www.menterfflintwrecsam.cymru Annual Report 2018 - 2019 1 Chairman’s Message It is a hard task for a Chairman to decide which of all the different activities and events undertaken within communities all across the counties of Flintshire and Wrexham during the financial year 2018-19 to bring to your attention in an Annual Report. It was a privilege to welcome Ras yr Iaith to Wrexham in July 2018 when it had the honour of starting the growing Ras as it began it’s visit to 17 towns across Wales. There is something quite significant about the language baton being passed from one generation to another across the country’s communities. Such activities play an important part in raising awareness about the Welsh language in communities across the length and breadth of Wales. This is also why the Menter has for some years now been working in partnership with Flintshire County Council and Wrexham County Borough Council to arrange a procession and celebrations on St. David’s Day in both counties. These events have increased in size and popularity each year and the ability of the staff of the Menter to work across both counties to arrange and to celebrate St. David’s Day is something to be proud of. It would be hard for the Chairman of this Menter not to mention our treasure, Magi Ann! Again this year, Magi Ann has entertained and charmed young children and families across the length and breadth of the counties of Flintshire and Wrexham and across Wales. Magi Ann is a very special envoy for the Menter and for the Welsh language. One of this year’s activities that we can be proudest of is the innovative work undertaken in partnership with Berwyn Prison, to arrange activities for Welsh speaking prisoners or those who have an interest in the language. This work allows prisoners to feel more comfortable using Welsh from day to day in the prison. I strongly believe that the Welsh language belongs to everyone, regardless of who they are or their situation in life. In an industrious year of activity and partnership working, not everything is sweetness and light. We live in a world where increasingly more needs to be done with less. Our budget and the increasing costs of running a Menter bring regular challenges in terms of financial decisions that require careful consideration by the Directors. As a parent of two young boys, I’m increasingly aware that it is one thing to learn a language but another to have the confidence to speak that language and to use it daily. And this is the great challenge for the work of the Menter, to normalise the language, to make it a language we can feel comfortable using in our day to day lives. We are fortunate to have committed and enthusiastic staff who work diligently to this end and within this report you will get a taste of the work undertaken during the financial year. My thanks to the staff of the Menter for their diligent work. My thanks to the Directors for giving of their time to oversee the work of the Menter and thanks to our partners in both counties. Gareth Hughes 2 Mission Statement “The Menter exists in order to increase, promote and facilitate the use of the Welsh language within the Counties of Flintshire and Wrexham.” We do this by: • planning and delivering a range of innovative activities to promote the use of the Welsh language, responding to the demands of the local community; • working to strengthen the economic base of the Welsh language within the county by encouraging employers to create jobs which require spoken Welsh as an essential skill; • ensuring that our services are of a high standard, and are available to all the region’s inhabitants; • working with everybody in the community, Welsh speaking and non-Welsh speaking, to promote a healthy attitude and respect towards the Welsh language. Values We believe that: promoting and supporting the Welsh language is the responsibility of each and every one of us; everybody has the right to use the Welsh language in every aspect of their everyday lives; every child has the right to a bilingual education; the Welsh language belongs to every person in Wales; the use of the Welsh language enriches life experiences the Welsh language is a skill and everyone had the ability to learn the language; the Welsh language has economic value; the community has power and people need to be empowered; there is value in co-operation. The Menter’s Areas of Work We see our work as supporting Theme 2 of the Welsh 2050: A Million Speakers i.e. ‘Increasing the use of Welsh’ strategy and key to it’s success, and therefore Menter Iaith Fflint a Wrecsam’s main audience are the Welsh speakers of the two counties. According to the 2011 Census, there are 19,343 Welsh speakers in Flintshire (13.2% of the population) and 16,659 Welsh speakers in the county of Wrexham (12.9% of the population). There are now 6 Welsh medium primary schools in Flintshire and one high school (Ysgol Maes Garmon) where 500 pupils currently receive Welsh education. There are now 8 Welsh medium primary schools in the county of Wrexham and one high school (Ysgol Morgan Llwyd) where 743 pupils currently receive Welsh education. 