Michelle K reflects on our CTA Cymru 2025 Conference

The team began planning the conference five months before the actual event, so seeing it come to fruition a couple of weeks ago was wonderful. It was a gloriously sunny day in Llandudno, and our conference facilities overlooked the promenade and the sea. Who wouldn’t want to have been there! The conference had been a sell-out, and we had a waiting list for people to attend. A total of 55 organisations were represented on the day, including members, stakeholders, and partners, as well as those just at the very beginning of developing their own community transport in Wales.

I was stood at one of the entrances to the venue and saw many people I’d had the pleasure of meeting over the past two years. It gave us the opportunity to have a quick chat before the conference began, because the day flew past!

The agenda was packed from 10.30am with a varied programme, but always the focus was on supporting members and trying to improve the breadth of community transport. We heard about the collaborative working on Ynys Mon, where they took a whole island approach to develop community-led transport solutions. A breakout session followed that on the role of citizen research in identifying local transportation needs. Another session on Transport for Health highlighted the work CTA has done around health transport in South Wales, as well as the Tackling Loneliness project in England. Additionally, a member of VC Gallery spoke about the benefits to mental health of community transport. After lunch, we addressed the funding issue that many operators face every day and there was a presentation from the Motability Foundation who re-open their funding programme very shortly. The two breakout sessions in the afternoon were about extending transport provision through e-bikes, presented by Dolen Teifi, and TFW hosted a session on the future of public transport and the opportunities for community transport.

My standout of the day was the energy and the warmth at the event. Experienced operators willing to share their knowledge and experience with those just starting out or those who had no knowledge of community transport. I could see the respect they all had for each other, and the benefit of meeting in person is not to be underestimated. The value of being with other organisations all doing the same thing but slightly differently for their community, the boost you get from knowing that you’re not alone – it can be isolating managing a community transport service. Somehow the day served to energise everyone and we’ve heard nothing but compliments for the whole event. Roll on 2026!