A Celebration of Caring:
Aberystwyth, Wales on Ceredigion Bay

Story and Photos by Vivienne Mackie

Band in red marches
Along the paperchain road.
Celebrate caring.

The country of Wales conjures up images of daffodils, St David, the Welsh dragon, misty hills, travel writer Jan Morris, Welsh rarebit, the lilting Welsh language. It’s also a country of caring, as we discovered in the central coastal town of Aberystwyth on Cardigan (Ceredigion) Bay. Every year in the second or third week of June there is a week-long celebration with a number of events, to celebrate caregivers, and those who need some kind of medical care. So long as the weather co-operates, the events are very nice outdoors. We hit a good year, warm and sunny.

Aberystwyth is a pretty town, with a stony beach and wide, well-used, sea promenade lined with 4-or-5-storey Victorian and Edwardian houses, that have been renovated and are now mainly hotels, B&B’s, holiday flats, cafes and shops. Many are brightly painted, or the moldings picked out in bright colors. At one end of the Bay is Constitution Hill, at the other the ruined castle. It was strategically located on the point and we get an idea of its former size from the huge grey stones and parapet towers.

On a Thursday afternoon a group of teachers started laying out long paper chains (made from strips of wall paper, some with names written on) along the sea promenade from PD’s Diner, a central meeting point by a town square, towards the pier and castle. Throngs of people began to gather and we wondered why, as we walked towards to castle. A band, all dressed in various reds, was playing on the point below the castle, and up on the castle’s manicured lawn grass---studded with white daisies and clumps of small yellow flowers---a girl in a bikini was dancing to the music, like a sun spirit or a sprite greeting the summer and the sun’s warmth.

The color red is significant, as it’s linked to the red Welsh Dragon, found formally on the Royal Badge and the national flag of Wales, and informally on many other things. At first sight, the band seemed a bit outlandish or garish, but we realized they were just having fun and creating a special relaxed atmosphere. The band then came marching from the castle point along the “path” made by the paper chains, to PD’s Diner, the unofficial “headquarters” of the celebrations. The paper chain is a symbol of unity and connectedness.

Kids lined the way, dancing and clapping, very excited, and the music brought a smile to all the onlookers and got feet tapping. Four characters in costume---2 sheep, a bear and a policemen--- and a whole “army” of volunteers with luminous green vests added to the festivities. At the Diner a local TV guy with a camera captured the proceedings, co-ordinated by an active MC. A young man in red with a collection tin (and a terrible stutter) told us it was a fund-raiser for Autistic people and others with disabilities.

Earlier in the week there had been a long walk along the coast as part of the Autism Awareness drive, and this parade and band was to celebrate that.

On Saturday, there was a Carers’ Week celebration on the promenade near the Diner too. The celebration is for all caregivers, whether for ill or elderly or disabled folk---which is a really nice idea. A brass band played in the small bandstand on the promenade, the area decorated with huge bunches of balloons, and people of all ages were trying their luck at juggling or doing the hoola hoop. The public chattered, clapped, stamped their feet, or cheered as they sat at the Diner having a coffee or cup of tea. A very festive atmosphere was made even more festive by the gorgeous weather.

There’s a strong tradition of caring here, and of acceptance of people with disadvantages and disabilities, a fact we realized when we spoke to the locals. I also found a pretty glass-tile mosaic window in the Ceredigion County Museum, just off the square by the Diner. This Ceridigion Mosaic was made December 1995-March 1996 by psychiatric patients at local clinics as a special project. And in the museum are other models and craft projects made by groups of kids, stimulated by their visit to the museum.

We were impressed because here this caring theme and celebration is all out in the open and everyone is welcome, so it’s not like a Volunteers’ Breakfast, for example, which is by invitation only. Even we, as visitors, were drawn in.