DWYNWEN, DEWI & THE EISTEDDFODAU
It’s a good time of year to be Welsh! Especially for the lovers who have the chance to celebrate twice with St. Dwynwen on 25th January and St. Valentine on 14th February. Celebrate twice? Well, yes, of course, why not? Of course celebrate twice, if I understand correctly the Welsh celebrate on 25th January and the Italians on 14th February but the poor Britons have no spirit of love at all!

Hot on the heels of this is St. David’s Day and another chance for people to show their Welsh-ness by choosing to speak Welsh, listen to Radio Cymru, watch S4C, ask for Welsh forms from the public sector bodies which offer a Welsh language service, read Y Cymro and Golwg, subscribe to the new Welsh daily newspaper Y Byd, borrow Welsh books from your local library or buy Welsh books from Siop y Bont. People make these decisions and one reason for me to offer this advice once again is the understanding that some people have responded to similar suggestions made at Christmas. From a Menter Iaith perspective, please take one more step and make a financial contribution which will enable us to continue our work by completing the financial support form – it’s available here or from our website www.menteriaith.org – it is very important that we are able to continue the work and every contribution is gratefully received.

The Eisteddfodau are coming – first, the regional and county Eisteddfodau and then the special Urdd Eisteddfod in Cardiff Bay. The Urdd can make their own announcements but I understand that it will be a very special event and well worth a visit and our strong support this year. From a RCT perspective, help and support will be needed by thousands of children in order to compete and every school, Clwb Carco, youth club and social group needs to participate in the regional and county Eisteddfodau – far too often we don’t appreciate such things until we lose them.
RUGBY STARS INSPIRE THE YOUNG
A Welsh sports conference was held in Aberdare at the end of January with Robert Jones and Alun Wyn Bevan as guest speakers and attended by a number of young people as well as staff from the Sports Council for Wales, RCT Council and the Welsh Language Board. Our thanks to Dewi Phillips, Aneirin Karadog and Vicky Pugh for organising the event and to the young people of RCT for completing the sports questionnaire. Time will tell what will come of this. There is a call for Welsh speaking sports staff and a new Sports Partnership, a specific Leisure Centre or even, in the long term, private centres or gyms. In the short term, we hope to see some effort put into developing Welsh language sports – perhaps by re-establishing the Welsh Family Evenings in the Leisure Centres which were so popular.
SPRING & EASTER HOLIDAY PLAY SCHEMES STAFF IN RED
Our Welsh language Play schemes will be open as usual during half term in Abercynon, Bronllwyn, Rhydfelen and Llanhari all with a great timetable of activities including a ‘Chocolate Valentines Party’, ‘Pop Idol’ day with a visit from local pop and dance groups, the unforgettable ‘Pancakes a Week Late’ day, Six Nations Rugby, a ‘Spiders’ day and the ‘World Food Party’ to round off a very full week. The Criw Coch will be at the helm once again with Gareth Parsons, Siân Williams, Natalie Seely, Leanne Phillips, Nicola Hatch, Michelle Davies, Gerwyn Jones, Rachel Owen, Michelle Davies and others at hand to care for and entertain your children. Communities First is supporting “Hwyl a Sbri” Bronllwyn and we hope that Rhondda Cynon Taf Council will also support these schemes. The service is open between 8.30am and 5.30pm every day. You can book and pay for a place using Visa or Mastercard by calling 01443 226386.
HIGH STANDARDS OF AFTER SCHOOL STAFF IN BLUE
You can now use your credit card to pay for a place for your child in the Clwb Carco, either in the clubs themselves or by calling 01443 226386. The staff have received training with regards to credit card payments and using this method make things easier for both you and ourselves. Our staff have received a lot of training this year. All our staff have CRB checks and 84% now have a current First Aid certificate. A Food Hygiene course has been arranged and we are in the process of arranging a Sports Leadership course. Food is an important part of the service and, yes, the children still enjoy having McDonald’s but ‘Foods of the World’ offers different options with fruit, water and healthy food also receiving attention. We are also moving away from the TV and video. Of course, these facilities will still be available but there is a move towards Aerobics, Yoga and Gym Circuit Fitness as well as the usual activities such as Arts & Crafts, Cookery and board games etc. Yes, - the staff look very smart in their new blue T-Shirts! The clubs are open in Abercynon, Aberdare, Bronllwyn, Bodringallt, Castellau, Dolau, Evan James, Heol y Celyn, Garth Olwg, Llwyncelyn, Llanharan, Llynyforwyn, Pontsiôn-norton, Rhydygrug, Tonyrefail, Talbot Green, Twynyrodyn and Ynyswen. We are also considering opening a new club in the new school in Llantrisant – if you would like to see a club opened here perhaps you could telephone 01443 226386 with your details. If you’re looking for work, we hold interviews every month.
LLINOS OWEN IS LEAVING
Llinos Owen has been responsible for organising the activities for the children this year and she has done a great job. I had hoped that she would choose to stay but I understand that she wants to go and work more closely with children which is a great loss for us. Our thanks to her for her work and good luck for the future. Will the position be advertised? Well, we really need someone to carry out the work but we have to secure funding first .....
TWICE AS MANY LEARNING WELSH
I’m not sure if there are twice as many people learning Welsh now but I am told that there are a lot more are learning. At present, there are reports being written and research carried out with regards to this field. We do hold many coffee mornings including Aberdare, Mountain Ash, Penrhiwceibr, Maerdy, Llwynypia, Clydach Vale and Llantrisant with learners also meeting of their own accord in Pontypridd, Ynysybwl and Tonteg. We now have two Learners Sub-committees organising activities – one in Llantrisant, chaired by Colin Williams, and another in Aberdare chaired by Linda Spilsbury. Both are very important to us. We are working with local tutors to establish a series of Saturday Courses during the next year – so be prepared – and we will be holding St. David’s Day dinners.
POTENTIA –VALLEYS WELSH BUSINESS ASSOCIATION – TALKING FOOD AGAIN
The next Valleys Welsh Language Business Association meeting will be held on 22nd February 2005 in the RCT offices in Abercynon – and, once again, food is the theme. Following the success of the visit by pupils from Rhydfelen with the Youth Initiative we hope that a crew of innovative pupils will be available to give a presentation for us as well as a local food producer – Welsh curries have been mentioned but this is to be confirmed. Approximately 10 people will have enjoyed another Potentia course in Waking the Innovative Spirit under the leadership of Danny Grehan, Menter a Busnes with the help of Sali James and Vicky Pugh with others able to follow a course with Guto Bebb every Thursday night in March.


