NEW TEAM
MEMBERS WANTED
We are currently searching for new team members including a CIC Youth Co-ordinator to be based in the Urdd Centre, Aberdare, and a Children’s Services Co-ordinator to be based in Llantrisant. We are also looking for staff to develop our numerous Clwb Carco especially staff who currently work in the schools - a close working partnership with the school ensures that the clubs perform that much better. If you are interested in working for Menter Iaith contact me on 07976 167086 to discuss the positions or contact our Llantrisant office on 01443 226386 for a Clwb Carco application form.

VOLUNTARY SECTOR
FORUM MEETING
The next meetings of the Welsh Voluntary Sector Forum will be held on 21/04/05 discussing ‘Business in the Community’, 02/06/05 discussing the Assembly & RCT Council ‘Better Quality of Life’ schemes, 22/09/05 discussing ‘Youth Work’ and 17/11/05 discussing ‘Fundraising’ which will be an opportunity for every Welsh community group to benefit from the various grants available. These meetings are held in conjunction with our partners Interlink who work on behalf of all community and voluntary groups within RCT. If your group or society isn’t already a member of Interlink contact them on 01443 485337 for more details - they are able to help every group in some way and have a number of Welsh speaking staff.

SADWRN SIARAD
FOR LEARNERS
The Sadwrn Siarad will be held in partnership with the Glamorgan Welsh for Adults Consortium and local colleges in the new Aman Centre - the old Aman school - on Saturday 21/05/05. The lessons will cater for 5 levels of ability including taster sessions if you have friends who want to learn Welsh or get an idea of the process involved in learning Welsh, a group for the more experienced and all levels in between. There will be a Welsh book shop for you to buy cards, books etc and crèche facilities will be available for parents who wish to bring their children. There will also be live entertainment to keep everyone amused during the day. Full details and application forms are available from our Aberdare office on 01685 877183.

RESEARCHING
MOTIVATING
LEARNERS
We continue to strive to generate research into this essential field by inviting colleges and research students to consider a number of relevant questions and hope that some work will be carried out during the next academic year. It is our intention to place the findings on the Menter Iaith website along with the local Welsh for Adults booklet so that people can access the information via their computer.

WELSH COFFEE
MORNINGS
It’s interesting to see that more and more Welsh speakers are joining our Coffee Mornings held throughout RCT. The Coffee Mornings were originally held for learners but by now a number of first language Welsh speakers are participating in the sessions and the learners have progressed and now speak Welsh naturally and contribute greatly to Welsh life in the area. Our Coffee Mornings are held in Aberdare, Mountain Ash, Penrhiwceibr, Maerdy, Llwynypia, Clydach Vale, Pontypridd and Llantrisant. Similar, independent, Coffee Mornings are held in Coryton, Tonteg, Ynysybwl and Aberdare. Menter Iaith now also provide Welsh sessions in residential homes within RCT where there are a number of Welsh speakers who are very eager to keep hold of the language and their Welsh identity and have recently had the opportunity to have a sing-a-long and learn about Patagonia. The St. Dwynwen evening - with thanks to Bwrdd yr Iaith for providing the balloons and cards to mark the occasion - the performance by Heather Jones and the St. David’s Day dinners were extremely successful. With regards to trips … two trips to the Millennium Centre were required as over 70 people attended, Cyfarthfa Castle welcomed the Welsh learners from the Rhondda and a number of other Welsh societies have taken advantage of the Communities First money which was available to them in order to strengthen their communities by going on various trips. Fair play to the Assembly and RCT Council for funding elements of this work.

LEARNERS
COMMITTEE MEETINGS
The next Menter Iaith Learners Committee meeting is expected to be held in Llantrisant on 20/05/05, in Aberdare on 03/05/05 and in the Rhondda on 17/05/05. Full details are available from our Aberdare office on 01685 877183.

WHITSUN PLAYSCHEMES
WITH CRIW COCH
Doesn’t time fly? The Easter Play schemes were held as a result of funding from the Assembly and RCT Council with the Whitsun Playschemes, held over three days, run with Menter Iaith meeting the cost without any specific grant. Contact us for a form or visit our website to book a place for your child to enjoy ‘Foods of the World’, sports and visits from famous cartoon characters - a recent visit by Spiderman was very popular with Scooby Doo and Shrek the visitors at Easter. There will also be swimming, a bouncy castle and Arts & Crafts etc - children have a fine life nowadays.

CLWB CARCO
MEETINGS
We hope to arrange a series of Clwb Carco Open Meetings once again this year in order to discuss the future of the clubs. The clubs are run in partnership with the schools and, though some schools give their wholehearted support, some schools consider the clubs as an external commodity which they regard as a burden rather than a valuable resource. Parents often choose schools based on the Clwb Carco provision available. Parents depend on the service and are very grateful to Menter Iaith for providing it.

MUSIC STRATEGY
AT WORK
A number of Welsh rock, pop and rap evenings will be held during the next few months with the county and district rounds of the Menter Iaith Cymru and BBC Radio Cymru C2 ‘Battle of the Bands’ in Clwb y Bont on 14/05/05 with an invitation extended to every new band to give it a go. Then in the Pop Factory on 18/06/05 the best bands will compete in the district round with the winners going through to the final battle on a national level with the chance to win a very worthwhile prize thanks to the BBC. Hot on the heels of this, a very special evening will be held in the Muni, Pontypridd as part of the Parti Ponty weekend on Saturday 02/07/05.

PARTI PONTY
WEEKEND
Make a note of the dates Friday 1st July, Saturday 2nd July & Sunday 3rd July - Parti Ponty has doubled in size this year with the support of RCT Council who want to market the whole weekend as ‘Parti Ponty’ which will be in Welsh on Friday & Saturday and bilingual on Sunday and will hopefully open the door for more people to start to learn Welsh or choose Welsh medium education for their children. If you would like to have a stall or the chance to perform this year contact our Llantrisant office on 01443 226386.

OUR
THANKS
I would like to thank everyone who has made a financial contribution to Menter Iaith - this is a great help to us. I know that some will say that the Assembly or RCT Council should fund Welsh services and, of course, this is true to some extent, but if we want to extend the services available we have to use every available penny and also if we expect politicians to contribute to the work we have to show that the community wants the services and contributes as much as possible. We are able to increase your contributions by claiming back approx 27% of the tax so please keep it up! Thanks also to the number of experts who offer their time and services free of charge towards such things as personnel work which is also very important to us and helps keep the work going. Remember that we have great translation, community development and youth facilities but there’s not enough time or space to mention these this time. If you would like to make a suggestion, complain or praise with regards to our work please complete the form below.

Steffan Webb
Chief Executive
Menter Iaith Rhondda Cynon Taf