Terry Tuffrey from Blaenau Ffestiniog will travel to Patagonia this year, having won a scholarship to do so from the Ffestiniog Town Council.

The award was announced last Tuesday at a special ceremony in the Ganolfan, Blaenau Ffestiniog, following an open competition organised by the Ffestiniog Town Council.

For the last seven years the council has offered a scholarship to a young person from the area to travel to Rawson, Argentina, a town first established by Welsh settlers in 1865 and which is twinned with Ffestiniog.

The scholarship is now worth £2,000 and the aim is to strengthen and deepen the connection between the two towns.

Terry said: “I’m extremely excited to have this opportunity to travel over to Patagonia at the time of the Chubut Eisteddfod in October.”

Referring to three striking elements in Terry’s application, Tecwyn Vaughan Jones, chair of the judges, said: “The first is the applicant’s intention to contact an association that helps people with disabilities in Chubut. Secondly the applicant is interested in issues relating to the environment. Thirdly, the applicant talks about being allowed to play rugby with the Draig Goch club Gaiman. This area contributes a lot to the world of rugby in north Wales and to have contact with a Welsh rugby team in Patagonia would be excellent. All these are means to get to know the Welsh community in Argentina better and open new doors in the relationship between this area and Patagonia.”

A video of an original song, Tyrd am Dro, written by previous scholarship winner Hanna Gwyn Williams, was played at the ceremony. The song was performed by a family from Ffestiniog, and the children were former pupils of Hanna’s while working as a teacher at Ysgol Manod.

In less than two weeks it has already been viewed nearly 3,000 times.