Agenda item

To provide a background to Committee Members about the existing word and priorities of the Menter Iaith.

To accept the report and note the observations received.

The report was presented by Menter Iaith Gwynedd's Principal Officer. Reference was made to the following main points:

The members were reminded that the initiative had now discarded the name 'Hunaniaith' by re-branding with the name 'Menter Iaith Gwynedd' and that the initiative was registered as a not-for-profit company with Companies House under the leadership of four voluntary directors. It was elaborated that the initiative's primary purpose was to increase opportunities for people to use the Welsh language in all aspects of their lives and in all communities in Gwynedd.

It was explained that one staff member of the Enterprise had left to work with another department within Cyngor Gwynedd. ⁠It was acknowledged that this vacant job had currently not been filled to facilitate the process of externalising from the Council. It was noted that Cyngor Gwynedd assisted to employ a new officer within the Meirionnydd area for 2024/25.

It was explained that the initiative would become independent from April 2025, with the three current initiative officers continuing to be employed by the initiative, as well as the new officer in the Meirionnydd area. It was acknowledged that there had been a delay in this outsourcing transition, but it was explained that this had been due to pension commitment complexities for officers. It was emphasised that the Project Board met regularly with the Head of Finance and the Head of Legal Services to resolve the difficulties that arose.

It was reported on the campaign that was being initiated in May that focused on people who had moved to the area and learned the Welsh language, by sharing case studies stories on how individuals had succeeded to nurture a feeling of belonging to Gwynedd communities. It was elaborated that there was a second plan in the pipeline with support from 'Gareth yr Orangutang' to explain the history of the Welsh language to young people and share ideas on how to use technology in Welsh, by emphasising that what was important was making use of the language, not worrying about any mistakes made.

An update was given that the initiative had been supporting immersion centres to support families. It was explained that officers provided digital presentations to all parents of the immersion centres' attendees every term. In response to the challenges that the educators had after being in immersion centres and returning to school, it was confirmed that the initiative had commissioned an author to create a production with the children's input before performing to the parents. It was emphasised that the initiative would own the production therefore there would be a way to recreate this scheme in other areas as required. An idea was shared that the initiative could use examples of families who had fostered the Welsh language following these schemes to inspire others in the future.

There was pride that the initiative had received very positive feedback to a gig that was held recently in secondary schools. It was explained that Tara Bandito went around to hold well-being sessions and to share information about girls in music before performing a gig in the afternoon with the Skylark band. Feedback was shared from one school that a pupil had been watching clips of the artists independently, when they attended a free lesson in the days following the performance, suggesting that children and young people would be attracted to modern Welsh culture when they were presented with it. It was noted that this event was held in six secondary schools in Gwynedd.

It was reported that the initiative had joint-funded a community post with support from the Urdd and Cyngor Gwynedd's Youth Department. It was explained that it was a specific post to establish new Urdd ‘aelwydydd’ (youth clubs) within communities with the intention of targeting year 7 and 8 secondary pupils. It was confirmed that new ‘aelwydydd’ had opened in Caernarfon and in Felinheli as well as Urdd clubs in schools such as Ardudwy. Details were given on the Urdd Ardudwy club, by noting that many of the children did not come from Welsh speaking homes but they had started to attend the ‘aelwyd’ as it became more popular. Cadi Roberts was thanked for her work within this field. It was confirmed that the intention for the future was to ensure that volunteers came forward to assist the ‘aelwydydd’ regularly so that they could run without an employed officer being present every time. The hope was to attract volunteers by focusing on specific areas, attempting to ensure that enough people were helping so that volunteers did not feel that it was burdensome.

Reference was made to Llwyfan Llŷn as the initiative had supported this scheme when it started following Covid-19. It was confirmed that the group met weekly in Sarn Mellteyrn. It was reported that this scheme was an example of how the initiative could support communities when there was a gap to be seen in the community and build it to be self-sufficient within communities without being dependent on the initiative as it developed. It was hoped that this success would be seen with Theatr Derek Williams in Bala as the initiative collaborated with them to re-establish the drama club.

Meirion Owen, the initiative’s officer in the Bangor area was thanked for organising St David's Day events in Bangor this year. It was emphasised that the initiative had arranged many events as well as a parade by ensuring that many businesses and establishments collaborated with each other. It was elaborated that many sessions for learners were being held regularly in Bangor and it was emphasised that there was positive feedback beyond these sessions.

It was explained that the initiative collaborated with the North Wales Africa Society as the Society expanded when more families moved to Bangor with mature students who attended Bangor University. It was noted that a series of 'Croeso i'r Gymraeg' events had been organised for members of the Society and similar sessions for Adfer service users in the area. It was explained that these sessions were being used as an initial introduction to the language and it was hoped that the attendees would wish to receive formal Welsh lessons in the future.

It was acknowledged that an extensive proportion of the initiative’s work focused on specific areas such as Llŷn, Bangor-Ogwen, Penllyn and Bala. It was explained that this was intentional so as to work on a local level to create a difference that could be evidenced. It was emphasised that the purpose of the initiative was to 'Promote and Encourage the Welsh language across the whole of Gwynedd' and the intention was to outsource to increase capacity to enable the initiative to focus on all areas in Gwynedd.

It was agreed that there was a need to collaborate with young people who were about to leave secondary schools to encourage them to use the Welsh language more regularly. It was explained that one challenge was that all of the social media material was English and that influenced them. It was emphasised that the initiative had been working on many schemes such as the 'Dydd Miwsig Cymru' (Welsh Language Music Day) competition to encourage older young people to use the Welsh language. Detail was provided on an exciting scheme with MSparc with new software for video games that ensured that users could speak Welsh with each other whilst they played on their devices.

The members expressed their thanks for the report.

RESOLVED

To accept the report and note the observations received.