‘SAVING THE LANGUAGE’ GARETH MILES 20/10/05
It would be wonderful if we could save the Welsh language on 20/10/05! I’m sure it won’t be so easy. Despite this, there will be an interesting discussion on this day as part of the Menter Iaith AGM with Gareth Miles, a playwright and campaigner from Pontypridd looking both forward and back on the battle to safeguard the language. The meeting will be held 7 – 9pm on 20/10/05 in the Muni, Pontypridd. Business matters will be discussed 7-8pm looking at our Annual Report, our accounts and electing a new committee and members for the year to come. Gareth Miles will begin his address after 8pm with a discussion to follow. If you’d like to take part in the Menter Iaith efforts to benefit the language, would like to know more about the role of Menter Iaith or would like to become a Menter Iaith committee member then come to the meeting. There’s no need to book your place beforehand but if you’d like to confirm your attendance or offer your apologies please telephone 01443 226386. If you’d like the meeting to consider a specific nominee please send a written nomination including the name of the nominee and by whom it is seconded to the Chief Executive by 5 o’clock on 14th October 2005. Simultaneous translation will be available in order that non-Welsh speakers may contribute to the event and tea and coffee will be available before 7pm and 8pm. Be there!

REQUESTS FOR HELP TO USE THE WELSH LANGUAGE
The majority of the work of a Chief Executive concerns networking and talking to other people within the area. Very often this means talking to non-Welsh speakers or bodies which don’t use the Welsh language at the moment because our target is to change the situation. It was lovely to register a great interest in the Welsh language in a number of meetings recently. The Volunteering Alliance is a partnership of community and voluntary organisations arranged by Interlink, not too dissimilar to the Welsh Voluntary Sector Forum but without the emphasis on the Welsh language. During the meetings, a number of bodies asked about help with translation in their meetings. The same was true in a meeting with the Institute of Fundraising Wales – you’ll immediately understand why I went there - where there was a very strong awareness of the work of Menter Iaith, the move towards using the Welsh language and requests for help with translation and developing Welsh language projects. The BBC RAW project – Reading more And Writing better - was another example of an interesting piece of networking and it’s an opportunity to support the efforts of BBC staff to ensure the project’s commitment to the Welsh language as well as promoting the name and objectives of Menter Iaith within the other 40 organisations present at the meeting. The project will begin both on TV and radio in the near future and will continue to promote literacy and an informal interest in reading and writing for the next 3 years. Obviously, this is a great opportunity for Menter Iaith and other people who would like to promote reading and writing in Welsh and we hope to develop a number of activities such as reading clubs, quizzes etc. If you’d like to assist us come to the AGM and offer your help. I hope that you appreciate the promotion work carried out amongst over 90 various organisations mentioned here. You’ll get an idea of the size of our task when you consider that this networking took place within a 24hr period and that the other work of Menter Iaith continued in the meantime.

LAUNCH OF “WAW”
A special meeting of the RhCT Welsh Voluntary Sector Forum took place recently in Interlink with the launch of “WAW”, a bilingual handbook of all Welsh language activities held within Rhondda Cynon Taf. In launching ‘WAW’ we had the full support of Leighton Andrews AM, RhCT Council Officers Gill Evans, responsible for libraries and Caroline Mortimer, Welsh Language Officer. Unfortunately Lindsay Jones couldn’t be present but Menter Iaith sends our thanks to both Lindsay and Rhian James for their hard work in preparing the handbook. There are a few minor mistakes in the content of the handbook and I now realise that I was to blame as I didn’t realise that I was supposed to proof read the copy which I received before it went to print … oh well. Let us concentrate on the successes. The handbook looks great and is full of very useful information. It’s the product of a close, successful partnership between Menter Iaith and RhCT Council. It’s an immense contribution to the future of the Welsh language in Rhondda Cynon Taf. It was interesting to listen to the speakers during the launch and, at the end of the speeches, I realised that everyone who had spoken had learnt the language in adulthood which is proof of the success of those teaching Welsh and CYD and the fact that it’s possible to change to a different language in quite a dramatic fashion. The Forum went on to discuss youth work in the area with very useful contributions from representatives of the Duke of Edinburgh Award, Urdd Gobaith Cymru which carries out a huge amount of fantastic work in the valleys, Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg and their comprehensive strategy as well as CIC co-ordinators who gave their first ever public PowerPoint presentation. Not only did the CIC officers succeed in delivering their contribution, they also made a good attempt at trying to answer the hardest question for all of us – Are you succeeding in trying to persuade young people to use the Welsh language?

WELSH LANGUAGE BUSINESS
Above are the names of the guest speakers at the next meeting of the Valleys Welsh Language Business Association which will be held from 6 o’clock on 11/10/05 in the RhCT Council offices in Abercynon – another example of or partnership with the county council. Venture Wales and Menter a Busnes are agencies which support people who want to develop businesses, business ideas or start up a completely new business. We’ll find out how much support they can offer by listening to what they have to say in the meeting. We’ll also discover what the new company U Deserve a Medal has to offer via their bilingual website which is mainly attempting to target Welsh speakers. The evening has been arranged by Rhys James, our part-time business officer who can be contacted on 01685 882299. A buffet will be provided at 6pm with a simultaneous translation service in order that non-Welsh speakers may also contribute to the meeting.

CHILDREN,
MONEY & POLITICS
You’ll have noticed that I’ve mentioned our appreciation of our successful partnership with Rhondda Cynon Taf Council. We’re proud of what this partnership has achieved but this doesn’t mean that we’re completely satisfied. Quite often there are examples of a failure to comply with the language policy of the authority and as a member of the Taskforce which attempts to improve this, we work to ensure that the language policy is a success. We are also working to ensure the future of our Children’s Services and have met with politicians of the RhCT Council Cabinet and senior officials of the Rhondda Cynon Taf Council Children’s Services Department. Unfortunately, the message is the same from both camps. There’s no funding for the Menter Iaith Playschemes. From the perspective of the person responsible who’s trying to maintain these services I have to emphasise that there won’t be a future for them – they will close – if no financial support is received from RhCT Council. Have I explained this clearly enough for everyone to understand the situation? The least successful Clybiau Carco have received a warning that they could close by Christmas. The RhCT Council Leader Russell Roberts has suggested holding another meeting with Menter Iaith Chairpersons if we’re not satisfied with the result of our meeting with council staff. I’ll make no qualms of telling our chairpersons that I’m not satisfied with the result of the meeting and that I suggest that they accept the offer of a further meeting. From the point of view of the public, parents and headteachers from the various schools where we currently provide the services in addition to councillors, other politicians and financiers perhaps you should consider coming to our AGM and asking a few questions?

Many thanks to the other Menter Iaith staff who carry out excellent work but whom I haven’t had the opportunity to mention – you’re well aware aren’t you? Translation, CIC Youth Work, Community Development, Coffee Mornings and events for Welsh learners, Open Sessions in Llantrisant on 07/10/05, Rhydywaun, Treorci and Pontypridd – so much work but not enough room in the paper….
Steffan Webb
Chief Executive
Menter Iaith Rhondda Cynon Taf