Eight-Year-Old Evan Isaac Wins The Whale Trail Competition!

The West Wales Chronicle met with eight-year-old Evan Isaac at Llanelli Public Library at the end of last week. Evan who was attends Dafen County Primary School was full of smiles with his parents as winner of Ymlaen Llanelli’s whale trail treasure hunt competition.

For near a fortnight at the end of August, children and adults were encouraged to take part in a competition which took them to twelve separate local businesses around the town centre. The competition was part of this year’s sea-themed Llanelli town centre yarn bombing.

Crafty Seniors, a local knitting group were responsible for the woolen creations which brightened up the town for the two week duration. The group is based out of Clos Llanfihangel in Dafen. They’ve spent months knitting and crafting colourful bunting, bollard covers and various other fish-themed items to dress up the town. The items featured inside numerous businesses and outdoors.

The group worked in conjunction with the Sospan Shedders which are a local men’s shed group who are based in the town. The Shedders constructed the wooden whales which the Crafty Seniors then covered with knitted pompoms. The whales (which could be seen in shop windows) have caused quite a stir around the town and many of them have been purchased by members of the general public.

Llanelli Library gave out the entry forms for the competition and those taking part in the trail were asked to follow clues to each location and find the twelve whales – not an easy task! All children who returned a completed entry received a bag of sweets.

Evan’s name was drawn as the overall winner by BID manager Mandy Jenkins. Evan, who took part in the competition with a little help from his dad, worked hard to find the whales which were placed in: John Francis, John Street Gallery, Marzano’s, The Travel House, Snack Shack, Panthywel Farm Llanelli Market Garden, Taffy’s, Yours Clothing, Peacocks, Nando’s, Times Past and Present and Vaughan’s Radio.

The prize for the competition was a ‘Back To School’ hamper worth £20, kindly donated by Wilko. Ymlaen Llanelli Chair Lesley Richards presented Evan with his prize and the young lad was beaming as he had his photograph captured.

Evan Isaac told The West Wales Chronicle:
“I’m in year 4 of Dafen County Primary School and my teacher is Miss Singleton. My favourite subject is science and I also like English. I went to the Zoo Lab event with my dad and at the end of it there was the Whale Trail around town, daddy helped me lots. I’ve been in the library lots over the school holidays and did the reading challenge which I enjoyed. I had a certificate and medal and other things. I do the reading challenge every year and use the library a lot.”

Mandy Jenkins (Manager at Ymlaen Llanelli’s The BID Project) added:
“The yarn bombing was for the second year running this year. Next year according to Discovery Wales, it’s the ‘Year Of Discovery’. I’ve been chatting with the yarn bombers and the sea theme worked exceptionally well this year, it was specific, we will do it again. Last year the yarn bombing was up for nearly three weeks, we decided to put it up for a shorter time this year.

“The twelve businesses in The Whale Trail were very supportive. A big thank you to them, Llanelli Public Library, Wilko’s and everyone else who supported this project. A lot of the businesses still have the knitted creations up as they are colourful and a strong talking point. A lot of the items have been sold so that money will go straight back to The Crafty Seniors for their craft products. I still have some items for sale in the office if anyone is interested. Feel free to get in contact.

“October 30th is the next event which is a Harry Potter themed day to be held in Stepney Square. The signature Blue Ford Anglia from the film will be making an appearance. We have a Harry Potter lookalike, Rubeus Hagrid and Professor McGonagall on the day.

“We have the Food Festival which is on October 19th and 20th. On the evening of the 19th of October we’ve got a food trail around town, a lot of the local pubs and restaurants are putting on taster dishes. There is a loyalty card involved which will be stamped to say individuals completed the trail. There will be a prize involved in this. There are stalls all through Stepney Street and Vaughan Street on the Saturday (October 20th) with artists and street food, it’s so exciting.

“There will be a show kitchen with demonstrations held at the St Elli Shopping Centre with entertainment also. There are bread making workshops, pottery making for the children, possibly pumpkin carving, we haven’t decided on that yet, but it’s going to be a wonderful event for varied age groups. Also there will be music.

“The Reindeer Parade is on in town on Saturday the 1st of December and is brought to you by Ymlaen Llanelli and Llanelli Town Council. That’s something to look forward to also. There are plenty of dates for the diary.”

Lesley Richards (Chair at Ymlaen Llanelli) said:
“I was delighted to give Evan his prize, his perseverance paid off in the end. Thanks to the library for handing out the forms and to all the businesses that took part in the trail this year. It’s a great way to showcase what we have in the town. “

For more information on Ymlaen Llanelli and how you can get involved, please contact BID Manager Mandy Jenkins on 07803 503972 or mandy.jenkins@themeans.co.uk