[2] The Workers' Educational Association WEA in South Wales traces its roots to a conference at Cory Hall in Cardiff in October 1906 initiated by Albert Mansbridge, with representatives of local authorities, trade unions and the university college.
Twelve branches were formed between 1907 and 1914, bringing adult education to working people primarily in Glamorgan and Monmouthshire.
[5] Coleg Harlech was founded in 1927 by Thomas Jones, Cabinet Secretary to both David Lloyd George and Stanley Baldwin, to continue the work of WEA in a residential environment.
It provided adult education, mostly to male learners, often vulnerable people, including ex-offenders and youth workers, across the whole of Wales.
Since renaming as Adult Learning Wales – Addysg Oedolion Cymru, the organisation additionally retains the branding of predecessor institutions.