The wide range of jobs on offer with a career in tourism, outdoor adventure and hospitality was highlighted in a series of events for Gwynedd teenagers.

today and completed team building and initiative tests. Ceri Evans,14, right, Mirain Rhys, 13and Deio Williams, 13 all from Bala fill a bucket full of holes with water." src="http://dev.ceidiog.com/pr/files/2014/03/0403GLANLLYN-01-ceidiog.jpg" width="400" height="267" />

The county has seen a massive growth in numbers employed in tourism, with 15% of the population working in the industry. Across North Wales tourism brings in £1.8bn of income and supports more than 37,000 jobs.

Business leaders also predict a further 3,000 jobs in the coming years as the region remains a must-visit destination for both UK and overseas visitors with growth markets including cruising, outdoor activities, heritage  and food tourism.

High school pupils aged 13 to 15 from across Gwynedd took part in sessions designed to show the benefits of working in tourism, outdoor adventure and hospitality.

today and completed team building and initiative tests. Awen Williams, 14 from Blaenau Ffestiniog with instructor Elen Evans at the blindfold event" src="http://dev.ceidiog.com/pr/files/2014/03/0403GLANLLYN-06-ceidiog.jpg" width="400" height="267" />

In addition they met hoteliers, tourist attraction, hospitality and outdoor pursuit bosses and others involved in hospitality, with carousel question and answer sessions.

The One Big Adventure Career Days at Coed y Brenin, Dolgellau, and Glan-llyn, Bala, are being funded by Gwynedd Council, together with Tourism Partnership Mid Wales, and are focussing on developing talent in the area.

today and completed team building and initiative tests. Aled Ellis, 13 from Blaenau Ffestiniog ponders one of the tasks with some help from Andrew Thomas, 14 from Porthmadog" src="http://dev.ceidiog.com/pr/files/2014/03/0403GLANLLYN-10-ceidiog.jpg" width="400" height="267" />

The Snowdonia Centre of Excellence development was funded via the Sustainable Tourism Project led by Visit Wales, the tourism department within Welsh Government and supported through the European Regional Development Fund. The Outdoor Tourism project is part funded by the Ireland-Wales Interreg IVA Programme 2007-2013.

Snowdonia Centres of Excellence coordinator Bethan Smith, who organised the events, said: “We hope to show the pupils that they can stay and work in the area through the medium of Welsh and have a successful career in the tourism industry - as instructors for outdoor pursuits on land or water, in marketing, project and business management, catering, finance or IT.

“The investment by the Centre of Excellence project has helped to create 26 jobs, with this scheme we’re now looking long-term to ensure that we can continue to attract the right workforce in years to come.

“The tourism industry has benefited substantially recently through private and public sources and this investment offers a platform for the people of Gwynedd to develop businesses in the tourism sector.”

Councillor John Wynn Jones, Gwynedd Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for the economy and community  said: “The sessions will give pupils from Year 9 and 10 the chance to learn more about careers associated with tourism, outdoor adventure and hospitality.

“Our main aim is to show these students what amazing career opportunities are on their own doorstep. In addition, we know that for our economy to continue to flourish and our local communities to thrive, we must ensure that school leavers seriously consider tourism, hospitality and outdoor adventure as career options and so develop the skills required to meet the high standards required by visitors.”

The schools taking part included:

• Ysgol Ardudwy, Harlech
• Ysgol y Berwyn, Bala
• Ysgol y  Moelwyn, Blaenau Ffestiniog
• Ysgol Tywyn, Tywyn
• Ysgol y Gader, Dolgellau
• Ysgol Eifionydd, Porthmadog and
• Ysgol Bro Ddyfi, Machynlleth.

The event included a morning of activities outdoors on site where students will be working with pupils from other schools to complete tasks that involve key skills such as communication, team building and problem solving.

Students were part of a carousel session where they will have a chance to speak to local individuals and businesses associated with the sector. As well as this there will be representatives from the local college available to answer any questions that the pupils may have.

Among the problem solving activities the youngsters took part in was filling a bucket, pierced with holes, with water from Llyn Tegid, so a plastic duck inside could float. Activity leader Tom Lloyd allowed his team, made up of pupils from all three schools, to use cups, plus a plastic box to collect the lake water.

Andrew Thomas and Abbie Hughes, both from Ysgol Eifionydd  both said that they were still trying to choose their careers. "But this has been really useful," said Abbie.

Deio Williams from Ysgol y Berwyn, a keen rugby and football fan, said: "I am about to choose my GCSE options and this has really helped me to think about the subjects.  I'd like to work in outdoor activities, so I will probably be choosing PE."

Mirian Rhys, also from Ysgol y Berwyn, said: "I came along because I would like to work somewhere like Glanllyn, doing outdoor activities. I'd prefer to stay somewhere local, rather than go away to work."

Erin Jones and Cerys Jackson, both from Ysgol Moelwyn, would love to turn their hobbies - athletics, kayaking, and even water polo - into a career.  "I hadn't realised that there were so many things you could do in tourism," said Erin

Ysgol Eifionydd careers advisor Roger Vaughan said: "This event is really opening the children's eyes to the possibilities of working in the local area.  They don't always realise what's on offer on their doorstep - they don't have to go away to work. They are at the stage of choosing their GCSE options and so this is the perfect time for them to consider working in tourism."

