STARS TO PROMOTE WALES IN LONDON
MORE than 80 events are set to take place in London next year to promote Wales. The third annual Wales Week in London will promote Welsh culture, business, sport, tourism, food and drink, as well as celebrate St David’s Day.
Leading Welsh figures, including Manic Street Preachers frontman James Dean Bradfield, comedian Rhod Gilbert, the Wales national football Manager and former Manchester United player Ryan Giggs, and former Wales and British & Irish Lions rugby captain Sam Warburton will all be taking part.
There will also be performances from the Welsh National Opera, Only Boys Aloud and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.
Representatives from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and the Institute of Directors (IoD) will take part in a Question Time style debate, while global businesses PwC and UBS, and other organisations such as BBC Wales, S4C, BAFTA Cymru, London Welsh Rugby Club, and both Welsh and UK governments will also be hosting a wide range of events at venues including 10 Downing Street, the Palace of Westminster and Borough Market.
Wales Week in London was founded in their “spare time” by Welsh business people Dan Langford, group marketing director at leading specialist recruitment firm Acorn, and Mike Jordan, owner and director of leading branding agency Bluegg.
Now other cities such as New York New Mexico, Ottawa, Paris and Newcastle might be running similar events.
Chair of Wales Week, Dan Langford, said: “We have been in touch with over 120 Welsh societies from around the world and the feedback we’ve received in only a couple of days has been tremendous.
“Together with the Paris Welsh Society we had already started planning the inaugural Wales Week à Paris for next March, and since we sent our Wales Week Worldwide pack around the world we’ve been approached to develop branding for Wales Weeks in a number of cities and regions across the US, in Canada and elsewhere in the UK.
“Wales Week is a collaborative approach – it’s the joint efforts of both governments, amazing sponsors and a huge range of proactive individuals and organisations all working together to promote a modern Wales in London and to the rest of the world.”
Ken Skates AM, the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Economy & Transport, said: “Ours is a vibrant country with so much to offer – historically, culturally and of course through our diverse range of businesses. Wales Week in London is a co-ordinated promotion of the many things we have to shout about, and showcases a series of activities that celebrate and promote existing Welsh communities in London, providing an exciting opportunity to raise our profile and create a real buzz.”
Wales Week in London has chosen Velindre as its designated charity for 2019 and 2020, with a number of fundraising events being held to raise money to support the work of the Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff.
As well as a lunch with Sam Warburton, Velindre activities also include a Question of Sport style event being held at London Welsh Rugby Club, with Wales and England teams captained by international rugby props Adam Jones for Wales and Joe Marler for England.
The programme of events and details on how to get involved can be found at www.walesweek.london