk.

Working group will begin meeting next year, but any shadow authority would initially have no formal regulatory powers

THE WELSH GOVERNMENT has committed £45,000 to begin developing a new broadcasting and communications body for Wales, despite broadcasting regulation remaining under the control of the UK Government.

Culture and Sport Minister Heledd Fychan has announced plans to establish a working group as the first step towards creating a Shadow Broadcasting and Communications Authority for Wales.

The proposed organisation would examine the state of broadcasting, journalism and communications in Wales, advise ministers and press the case for powers currently exercised at a UK level to be transferred to the Senedd.

However, it would not initially have the legal powers of a regulator. Television, radio and communications regulation remain reserved to Westminster, with Ofcom continuing to license and oversee broadcasters throughout Wales.

The announcement has triggered criticism from the Welsh Conservatives, who say ministers are spending public money on a body with no immediate authority while failing to explain its eventual cost.

Two-year process

The Welsh Government will initially create a Shadow Broadcasting and Communications Authority Working Group.

Its members will advise ministers on the proposed authority’s structure, legal status, remit, research programme and engagement with broadcasters, publishers and the public.

A recruitment campaign is expected to begin in September, with appointments completed by the end of 2026.

The group is then expected to hold its first meeting in early 2027.

Detailed recommendations about establishing the authority are not expected until early 2028, with Ms Fychan planning to make a further formal statement in spring 2028.

The £45,000 allocated from the Creative Wales budget will fund the working group’s activities during the current financial year.

It is not yet known how much the working group will cost in later years or what annual budget would be required if the shadow authority is eventually established.

Ms Fychan said the phased timetable would allow the government to gather evidence and ensure that any new organisation addressed genuine gaps in the present broadcasting system.

She said: “These plans have not been developed in isolation. They are based on evidence that a UK-wide framework for broadcasting does not cater to the realities of how a devolved UK operates.”

The minister added that organisations including the Institute of Welsh Affairs and the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales had called for Wales to have a stronger voice on broadcasting and communications.

What would the authority do?

The idea was first examined by an expert panel established in 2022 under the former Welsh Government’s co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru.

Its report, published in August 2023, concluded that Wales needed an independent body to increase scrutiny and visibility of broadcasting and communications at a Welsh level.

The panel recommended that the organisation’s remit should include journalism as well as broadcasting, and that it should be publicly funded but independent of government.

Its possible responsibilities could include gathering Wales-specific audience and industry data, examining the health of Welsh journalism, supporting media plurality and promoting the Welsh language across traditional and digital platforms.

It could also develop proposals for a future Welsh regulatory framework if broadcasting and communications powers were eventually devolved.

The new body would not, however, replace Ofcom under the current constitutional arrangements.

Ofcom already has a team based in Cardiff and an Advisory Committee for Wales, which feeds Welsh interests and concerns into the UK regulator’s work.

During a previous Senedd inquiry, S4C warned that establishing a shadow authority would not itself change broadcasting regulation unless powers were first transferred from Westminster.

Local media funding dispute

Ms Fychan said the recently announced UK Government Local News Fund demonstrated why Wales needed a stronger voice.

The fund will distribute up to £6 million during 2026-27, with up to a further £6 million potentially available the following year.

Three-quarters of the first-year funding is reserved for qualifying local news organisations in England and Wales, with individual publishers and broadcasters able to bid for grants of up to £125,000.

Applications will be considered through a UK Government process, with final decisions made by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport following advice from an industry steering board.

Ms Fychan described the scheme as an example of plans being made “for and about us” without the Welsh Government having a role in shaping or implementing them.

She said: “This work will be guided by a commitment to ensuring our plans add value, and result in positive change and better outcomes for Wales.

“I am certain that any resource channelled towards a Shadow Broadcasting and Communications Authority for Wales will pay dividends.”

She described the working group as the first step in pressing for broadcasting powers to be devolved to Wales.

Conservatives question value

Welsh Conservative culture spokesman Paul Davies opposed the proposals, describing them as a distraction from health, education and economic problems.

He said: “The Welsh Government is wasting time and taxpayers’ money on setting up a shadow authority in an area that isn’t even devolved, while the issues people actually care about are being neglected.

“The Welsh Government has already committed £45,000 to this project, but this is just the start. Ministers have failed to explain what the total cost will be, how much more public money will be spent or what practical difference this body will make.”

Mr Davies said the Welsh Conservatives did not support devolving responsibility for broadcasting.

“Rather than campaigning for more constitutional change, the Welsh Government should concentrate on delivering on the responsibilities it already has,” he added.

The Welsh Government said the working group’s terms of reference and the names and biographies of its members would be published following the recruitment process.