BARRY War Museum has become the official custodian of the Welsh YMCA First World War exhibit, which is on display now at Barry Library.

Mandy Caddy, facilitator of the YMCA WW1 exhibition, explained: "The YMCA First World War touring exhibition, which was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, gave the public an opportunity to learn through photographs, war memorabilia and historical information of the work undertaken by local YMCAs during the Great War. We kicked off the First World War tour in Cardiff where two living historians in full military dress took visitors through a drill routine whilst others enjoyed the exhibits.

"The tour then visited Barry, Neath, Porthcawl, Port Talbot and Swansea – topping it off with a two-week showing at Barry Library and now resting at the Barry War Museum, giving us an opportunity to display ‘George’ - our life-size mannequin of a YMCA war helper in uniform, postcards from the First World War and a superb handmade lifelike diorama we now have on display to the public."

Glenn Booker, chairman of the Barry War Museum, said: "We are very pleased to become custodians of such a successful exhibition and look forward to members of the public coming along to see our artefacts and memorabilia as the museum continues to grow."

The centrepiece of the display is a large scale model created by model maker and war enthusiast Ade Pitman. Copied from a pen and ink drawing, the model is a copy of an actual frontline YMCA in France.

You can find out more about the YMCA during the Great War on their Facebook page, facebook.com/toldinthehuts or the Told In The Huts website at http://ww1ymca.info/