A tiny charity and one-man software team have created an app that has been shortlisted for two UK “digital tech BAFTAs”.

The Digital Technology Leaders Awards honours trailblazers in digital technology, and, now in its 10th year in 2026, the competition was fierce.

However, amongst the well-known apps such as Rightmove and huge company names including JP Morgan Chase and the Bank of England, is a small Welsh-language centre, Nant Gwrtheyrn.

Nant Gwrtheyrn has been shortlisted for Digital Project of the Year and Digital Resilience Initiative of the Year for its nature trail app.

Designed by one-man team Pete Stewart at Tinkr Creative, the app's ingenuity lies in its creative design, whilst being budget-friendly for the small Pen Llŷn charity.

It takes users through woodland, history and bird trails around the centre, created to be seamlessly used offline when no signal is available, with the software being used the same on Wifi as up a Welsh hill, in both Welsh and English, and boasting special language-learning features.

These include a click-to-translate word system, which not only translates the word but shows when it’s been mutated, displaying the root word and how it has changed in the sentence.

Pete, 41, said on receiving the nomination: “I was over the moon.

“It’s really nice to see us listed against all these ginormous corporations with massive teams of developers - it’s pretty unusual for a small company in Machynlleth to be shortlisted for an award like this.

“I think it shows the hard work we’ve done to get this app together, and shows you can build this sort of thing with one-person teams and a charity rather than a whole tech department.

“The tech in the app is really advanced, and I feel that shows - I feel what we're doing is also important.”

Most apps and websites rely on rented space from companies like Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud to deliver their content, which can cost thousands, annually, growing more costly as the app becomes popular.

Rather than renting that space from a tech giant, Pete engineered a bespoke server infrastructure using professional-grade open-source tools — the same kind of technology used by large organisations worldwide, but configured and managed independently, run for less than £10 a month.

This gives Nant Gwrtheyrn the same quality digital infrastructure as a well-funded tech company, at a fraction of the cost — and crucially, those costs stay low no matter how many users.

For a Welsh Language Centre operating on charitable funds, that difference isn't just technical — it's the difference between a digital experience that's sustainable for years to come, and one that would eventually have to be switched off.

The app, funded by the Heritage Fund in partnership with the Welsh government, navigates people around immersive trails, automatically playing audio guides when listeners reach points of interest using GPS geofencing, as well as supporting users with tree and bird identification, all whilst encouraging learning in Welsh.

A spokesperson for Nant Gwrtheyrn said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive this recognition.

“Being shortlisted alongside major organisations in the tech industry is a privilege.

“The app was developed to enhance visitors’ experiences of Nant Gwrtheyrn by connecting people with the landscape, language, and heritage of the area, so it’s especially rewarding to see that work acknowledged on a wider stage.”

The winners will be announced at the awards night on 2 July in London.