Ysgol y Berwyn teaching assistant David Edwards, who began working at the school after jobs in factories, said: "I was wish something like this had been available when I was thinking about to do as a career. I don't think people always realise what's available, or what it means to work in the tourism sector, so this has been really useful."

The trip to Glanllyn brought back memories for Ysgol y Moelwyn teaching assistant  Meilir Ellis, who visited the centre as a school pupil.  "This is a great opportunity for the teenagers to make contacts in the industry, especially as they will be thinking about their work experience placements for next year," said the former Coleg Menai student.  "Tourism is very important to areas such as Meirionydd and this will help the students think about what they do next."

Stone from an historic Holyhead quarry is to be used to make a touching memorial to commemorate the close relationship between the people of the town and the Dutch sailors who served in the port during the Second World War.

A number of blocks of the local green mica schist from the long disused Jersey Quarry on Holyhead Mountain are to be used for the Memorial which will be erected on Newry Beach, Holyhead, later this spring.

tone being extracted from a quarry in Holyhead for Dutch Mariners? Memorial. From left," src="http://dev.ceidiog.com/pr/files/2014/03/0302ROCK89-ceidiog.jpg" width="400" height="267" />

The stone has been gifted to the project by Isle of Anglesey County Council through its Countryside Service working with the RSPB, who lease the quarry site, and it will form the major part of the memorial which will have a bronze emblem of the Royal Dutch Navy set in a cast concrete circle with benches made from local oak or salvaged teak.

It has been designed by restoration architects Purcell, who have worked on Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral and Liverpool’s St George’s Hall as well as on the Holyhead Cenotaph.

The memorial is being built by Grosvenor Construction, of Kinmel Bay, who themselves specialise in restoring historic buildings, among them such iconic locations as Harlech and Conwy Castles, Liverpool Town Hall, Chester Walls and the Parys Mountain Windmill.

This latest work will celebrate the enduring relationship between the people of Holyhead and the Netherlands through the sailors and ships of the Dutch Navy who fled Holland one jump ahead of the German army when its Blitzkrieg rolled west in 1940.

One cruiser, the Jacob Van Heemskerk, normally crewed by 400 men, sailed with just 23 aboard as it made its escape across the North Sea and the ship and many others ended up in Holyhead where they played a vital role in the pivotal Battle of the Atlantic.

Many of the ships and men were based in Holyhead where they carried out minesweeping duties to keep the approaches clear for Britain’s lifeline of convoys on their way into Liverpool.

The Dutch were warmly welcomed and many of them married locally and settled in the town, among them Mathieu Van Weert whose son, Graham, is delighted that the link is to be commemorated.

Graham, a volunteer at Holyhead’s award-winning Maritime Museum, was at the Jersey Quarry with some of his colleagues to see the stone chosen and he said: “It’s absolutely brilliant. I can’t believe it’s actually happening.

“It’s wonderful for the people who came to Holyhead and to mark the connection between the people of Anglesey and the Dutch nation.

“It was very important to them that they were made to feel at home here and the hospitality is typical of the people of Holyhead which became their home town for the Dutch sailors.”

Graham’s father was one of 116 Dutch sailors to marry local girls. He met Megan Parry, from Holyhead, at a dance in the town and Graham said: “My mother saw him through a shop window and that was just one of so many romances.

“This area around the quarry was quite a romantic spot where couple used to walk. It’s a lovely place with the countryside and the sea and so it’s good that the stone comes from here as well.”

The quarry itself has played its part in Holyhead’s seafaring traditions – it contributed seven million tons of stone for the harbour breakwater, the longest in the UK and once the longest in Europe, and stone and brick from the associated brickworks went to build much of the town.

The link with the Netherlands – Mathieu came from Maastricht where Graham still has relatives – will be further strengthened this year when a Royal Dutch Navy ship is due to visit Holyhead for the inauguration of the memorial.

Jane Osborne, of Grosvenor Construction, said: “We’ll be taking the biggest and best stone out to our stoneyard in Kinmel Bay where we have three specialist stonemasons who will be assessing how it can be best utilised to achieve the proposed design. It’s a challenging material due to its particular properties and hardness, which may require some changes.

“It will be done to exact specifications and then the bronze cast will be set into it and the rest of the construction work done so it is ready for the special inauguration.

“All our staff are Gold Heritage Skill card-holders and we will be making the memorial and installing it in place.

“It’s a very special project and we’re delighted to be involved in commemorating this historic link between Anglesey and Holland.”

Caergybi County Councillor Bob Llewellyn Jones said: “It is typical of Holyhead to give a warm welcome to sailors, especially during the war.

“Many of the Dutch were young men and they met local girls and settled here and have been a very valuable part of the community in the town and there are grandchildren and even great-grandchildren of those Dutch sailors and Dutch names here.

“They were very brave and played a big part in our history. This is a very fitting memorial and I am very pleased that they have been recognised and I hope it encourages some of their relatives in Holland to visit the town.”

The funding for the Memorial has come from the Heritage Lottery Fund, through the Community Heritage Initiative for Maritime Engagement (CHIME), Isle of Anglesey Council’s Property and Environmental Grant (PEG) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) with further support by Holyhead Town Council and from local organisations and individuals.

Most of the project costs have been met but over the coming months it is planned to hold a number of local fund raising events, which people can attend or donate directly to the Holyhead Maritime Museum at Newry Beach, Holyhead, or at www.holyheadmaritimemuseum.co.uk