Over the past few months, Menter Iaith Sir Ddinbych has been hard at work modernising and increasing the charity’s capacity, so it can create opportunities for people to use the Welsh language within the county.
“We are a small team who achieve a lot,” explains Ruth Williams, Menter Sir Ddinbych’s chief officer, “and all credit for the Menter’s success goes to our wonderful staff who always go that extra mile.”
“Over the last few months, we have been looking for opportunities to identify volunteers who are interested in different sectors to support us to improve capacity. The purpose is to offer more support to our communities who are keen to promote activities in the Welsh language.
One of the volunteers who has worked with Menter Iaith over the past few months is Delyth Williams from Dyserth, Denbighshire. After moving back to the area to live in recent years, she noticed a decline in the Welsh-speaking community activities takingavilable in the village. She heard that Menter Iaith Sir Ddinbych was looking for volunteers to work with them, and got in touch to show her support.
Following discussions, meetings and gathering more local volunteers, Cymdeithas Gymraeg Dyserth has benefited from the professional skills of the Menter Iaith team to create a committee, constitution and establish activities in the town through the medium of Welsh.
“One of the successful events in Dyserth is the “Paned a Sgwrs” sessions which encourages new and established Welsh speakers to come together monthly to practice their Welsh. Our gratitude goes to Delyth and the crew who’ve worked hard to attract interest and encourage individuals who are keen to re-ignite their Welsh skills or to start learning from new.” said Ruth Williams.
“We thoroughly enjoy it,” explains Delyth, “and it’s wonderful to be able to offer something back to the community. Dyserth is a lovely village, with a close-knit community feel, and it’s great to be able to offer activities to people in their mother tongue and to new learners too. We now have 20 people attending monthly, so we’re delighted.”
Another village that holds similar sessions monthly is the community of Tremeirchion near St Asaph. Two who are busy working within their community, thanks to the support of Menter Iaith, are Gwyneth Littler Jones and Phyllis Bryer, both from Tremeirchion.
“We began our ‘Paned a Sgwrs’ sessions in our community pub, the Salusbury Arms, in our village a few months ago. After an evening of music in the pub, two or three people came to me and asked if I would be willing to help them set up a session for learners, as I’m a retired teacher.
“Ruth and the team at Menter Iaith Sir Ddinbych have been fantastic in bringing ideas to Phyllis and myself, helping us to draw people in and offering us guidance on the best way to promote the event. It’s going from strength to strength at the Salusbury Arms with over 25 attending every month!”
Another element of Menter Iaith’s work to increase the organisation’s resilience and sustainability was the modernising the charity’s internal systems.
Over the past few months the staff has been working to improve their ability to sell event tickets to customers through a digital card reader. Work has also been taking place to invest in their financial system and offering appropriate staff training to improve the team’s effectiveness.
“We now use a digital system to manage our budget which has greatly facilitated our work. Likewise with our marketing tasks, we have invested in marketing materials and updated our website, so that information and services can be found more easily.”
The project to modernise and increase the capacity of Menter Iaith Sir Ddinbych was funded by the UK Government and Denbighshire County Council through the Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council.
For further information regarding Menter Iaith Sir Ddinbych, please contact menter@misirddinbych.cymru call 01745 812822, or follow us on Menter Iaith Sir Ddinbych facebook page.