At the beginning of March 2005 representatives from local businesses and organisations in Llantwit Major were invited to a public meeting in the Leisure Centre to discuss the possibilities of setting up a local group to promote events taking part in Llantwit Major. With the opening up of the Railway Station by Arriva it was felt that Llantwit Major should be marketed so that people would come and visit the town and improve its prosperity.
The meeting chaired by representatives from the Llantwit Major Chamber of Trade, Llantwit Major Town Council and Major Music proved to be a success and from this meeting the embryonic organisation was formed. With support and advice from The Vale of Glamorgan Events Department, The Vale Council for Voluntary Services and the Creative Rural Communities office in Cowbridge, a number of meetings were held to decide on what form the events group should take and to determine its terms of reference. From these small beginnings S.M.I.L.E. was born.
S.M.I.L.E. which stands for Support Market and Initiate Llantwit’s Events had its first full meeting towards the end of May 2005 where it was decided that we should instigate a diary of events to be published in ‘The Gem’, on local web sites and to start to organise our first event.
The first event was to re-instigate the Lantern Parade as an introduction the Firework Display organised by Llantwit Major Rugby Club. It soon became apparent that significant finances were required to get this event under way and it was here that local businesses and organisations came to the rescue by donating funds, advertising, materials etc. The event finally went ahead and despite appalling weather it was a great success. S.M.I.L.E. was on its way and with more events in the planning stages it will go from strength to strength and put Llantwit Major on the map as a place to visit.
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