One year on from the Coastal Community Leaders Project in Holyhead

Last year, the Ucheldre Community Centre rang with new ideas, warm laughter and the sea-salt stories of local residents who joined PEBL’s Coastal Community Leaders programme. 

The Ucheldre Community Centre

Coastal communities are the heartbeat of local environmental change; ecosystem management is incomplete without those people with knowledge of an area’s history, understanding of its current struggles, and investment in its future. These two beliefs were what led to, and guided, our Coastal Community Leaders programme.

Over the course of five workshops, we sought to equip participants with the skills needed to set up community initiatives or even launch new businesses, all while learning how to secure project funding and collaborate with inspiring local organisations and creative voices—from Project Seagrass and North Wales Wildlife Trust to the Wild Oyster Project and campaigners from Save Penrhos.

A view from Porth Bach, Holyheads commercial port.

The workshops began with an introduction to human-centred design – physical and social structures that fill a human need in community spaces. Participants were then given the floor, encouraged to share their own histories with coastal ecosystems, and, through creative exercises, identify opportunities for community engagement. 

In latter sessions, we worked on developing practical skills in time management, project planning, and communication, guided by local experts. The final session covered organisational structures and funding, equipping future leaders to launch sustainable community initiatives. All resources delivered as part of the workshop series can be found here on our website.

Twelve months later, we reached back out to participants and asked them what has stuck, what has grown, and what surprised them. Their reflections breathed fresh life into the programme—so here is an updated look, in their words as much as ours.

What they learned – and still use

“I finally saw how my ‘everyday’ skills—planning, listening, grafting fruit trees!—could carry across to any community project.” — Participant

• Transferable skills & the planning cycle

  Participants say they still open the simple planning template we explored in Session 2 when mapping new ideas.

• Listening as leadership

  One film-festival organiser told us that “hearing other perspectives” now shapes how she curates environmental shorts.

• Confidence to try

  Several respondents mentioned that the workshops pushed them past the “I’m not practical” mindset, inspiring them to join woodland-management days or botanical-garden digs.

Enduring connections

Friendships forged over coffee breaks have become working partnerships

• Local collaborations

  Two alumni now swap volunteers between a coastal-clean-up group and a coppicing crew, sharing tools and social-media reach to maximise community engagement.

• Idea Networks

  Funding tips, jargon busting and even contact lists still ping around a WhatsApp group set up on Day 1.

  
  

Out of the workshop room and into the community

Theme

Marine & Woodland

Arts & Storytelling

Education & Training

What's happening now?

Alumni are grafting heritage fruit trees found on an archaeological dig and want to plant them at coastal schools next winter.

The Holyhead Film Festival team is using our stakeholder-mapping exercise to court new environmental sponsors.

One graduate hopes to become a community-skills trainer by 2026, bringing our time-management tools to a larger audience

Challenges faced and surmounted

• Time

  Participants combat busy lives by managing their “project hours” and sharing calendars with family or co-leaders.

• Funding language

  Work in environmental films, for example, stalls when proposal language isn’t grasped by audiences. One participant laments, “I feel like I’m repeating myself.” Alumni now pair up to proof each other’s bids and swap glossaries of funder-friendly terms.

Happy surprises

• A shy attendee realised she loves public speaking after presenting her orchard idea, and now guest-lectures at the local college.

• Several alumni discovered they were more interested in woodland ecosystems than coastal ones, and that cross-habitat energy is fuelling fresh partnerships.

The six-month letters

Hearing from their past selves

Every leader wrote a letter to their future self in the final session. When those envelopes arrived six months later, their messages hit home

“I’d forgotten I wrote it. Opening it gave me the confidence kick I needed that week.”

Seeing early-stage hopes on paper reminded many alumni that progress beats perfection—a mindset still steering their projects today.

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Join the current

Do you see yourself in these stores? Follow our upcoming projects, download workshop resources, or ask about the next Coastal Community Leaders programme on our website.

“It clarified my need to work—and socialise—in my community.” — Participant

We can’t wait to see where the tide takes these leaders next.