The project

Before the HYYM Project, I’d had the pleasure of meeting many of Kinmel Bay, Rhyl and Prestatyn’s community members through previous events in my role as Volunteer and Community Engagement Manager for North Wales. Through those conversations, I began to understand the breadth of environmental, social and economic challenges impacting the local area.

Environmentally, there’s a lot going on in this section of the North Wales coastline. We have the River Clwyd catchment, which enters the sea via Rhyl Harbour. There are an array of offshore renewable energy wind farms, visible from the shore. Locally, we have an ecological treasure in Horton’s Nose Nature Reserve. At a larger scale, we have Liverpool Bay Special Protection Area, a marine protected area of international importance, that stretches across our entire project area. Historically, this coastline would have had a thriving sand dune ecosystem. Today, much of the sand dunes have disappeared, now replaced by hard engineered flood defences. We’re experiencing rapid change across this coastline, so ensuring we protect and celebrate our special marine environment is really important.

Socially and economically, communities are facing a variety of different challenges. According to the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation, pockets of Prestatyn, Rhyl, Kinmel Bay and Towyn fall within the top 10% of most deprived communities in Wales (you can find out more about the Index here). I wanted to co-design and co-develop a project with local people that would help tackle, some of the challenges experienced locally – hence the focus on improving community health and well-being in our work.

Ocean literacy is a valuable mechanism in supporting people to connect with their local environment. By getting involved in our Ocean Connection Programme, local people will be inspired to take care of their coast and sea and reap the health and well-being benefits of spending time in nature.

To me, success would be communities being more knowledgeable on the ocean, skilled in taking positive action and both confident and motivated to engage with decision-making processes that impact their local area and marine environment. If we can support people to get out there and experience their local coast and sea and build a lasting relationship with it, I hope in turn that will result in better protection of the marine environment and improved individual health and well-being, too.