The annual eisteddfod has been cancelled

The Urdd has had its headquarters in Aberystwyth since the 1930s, but the building is now on the market in a bid to ease financial problems.

Recent months have brought several income setbacks. The annual eisteddfod - Europe's biggest youth festival - had to be cancelled after foot-and-mouth outbreaks prevented school children taking part in preliminary rounds.

In addition, both the residential centres at Llangrannog in Ceredigion and Glan Llyn in Gwynedd have lost school bookings because of the disease restrictions.

Urdd Chief Executive Jim O'Rourke has said there is no choice but to sell the headquarters.

"We have decided that selling our headquarters is more sensible as an option than opting for more losses of staff across the organisation," he explained.

'Spiritual home'

The immediate plans for the future are to rent somewhere locally.

The Urdd has denied it will eventually move from Aberystwyth - the place it describes as "the spiritual home" of the movement.

Meanwhile two major arts festivals in south Wales have been cancelled as a result of foot-and-mouth.

The Crafts in Action and Beyond The Border international storytelling festivals - which between them bring over 8,000 people to St Donats Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan every summer - are usually held in May and July.

'Major attractions'

St Donats Arts Centre, which is on the campus of Atlantic College, took the decision to cancel the two festivals when it became clear that restrictions to local farmland would almost certainly still be in force by early summer.

"These festivals are two major summer attractions in the Vale's arts calendar," said a spokesman.

"We have been planning these events for the past year, and it is very sad to have to cancel after so much work has been done."

Centre Director David Ambrose said people travelled from all over Wales - and elsewhere in the world - to enjoy the festivals.

"We know this will be a huge disappointment to them, as well as another blow to our local economy," he said.

"But unfortunately, with so many people attending, we absolutely depend on being able to use the surrounding fields for car parking and for camping. This year the festivals just cannot go ahead."