SIMULTANEOUS TRANSLATION COURSE
Every Monday night in March, Elin Tudur will be leading a Simultaneous Translation Course for those who are considering a career as a translator, those wanting to develop their skills, or those considering providing a service for a school, nursery or local group. Translation equipment is available for hire from Menter Iaith and we also have a community translator who will either provide a translation service or offer advice on how to arrange a translation service – Rhian Powell on 01685 877183
COMMUNITIES FIRST
OFFERING MONEY FIRST
Do you have a local Welsh language project? At present, we have money to support training and the development of small projects – well, large projects, £500 each for a number of them – how about starting a nursery group? A Cylch Ti a Fi? A new CYD group? A branch of Merched y Wawr? A Youth magazine? If you work in a Communities First area and want to run a project before the end of March let us know by calling 01685 877183. Communities First is very important to us and is a great success thanks to Lindsey Jones, Rhian James, Helen Davies and Aneirin Karadog.
OFFERING MONEY & ASKING FOR MONEY
Ask not what Menter can do for you but what can you do for Menter! Are you able to support us? We desperately need people to make monthly contributions by completing bank order forms. If you are able to make a contribution every month that would be of great help in enabling us to continue our work. We are also looking for people to help with our Tesco scheme which means that you can help us whilst shopping in Tesco – call Huw or Helen on 01443 226386 if you are able to help us.
Steffan Webb
Chief Executive
Menter Iaith Rhondda Cynon Taf