Skomer Island seabirds Wales John Archer-Thompson

March 2025

Join us for one last update to hear what the HYYM team got up to in the final month of the project, from the celebration event in Rhyl, the launch of an ocean literacy guide, and the premier of our documentary short film.

March was an exciting, but sad month as the HYYM project has come to a close. Before going on to talk about what we did, we would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has been involved in the project. The project has been a success thanks to the local communities of Prestatyn, Rhyl, Kinmel Bay and Towyn, The One Ocean Forum (our local steering group), and our wonderful network of organisations across Wales that we have partnered with to collaborate on event delivery and knowledge sharing.

Digital guide to ocean literacy

A culmination of months of co-design work with the One Ocean Forum and the Welsh Ocean Literacy Coalition resulted in the final version of the new digital guide to ocean literacy which can be downloaded in English and in Welsh. The Sea and Me/Y Môr a Fi is a bilingual digital guide to ocean literacy which was co-designed to be a helpful resource for anyone who wishes to grow their own connection with the sea and coast, no matter where they are on their journey.

Credit: Hiraeth Y Yn Môr

The guide takes readers through the seven ocean literacy principles with things to learn, fun facts, ideas for activities, and time to reflect. We hope that after exploring this guide people will feel a deeper connection to the ocean, be inspired to learn more and motivated to take action. Through this, we hope that the guide will be a useful tool to support the implementation of the Welsh Ocean Literacy Strategy, Y Môr a Ni.

Credit: Hiraeth Y Yn Môr

One Ocean Symposium

To round off the project, we held the One Ocean Symposium – a two part event focused on sharing learning from the HYYM project, bringing together marine stakeholders, and celebrating the achievements of the HYYM project and local community members. We held a day-time event which included speakers and Q&A panels on three main topics: Ocean literacy today; Social justice in our environment; and Connecting to our coast. The day was rounded off with a workshop asking delegates to firstly reflect on what they had learned from the day and what they would take forward into their work, and secondly to share ideas on how we could continue to progress ocean literacy across Wales and the wider UK.

Credit: Mark McNulty
Credit: Mark McNulty
Credit: Mark McNulty

The evening element of the event was all about celebrating the HYYM project and the wonderful volunteers that have made it possible. We premiered the HYYM documentary to showcase the stories of volunteers, held the One Ocean Forum certificate ceremony, and presented the HYYM Volunteer Awards. The evening was topped off by an amazing performance from the Denbigh Male Voice Choir; demonstrating that our connection with the sea can be heightened through arts, music and culture and that these sectors should not be forgotten in conversations about protecting the marine environment.

Credit: Mark McNulty
Credit: Mark McNulty
Credit: Mark McNulty

HYYM Documentary

The HYYM team worked with Yoke Creative who directed and produced the HYYM documentary which was premiered in March at the One Ocean Symposium. It was an honour working with Yoke Creative on the development of this film, to ensure that the voices of community members were given a platform to talk about their experiences of being part of the HYYM project. Filming took place across January and February, requiring a flexible approach and the need to get outside for footage as soon as it stopped raining! Please do watch the video and let us know what you think in the comments.

Credit: Ciara Taylor