The Outcome of the Mentrau Iaith and Families Project

I would like to express my thanks for the opportunity to make this statement. Mae'r gwaith y mae Mentrau Iaith yn ei wneud yn bwysig iawn i ddyfodol yr iaith Gymraeg.

If the Welsh language is to flourish as a living language in Wales, it is not only a matter of increasing the number of  people able to speak the Welsh language fluently. I do not believe that a living language can survive in the long term unless it is used in all aspects of life. Many more children are learning to speak Welsh fluently as a result of formal schooling. Many people have learned Welsh and are continuing to do so because they need that skill in their professional lives. These developments are very welcome, but on their own will not secure the language for future generations. It should not be compartmentalised. There must also be social contexts in which people are able to speak Welsh. In this respect we need to develop a robust strategy which underpins the drive to promote the use of Welsh within communities..

The present pattern of the use of Welsh within communities, is a complex one.  There is a very varied picture which depends not so much on numbers but on the density of Welsh speakers within any area.

One of the most important initiatives to have been established in the past 10 – 12 years in terms of promoting the use of Welsh within communities right across Wales has been the establishment of the Mentrau Iaith.  These are community based language initiatives which undertake the work of promoting bilingualism within communities.  

Last year saw the 10th anniversary of the first Menter Iaith, Menter Cwm Gwendraeth.  This Menter Iaith was initially established following  the visit of the Urdd Eisteddfod to the area in 1989. This highlighted the opportunities for young people to celebrate Welsh culture. It acted as a catalyst, providing a focal point for local volunteers to use the Welsh language in a wider context.  It brought individuals together to work towards a common aim, creating and strengthening vital community spirit.  Recognising that such spirit should be sustained and nurtured for the future, the people of the Gwendraeth valley set about establishing a language initiative. The aim of this was to promote social and cultural activities through the medium of Welsh – the natural and living language of the area.

Menter Iaith Cwm Gwendraeth rose from the grass roots where local people saw a need and set about fulfilling that need in terms of promoting Welsh within their community.  Very quickly, other people and communities in Wales saw that the initiative that was established in the Gwendraeth Valley was not only interesting but also successful.  The demand for Mentrau Iaith grew at quite a dramatic rate.  By now there are 23 Mentrau Iaith established right across Wales.  The vast majority of these Mentrau Iaith are based on Local Authority areas. Because of this the Mentrau are able to work in partnership with Local Authorities in promoting the Welsh Language.  The majority of the Mentrau have been established during the past 5 years, with the most recent opening in Swansea and Wrexham over the past 6 months.

What the other 22 Mentrau have done is to take on board the fundamental principles developed by Menter Cwm Gwendraeth, namely community participation. Each Menter, within each county, has to work within a structure most suited to local needs. The Mentrau are organisations which nurture and support, they do not impose.

The Mentrau can  help to guide local people towards opportunities which exist within communities to make the most of their language skills.
On the other hand, if the Mentrau identify a gap in bilingual provision within their own community, they are very well placed to facilitate the development of the provision, either on their own initiative or in partnership with others.  A good example of Partnership working is in Cardiff where Menter Caerdydd and the Urdd have been successful in securing funding to appoint a Youth Officer to work with secondary school young people and provide social opportunities for them through the medium of Welsh.

I hope some of you have had the opportunity to visit your local Menter Iaith, and to see first hand, as I have done, the work that they do.
Menter Mon, for instance has done a great deal of work with 3 key companies which are central to the economy of the island. They have developed partnership agreements with Cwmni Coed Môn, Cwmni Aliminiwm Môn and Stena.  

Other examples of Mentrau projects include local childcare provision, sports tournaments for children and young people, social activities for learners, translation, and the production of resources such as information packs for local businesses. These are all examples of the vital ingredients which form part of community life.

During 2000, the Welsh Language Board commissioned an independent review of the work of the Mentrau Iaith. When Iaith Cyf reported with its findings at the beginning of 2001, it was able to point to much good practice in the Mentrau. The report also suggested that the Mentrau were insufficiently supported. Both the Assembly and the Welsh Language Board has responded to this report. In 1999/2000 the Mentrau received just under £300 thousand of  Assembly resources. In this financial year the figure is almost £662 thousand.

Since the production of the report, the Welsh Language Board has  been working with the Mentrau to deal with those recommendations which were judged to be feasible to implement. The network of Mentrau Iaith in Wales is now better supported, with a dedicated member of staff at the Welsh Language Board.

The Assembly has recently been able to give a further boost to good practice in the Mentrau. Mentrau Iaith in North Wales developed a Welcome Pack which is distributed, amongst other ways, through estate agents. These packs help people to understand the area into which they are moving, offer information on local amenities and opportunities to become involved in the community. The Finance Minister and I agreed that this good practice should be extended and have allocated an additional £10 thousand to the Welsh Language Board to enable them to develop a web site for the purpose.

Another essential aspect of promoting the Welsh language at both a personal and social level is the emphasis we are now placing on language transfer.  Transferring your language on to the next generation is a sign of respect for that language and a mark of its importance for you.  One of the major problems facing minority languages throughout the world is that parents do not pass them on to their children. This is a challenge.

For around 4 years, the Welsh Language Board has been distributing leaflets on the benefits of bilingualism in the "Bounty" packs which are distributed to 31,000 mothers who give birth in Wales every year. In 1999-2000 the Board ran a pilot project in Carmarthenshire, in collaboration with midwives, health visitors and Mentrau Iaith Myrddin. The Board developed materials to assist professionals to discuss language choice in the home with new parents. The project was evaluated and judged to be having the desired effect. The project was extended to Denbighshire and Conwy in the following year.

In this financial year and the subsequent two years, the Assembly has already committed around  half a million pounds to extending this pilot throughout Wales. I can confidently call it a groundbreaking scheme because, as of yet, no similar scheme is running anywhere else in Europe.  The eyes of other minority language communities are on us, and they are ready to learn from our experiences.

There is now  a network of 9 field officers and a development officer working with Midwives and Health Visitors, sharing information on the advantages and means of raising children bilingually.  This takes the language into the very domain at the heart of community life – the home.  It reinforces the work the Mentrau are doing, and they are therefore important partners in the project.  It is too early to be talking about the results of this project throughout Wales, but if it is successful, it could become an international model.

We in the Assembly have consistently pledged our support to community initiatives such as the Mentrau Iaith and the Families project. The future of the language depends on its survival in communities.

It is significant that the Welsh word for Welshman is Cymro, which means someone from the same community. We need to build on this feeling of community to build a bilingual Wales.