Newport Music & Theatre School has been named as finalists for two awards, The Best Of Welsh and Business Growth.

The school is also setting up and hosting the first Bettws Childrens Folk Festival, which it hopes will become an annual event.

It will be inviting local schools and performers to join it in March to celebrate Welsh and the four nations traditional culture through music and dance.

NMTS was set up in January 2023 in Bettws, Newport. Since then it has grown in size and increased the number of classes on offer. It is a community based group with all staff being volunteers.

A spokesman for the school said: "Our musical theatre and drama students perform three shows per year. They performed at the Bettws Big Picnic last summer and visited residential care homes to perform for the residents over Christmas.

"We never turn anyone away and have many children and adults attending classes who are neurodivergent and who have specific needs and disabilities. To us, performing arts shouldn’t be elitist; performing and creative arts are for everyone to enjoy."