How Holyhead has become home to the next generation of spiritual mediums

• More on Welsh Lives, Friday 15 December at 7pm on ITV Cymru Wales.

What does a group that includes a pharmacy dispenser, teaching assistant, bank worker, and former military man have in common? They are all training to become spiritual mediums.

"If we were to be in school together we probably wouldn’t be friends to be honest with you because we’re completely different but for some reason we kind of work," said Islwyn Wyn Owen - known to everyone as Izzy - who runs the Willow Spiritualist Group Holyhead.

He added: "The Willow itself has been here for 35 years. It’s always been in Holyhead.

"There’s so much love gone into the building, we’re all there cutting the grass, we’re painting, we’re doing this and that.

"I think it shows in the group, it’s a community in itself and that’s why it’s worked. It’s a close-knit community on Anglesey."

Once a week, the Willow development group members meet with their teacher Auntie Margaret, to meditate and practice giving readings to each other.

"I had given it up for a couple of years," said Auntie Margaret, "but there was a want and a need of mediumship because I’d been out and seen quite a few mediums that I wasn’t very happy about so I decided I’m going to come back to teach because I want good mediums out there, I don’t want the run of the mill.

"My group is a good group, we’re a family group and we do it with fun and laughter but we do it with love in our hearts."

Mike has been developing as a medium over the past six months. In his day job, he works in renewable energy, supporting multiple offshore wind farms. Prior to this, he was in the military.

"It’s quite a strange one and I’m quite reminded of the fact that, Mike, you're not the typical guy who’d we’d expect to see speaking to the spirit and giving messages."

But Mike said he experienced a "spiritual awakening".

He said in the last few years he found himself in a "low and dark place" after losing the closest people to him, "they were my parents, biologically my grandparents". At the same time, Mike was diagnosed with Crohn's disease and was regularly unwell in hospital.

"I didn't understand how to move forward... But one day it hit me and I just thought, the only person who is going to change how I move forward is me.

"I tried to get out and give myself self-care. I started to hit the mountain, walking. I spent a lot of time on my own in my own thoughts but then I started to change it into a positive outlook.

"That's when I felt I had my spiritual awakening."

Initially, Mike went to the Willow group members for readings but then he decided to train to become a medium himself.

"I feel I have a sense of belonging with spirituality, it gives me a purpose. I feel like I’m on a journey - love and light. It really is a beautiful thing. It’s brought me a lot of inner peace," he said.

While fewer people in Wales now practise a particular religion, a YouGov survey found that across the UK - three in ten describe themselves as spiritual and many more said they believe in spiritual ideas.

Nearly half of people surveyed think humans give out positive or negative energy, 26% believe some people have a gift that lets them see things which are hidden to others, and 19% think crystals have healing powers.

Despite this, there are clearly still many people who do not believe mediums can speak to spirits in an afterlife. Izzy acknowledges this.

He said: "People that might not believe, you get the odd sceptic that might be like ‘this is a load of mumbo, jumbo’ and I just tell them, be open minded.

"And I’ll tend to say, ‘Tuesday night, 8 o’clock, I’ll give you two free tickets, come and have a look. See how you feel and if you still feel the same afterwards at least you’ve been, you’ve respected me and I’ve respected you.

"A few have actually taken me up on that and they’ve been like, 'ok yeah, not 100% convinced but I’ve had a good evening and thank you for inviting me.'"

Izzy said he began "communicating with spirits" when he was eight years old, "but obviously as a child at that young age, you’re not going to be letting people know what you do. So I kind of kept it quiet and then I started coming to the Willow with my mum."

As Izzy referenced, the Willow centre comes alive on Tuesday nights when the hall packed full of people searching for answers.

Although it is not a religious centre, the people who attend are described as the congregation. Many hope to hear a message from a loved one and others are just curious to discover what goes there.

Members of the Willow group believe Anglesey is a particularly spiritual place.

Izzy said he does not think he would ever move from the island.

"It doesn’t matter where you go on Anglesey there’s a spiritual connection somewhere. I love being by the sea. Just listening to the sea is just spiritual.

"I just think it’s a magical place."

Similarly to Mike, Izzy said that spirituality has helped improve his outlook on life.

"I used to be a negative person in a dark place... I was married for nine years and then came out as gay. Spirituality gave me the courage to be myself. I can live my life now the way I want to live it."

• Watch: Welsh Lives, Friday 15 December at 7pm on ITV Cymru Wales for more on this story.