The local community turned out in force to preview a short film that has been made to promote the Mid Wales town of Rhayader as The Outdoors Capital of Wales, writes Duncan Foulkes.

Rhayader 2000, the organisation that works in partnership with the town council to promote tourism, organised the event at The Lost Arc to show councillors, local organisations and businesses the fruits of its work over the past year.

Capturing a range of outdoor activities and events that the town and nearby Elan Valley has to offer, the film, together with two shorter social media clips, have been made for Rhayader 2000 by Tremio Films. 

Supplementary photography for the website was captured by Mogwai Media. The film’s official launch date has yet to be decided.

Kerena Pugh, from Rhayader 2000, dedicated the film to late founding member Liz Lloyd and thanked everyone who had contributed, saying it had been a huge community effort.

“It’s lovely to bring everyone together to preview the film,” she added. “It has been a busy four years getting to this point and it just shows what we can achieve when we all work together. I hope we can all continue to work together to help Rhayader to grow.”

Rhayader’s Mayor Councillor Rhys Thomas said: “This is another step on the exciting journey we have been on for a number of years to make Rhayader a destination in its own right.”

He congratulated Rhayader 2000 for working with the town council to create a vision for tourism in the town and surrounding area. He also thanked MWT Cymru (Mid Wales Tourism) for helping to promote Rhayader.

Sam Cook from Tremio Films revealed that he had been inundated with volunteers during the making of the film, which he described as being “special”.

MWT Cymru chief executive Val Hawkins congratulated Rhayader 2000 on the production of the film which, she said, not only promoted the town as the Outdoor Capital of Wales but also captured the strong community spirit.

Rhayader 2000 is a member of MWT Cymru, an independent membership organisation representing around 600 tourism and hospitality businesses across Powys, Ceredigion and Southern Snowdonia.