Denbighshire’s Menter Iaith has received a national award at the Mentrau Iaith Celebration event for their Minecraft and Lego activities for children and young people.

In a special event at the Temple of Peace in Cardiff to celebrate the work of the Mentrau Iaith which promote the use of the Welsh language throughout Wales, the charity, which works in Denbighshire, had the opportunity to share the story of their project and take pride in in their success in receiving the award.

According to Ruth Williams, Chief Officer at Menter Iaith Sir Ddinbych: “We, as a team, are very proud of the success of the scheme and so grateful to be recognised in these national awards. It was very nice for three of us to attend a prestigious ceremony in Cardiff and to hear that we had won against several other project sin the Children & Young People category!

“The Bocs Trysor project came into existence during the Covid-19 lockdown when the opportunity was seen to work digitally through the medium of Welsh in order to reach children and young people safely.”

Thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery fund, we managed to develop a pilot of Minecraft activities on-line which provided play opportunities through the medium of Welsh.

“Promoting local heritage brings its community to life,” explains Ruth Williams. “By receiving the sponsorship, this was an opportunity for us to develop the pilot and create a resource that presented local history, the heritage of our square mile to children and young people.

“By playing and socialising within the Lego and Minecraft workshops digitally and later on in face-to-face sessions, we were able to offer social provision that appealed to the children through the medium of Welsh. Receiving recognition for the work brings great pride to us all”

The Bocs Trysor programme of activities has ensured that over 600 children and young people have so far taken part in re-creating

  • Dinas Brân Castle
  • the medieval walled town of Denbigh
  • the village of Capel Celyn
  • the market town of Ruthin
  • and several other historic locations in the county.

As part of the development work, the Menter had to invest in digital tools and training to use specific servers for Minecraft, connecting to them on different devices and transferring information easily for everyone to access the technology .

Gwion Tomos-Jones, the Menter’s Children & Young People Officer added: “we can now hold workshops in more historic locations to offer young people a direct experience of a historical area or location. With further financial support, there are no obstacles”

According to Menter Iaith Sir Ddinbych Chairman, Arwel Roberts: “The Bocs Trysor project has succeeded because of the bold ideas and motivation of the Menter’s staff which is funded by the Welsh Government and the financial collaboration from the Heritage Lottery. We are proud that the small group of staff have received this national award for their work ensuring a credible and successful resource that is easy to imitate in other areas.

“Receiving the praise and interest of the Minister for the Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles in the scheme in May 2022 at the Urdd Eisteddfod field, was also recognition of the ingenuity of the crew. Congratulations to the whole team.”