Haverfordwest schoolboy's lands dream 'job' as new Oakwood director of fun

Following a two-month Wales-wide search, Oakwood selected Idris Battelley-de Torres to become one of its three directors of fun, after battling stiff competition from across the country.

Oakwood, which first opened its doors over 30 years ago, is giving the three Directors of Fun the chance to spend time with senior executives at the theme park to share their thoughts and ideas on what they love about the park and how it can be improved.

Idris said: “I am really excited that Oakwood has chosen me to share my ideas. I can’t wait to try all of the rides and have lots of ideas on ways to make Oakwood even better than it already is.”

Sue Elaiho, Director of Oakwood Theme Park, said “We are so happy to be welcoming Idris as one of our Directors of Fun. His application demonstrated his true appreciation of Oakwood Theme Park and its family-friendly values, which we thought was fundamental in finding the perfect person for our new role.”

She added: “We had so many incredible entries, and it was extremely difficult to narrow them down to just three. We look forward to hearing more of Idris’ ideas, and hearing what he thinks we can improve for our young visitors.”

Idris will also bag himself a family annual pass to the amusement park, home to the world-famous wooden rollercoaster Megafobia, as part of the role.

He was not the only local director of fun.

Faith Dee McDermott, aged 13, of Llanmiloe, near Pendine, was also selected as a director.

Faith caught the attention of Oakwood bosses after sending in a cleverly-written poem about the park as part of her application.

Faith, a pupil at Whitland’s Dyffryn Taf school, said: “I’m a big fan of Oakwood and their rides are awesome, especially, Megafobia. I love meeting new people and discovering new things. I’m really interested to hear about how the park designs and implements new rides, areas and events, and am looking forward to being involved in the process.”