Musical treat by 15 young men united in song

LAST Saturday night at the Coronation Hall in Pumpsaint our local community was given an absolute musical treat with a concert put on by the talented Ar Wasgar. Ar Wasgar is a group of 15 young men from the local area who came together in 2010 to celebrate through song the 70th anniversary of Dyffryn Cothi YFC. They were so successful that they stayed together under the leadership of Irene Williams, with Elfyn Davies as the accompanist on the piano. Their singing is always interspersed by some humorous exchanges with the audience which makes the experience even more entertaining.

Ar Wasgar (meaning scattered) is an interesting name for the group. All the young men are originally from the area, and connected to farming, but have moved to other places and into other professions. While they may be ‘scattered’ in these ways, they are united by their friendship and their ability to deliver fantastic vocal performances.

Dyffryn Cothi YFC brought these young men together and created an entity for them to belong to and encourage them to spend time together in the area of their youth. Time and time again we have great examples of where the YFC movement has developed our young people into future leaders within their communities.

The challenge is how we create an environment that will sustain them socially and professionally. The attraction of perceived and actual affluence of urban areas is real. This isn’t just a problem we face in Carmarthenshire but is one that troubles the rest of the country, and should be addressed by all concerned in the development of our new domestic agricultural policy, and other wider Government financial policies.

Having the members of Ar Wasgar still living, working and fully engaging within our own and neighbouring rural communities is a huge benefit, and we should really appreciate what they bring in so many ways to our lives.

We have just seen the end of the autumn rugby season, with Wales for the first time winning all their games. It was great to see Dan Lydiate, a great advocate for NFU Cymru, back playing and contributing to some great wins. It was also inspiring to see our Celtic cousins, the Irish, defeating the seemingly invincible All Blacks in Dublin.