Ianto Jones was amongst the last generation of children to be educated at Ysgol Cribyn.

Now, 15 years since the school’s closure, a poem he’s written has been released on Instagram and Facebook as a boost to the campaign to save Ysgol Cribyn as a community asset.

Specially commissioned by the school’s Community Benefit Society the poem is a ‘cywydd’ – a poetic form that requires particular craftsmanship in its set pattern of measured assonance and stressed and un-stressed rhymes.

Brought up on a farm whose fields border Ysgol Cribyn’s playground, and educated at Aberystwyth University, Ianto is fast making a name for himself as a poet.

Two years ago he won the Chair at both the Young Farmers Clubs’ county and its all-Wales eisteddfod adding a third prestigious Chair last November when his work was judged supreme at the YFC movements’ 2023 Eisteddfod Cymru.

Employed as a translator with Carmarthenshire County Council, it is at night time that he dons the mantle of poet – attending the ‘cynghanedd’ poetry classes at the recently community-bought Tafarn y Vale pub in the nearby village of Ystrad Aeron, and often – as with the Ysgol Cribyn commission – writing late into the night.

Ianto said: “I wasn’t sure when I was first asked to write this poem. It’s a big challenge. But then, seeing so many in the community giving freely of their time and skills to ensure that the school once again strengthens our language and way-of-life for everyone’s benefit there was no option really but to go for it!”

Ianto’s ‘cywydd’ not only looks back at the good times had as children at the school but also looks forward with the closing couplet – ‘Yn sŵn yr oes bresennol / fe fydd llawenydd yn ôl’ – boldly anticipating that the community’s action will herald the return of joy and happiness.

Although raising money is all-important to the success of the Ysgol Cribyn campaign, there’s only one word to describe Ianto’s contribution. Priceless.

To learn more about the campaign and how to support by buying shares look for Ysgol Cribyn on Facebook or visit www.ysgolcribyn.cymru