The club received money during the first round of funding which forms part of a total of £200,000 available for recruitment initiatives.
This money has been used to employ existing club volunteer Dylan Williams who will work in conjunction with WRU Development Staff within the Scarlets region to increase participation within the club and improve the quality of players and coaches.
In practice, this will involve identifying talent within schools in the area and creating links with players at those schools. Mr Williams will also organise festivals which will be run at Aberaeron and continue to volunteer as the Club Coaching Coordinator, responsible for upskilling current coaches and recruiting new ones.
“I have been going out to schools already and it’s quite exciting for the club being the first one to do something like this,” said Mr Williams.
“The aim is to go into schools and to increase participation and hopefully attract them into the local clubs.
“My background is in coaching and teaching so hopefully we will see an increase in the skill level and expertise of those who join our club. If it’s a success we might see other clubs pick up the scheme.”
Mr Williams’ appointment came after detailed discussions between the WRU Club Operations team, Aberaeron Club Secretary Glyndwr Evans and Jeff Roach, WRU Development Manager for the Scarlets region.
“Aberaeron have shown a great deal of innovation with their application for the funding of this recruitment programme,” said Mr Roach.
“As a WRU Development Department within the Scarlets region, we will support the development programmes which will be carried out by Dylan Williams on behalf of the club.
“He will work very closely with the two WRU Development Officers in the area, Justin Lloyd and Llyr Davies with the aim of boosting playing numbers within the junior section at the club.”
For more information on the next round of WRU funding contact WRU Club Support Advisor for Volunteering and Safeguarding Claire Thomas at CThomas@wru.co.uk.