3 Despite this, following consultation with the community and consideration of our unique situation as a ‘front-line’ county on the border with England, we feel that the linguistic nature of our area must be recognised and that we target our support in a way that acknowledges the different needs of different people. New Welsh speakers or parents/carers without Welsh language skills that send their children to Welsh schools have different needs to confident, fluent Welsh speakers, and we have a very high percentage of such people in our area. As a result, we also have a target under Theme 1, ‘Increasing the Number of Welsh Speakers’. Therefore, in addition to Welsh speakers, Menter Iaith Fflint a Wrecsam is keen to work together to offer services and information to people who are learning Welsh, and to non- Welsh speaking parents in order to emphasise the benefits of Welsh education and the importance of transferring language within the family. We also target businesses to emphasise the benefits and value to the local economy of using the Welsh language and also work with the Welsh in Business Project Officer in order to encourage small and medium sized businesses to increase their use of Welsh. This document is a report on the work of the Menter and covers the period between April 2018 and March 2019. 4 During this period, Menter Iaith Fflint a Wrecsam delivered or worked in partnership to deliver over 180 activities and events for over 9,000 people and through the Welsh in Business project, worked closely with 19 businesses and raised awareness in 68 other businesses of the benefits of using Welsh in business. 5 Key Results 2018 - 2019 Theme 1: Increasing the Number of Welsh Speakers - Families Aim: Increase the number of families where at least one adult uses Welsh as the primary language with the children. A Snapshot of our Activities Agreed Target: In conjunction with Education Department teams in Flintshire and the county of Wrexham, raise awareness of the opportunities for Welsh Medium Education across the both counties by holding 20 campaigns/activities to raise awareness amongst parents and prospective parents of the benefits of bilingual skills for their children. By March 2019. Achieved Target: During the year the Menter succeeded in hosting 25 campaigns/ activities to raise awareness amongst parents and prospective parents of the benefits of bilingual skills for their children. By March 2019. Messy Play, Acton Community Resource Centre 26.05.18 The Menter arranged a very different event to the norm for local families. 21 babies and 27 parents, including 5 fathers came to Acton Community Resource Centre to make a big mess! In conjunction with the Splat Messy Play company, 8 islands of different activities were arranged around the hall, including painting, craft, colourful spaghetti, a bucket of yogurt, a bucket of jelly, clothes and dressing-up materials. The morning’s theme was a rainbow of colours and everyone had fun learning simple Welsh words such as squeeze, push, pour, discover, mix and smell. 6 Agreed Target: Offer 4, 6-week courses of activities for parents and prospective- parents and their under school-aged children to raise awareness of transferring the Welsh language with the family, and working closely with 24 families. Achieved Target: To date we have held 4, 6-week courses of activities for parents and prospective-parents and their under school-aged children to raise awareness of transferring the Welsh language with the family, and working closely with 56 families. Jimmy Bear Courses - Wrexham Library and Bethesda Chapel, Mold During September and November 2018, the Menter offered two Jimmy Bear courses, one in Wrexham Library and the other in Bethesda Chapel, Mold. The children learnt physical skills and simple gymnastics inspired by a specific story book. 16 families attended the sessions in Wrexham Library and 25 families attended the sessions in Bethesda Chapel. Wrexham Library Bethesda Chapel, Mold 18/09/19 - 3 families (3 adults, 3 children) 28/09/19 - 18 families (16 adults, 18 children) 25/09/19 - 5 families (6 adults, 6 children) 05/10/19 - 16 families (17 adults, 20 children) 09/10/19 - 5 families (5 adults, 6 children) 12/10/19 - 15 families (16 adults, 18 children) 16/10/19 - 3 families (3 adults, 6 children) 19/10/19 - 13 families (14 adults, 14 children) 23/10/19 - 5 families (5 adults, 6 children) 26/10/19 - 10 families (14 adults, 13 children) 06/11/19 - 5 families (5 adults, 6 children) 7 Key Results 2018 - 2019 Theme 2: Increasing the Use of Welsh - Children and Young People Aim: Increase the provision of Welsh activities for children and young people and increase their awareness of the value of the language.