Crowd Cymru

The Crowd Cymru project is a collaborative partnership to deliver a digital volunteering project. Previously funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and National Lottery Players, and National Library Wales, the project is currently funded by the Welsh Government until October 2026. The idea for the project was born from a need to demonstrate that service partners are taking a swift, proactive, and collaborative approach to modernise services to meet the ambitious roadmap of the Welsh Government’s Digital Strategy of Wales.

Using a bi-lingual online platform developed by The National Library Wales, volunteers have been recruited to tag, index and transcribe digital copies of archive collections to help make them more accessible for future researchers and wider celebration. Archive services across Wales hold millions of irreplaceable records, and project partners offer a variety of collections for the volunteers to explore and work on. Volunteers mostly come from Wales, but the project also has volunteers from the USA, Canada and Australia. This project will harness the knowledge of individuals in communities across Wales and beyond to enrich our collective heritage for the benefit of current and future generations – locally, nationally, and globally.

By working on the project, volunteers are equipped with digital skills that help them to remain well-connected across their communities, that they can use when seeking opportunities in the workplace, and for wellbeing. The project also demonstrates how archive services have developed new models for remote volunteering; reducing the need for travel and therefore supporting the Welsh Government’s ambition to reduce carbon footprint.

You can find out more about the project, and activities undertaken, by reading our blog articles.

If you’d like to volunteer with Crowd Cymru, please contact the Project Manager by email: jennifer.evans@gwentarchives.gov.uk