Crowd Cymru

Crowd Cymru is transforming access to Welsh archives through a unique digital crowdsourcing project, funded by Welsh Government.

Our 10 partners and over 120 volunteers are using a bilingual crowdsourcing platform hosted by The National Library of Wales to transcribe, tag and describe digitised documents, making them easier to search and discover online. 

Archives are vital to help us understand our shared histories, and we’ve already seen this project unlock hidden stories, ignite new research, and inspire creative responses to items in our collections.  

Our volunteers are mostly from Wales, but we also have contributors from Canada, Australia, the USA, Denmark, India and South Korea.  

Together, we are creating a global volunteering community that is enriching and improving access to Welsh heritage and histories.

 

Making Welsh heritage discoverable online 

Crowd Cymru volunteers have made over 700 items from Welsh archives easier to search and discover online. These include around 600 letters, 500 photographs and 20 diaries and journals – totalling over 6000 pages of material! 

We have worked on 15 collections to date, including: 

  • the diaries of Priscilla Scott-Ellis, a volunteer nurse in the Spanish Civil War and WWII (Cardiff University Special Collections) 

Volunteering with us  

Our innovative digital volunteering model is designed to reach people who are less able to visit our archives in person, or who need more flexibility due to work, health, mobility or geographical barriers.  

Volunteers contribute in their own time, from their own homes, in a way that works for them. They are supported with one-to-one training, ongoing support, regular newsletters and online socials. 

A recent survey showed that our volunteers value Crowd Cymru as a supportive, engaging and intellectually stimulating experience. 96% said contributing to the project improved their wellbeing, and 91% learnt new digital skills. 

The project contributes to Welsh Government’s Digital Strategy of Wales  while also helping to reduce our carbon footprint by reducing the need for volunteers to travel.  

Our funders 

Previously funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and National Lottery Players, and The National Library of Wales, we are currently funded by Welsh Government until October 2026. 

Find out more 

Keep up to date with the latest Crowd Cymru news on bluesky and Instagram  or explore our  linktr.ee and Padlet for blogs, articles, podcasts and more.

Contact us 

crowdcymru@gwentarchives.gov.uk

If you’re interested in volunteering with us, or want to find out more about the project, we’d love to hear from you. We keen to share learning and best practice with the heritage and cultural sectors.

Our partners