We recognise that this past year has been hard for many, so with this in mind, we’d like to promote some other incredible initiatives working to create stronger, cleaner, and more sustainable communities. Each month we will be promoting a location that is home to one of our repair cafés, celebrating the many other inspirational, forward thinking organisations that strive to make Wales, and the world, a better place.
This month we are showcasing St. Davids, known also as ‘Ty Ddewi’, or David’s house. Located at the tip of the south western peninsula of Wales, this beautiful coastal area is the smallest city in Wales and is the birthplace of Saint David – the patron saint of Wales. Establishing a monastery and church in St. Davids in the 6th Century, Saint David initiated a way of life that placed much importance on cultivating the land and crafting, not only to support themselves, but also to provide for anyone else that may find themselves in need. This wonderful culture is one that lives on in the people of St. Davids today, where a passion for sustainability, environmental conservation and community cohesion survives, as the soul of Saint David’s work continues to shape this seaside city.
Câr-Y-Môr
Câr-Y-Môr is the trading name for ‘For the Love of the Sea Limited’, a community benefit society established to address what they describe as two fundamental issues of today – climate change, and the wellbeing of people. Based in St. Davids, this incredible initiative has instigated 3D ocean farming off the Welsh coast, educating their volunteers and the wider community on the benefits of this practice, whilst improving the wellbeing of people, both through the volunteering opportunities they provide, and more generally, through their care for the coastal environment. Câr-Y-Môr uses a polyculture vertical farming system to grow a range of seaweeds and shellfish, a system requiring no fresh water, fertilizer or feed, and one that allows for carbon sequestration whilst regenerating and rejuvenating marine ecosystems. The crops produced from their 3D ocean farms can be consumed as food, animal feed, transformed into fertiliser and energy, or used as ingredients for natural cosmetic products, offering huge potential for harvesting the natural land whilst leaving behind a minimal carbon footprint. Only registered in 2019, Câr-Y-Môr have set their sights on inspiring others to create their own 3D ocean farms, describing the initiative as potentially open source, and explaining that anyone with consent to farm a few acres of sea, a boat, and £25,000 could be up and running within one year. With their own seaweed foodstuffs and seaweed fertilizer already launched and for sale, it is hard not to be inspired by this superbly sustainable seafaring society!
To find out more about how you can support, or get involved with Câr-Y-Môr, you can visit their website here, or check out their Facebook page here.
Dr. Beynon’s Bug Farm
An academic entomologist, ecologist, farmer, and founder of the Bug Farm, Dr Sarah Beynon studied for her doctorate at Oxford University, where she explored the impacts of non-target invertebrates and the ecosystem services they deliver. Alongside her studies, Dr Beynon established an environmental consultancy business, working with farmers and conservation organisations to offer advice on habit management for invertebrates, and during her doctorate research travelled to Zambia, Bolivia, Brazil, America and Honduras. Having embarked upon these wonderful adventures, Dr Beynon returned to St. Davids and decided to keep the adventure going, developing her passion for education and recognising the need to share her research, she established Dr. Beynon’s Bug Farm where she now works as a scientist and ecological consultant, using her expertise to inform children, farmers, policy-makers, and the general public about the importance of insects and their positive impact on the environment. Despite the name, Dr. Beynon’s Bug Farm does not actually farm bugs, but they do have an impressive insect farming display in the site’s museum. Their 85 hectares of land across St. Davids peninsular is home to their Tyddewi Herd of Welsh Black cattle, arable crops, and acres of wildlife habitat such as wildflower meadows and marshy grassland and heath. Putting their (not so) little piece of paradise to good work, the Bug Farm is using their land to research ways in which farming to feed a growing population can be done without harming wildlife in the process. Working with universities, students and professionals from all over the globe, Dr. Beynon’s Bug Farm is a trailblazing presence in St. Davids, producing world-class, cutting-edge research across the fields of farmland biodiversity, ecosystem services provided by wildlife, and on the future of sustainable food production.
To find out more about Dr. Beynon’s Bug Farm, you can visit their website here.
Erw Dewi / Dewi’s Acre – St. Davids Community Garden
Established in February 2020, Eco Dewi is a group that works in collaboration with St. Davids Cathedral to tackle the climate emergency and the biodiversity crisis whilst improving community wellbeing in the St. Davids Peninsula. The volunteers involved with Eco Dewi are working incredibly hard to ensure these objectives are being met, engaging with numerous projects including beach cleans, sustainable tourism, community orchards and are now looking into the possibilities of harnessing renewable energy. One of their initiatives is Dewi’s Acre, or Erw Dew in Welsh, a community garden that has been developed in the heart of St. Davids, behind the cathedral. Launched in November 2020, the project was assisted initially with funding from Keep Wales Tidy, and the Welsh Government Scheme, Local Places for Nature. From humble beginnings, the team of volunteers working on this project have transformed the garden already existing behind the cathedral, which had become so overgrown with brambles, it was impossible to set foot upon the land. In just one year, the team had cleared the brambles to reveal a huge space, and had started to install raised beds in which to grow flowers and fruit and veg for the community. Fast forward to today, and the transformation is just incredible. Incorporating raised beds filled with succulent veg, mini wildflower meadows, fruit trees and their latest project – a wildlife pond project, the garden has become a sanctuary for everyone, providing a play and explore area for parents with young children, a stunning green space for visitors to come and rest and reflect, whilst offering the most fantastic natural habitat for local wildlife. Whilst benefiting each and every member of St. Davids, this fantastic project also stands as a magnificent example of the amazing things community work can achieve. Whilst the garden has generously been offered some annual financial support from the cathedral, it does still depend on grants and small donations from visitors and community members, and is always on the look out for more volunteers, regularly advertising volunteer events on their Facebook page. What a fabulous opportunity to get out in green spaces and give up some time for your community!
To find out more about the amazing work Eco Dewi is doing in St. Davids Peninsula you can visit their website here, or for more information on Erw Dewi / Dewi’s Acre – St. Davids Community Garden and how you can support them, you can check out their Facebook page here.
Peninsula Producers Food Hub
Peninsula Producers Food Hub is an online farmers market that was established just after the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based in St. Davids, this initiative supports local food producers by providing an online platform, where the local community can order a variety of locally produced foodstuffs, and then collect their order from St. Davids Rugby Club on the allotted day. Facilitating a link between local food producers and the local community, Peninsula Producers Food Hub offer all the convenience of an online shop, yet strive to create a more sustainable food system on the peninsula. The online shop opens for orders every Saturday afternoon, where customers can browse an array of delicious local produce including, fruit and veg boxes, meat produce, dairy produce, homemade breads and cakes, or even pick up a bottle of St. Davids Gin! The shop then closes the following Thursday and all orders are sent to the local producers, who spend Friday harvesting, baking or picking your order, and bring it along to St. Davids Rugby Club between 10.00am and 12.00pm on Saturday for collection. This wonderful initiative is always on the look out for new producers to invite to their platform, offering their customers the best possible variety, but also offering the opportunity for their producers to access a market that works collectively, rather than competitively, to create a food system that is fair and robust.
To find out more about Peninsula Producers Food Hub, and how you can get involved, you can visit their Facebook page here.
