1. What is your Llais y Lle project?
I wanted to bring creative individuals and the community in Pontypridd together to develop the use of the Welsh language. So, with Bridie Doyle-Roberts and Becky Davies, we created activities to encourage the use of the language in a practical and everyday way and introduce it to an area where little Welsh is spoken.
2. What activities were involved?
Initially, we looked at the relationship of Pontypridd residents with the Welsh language and considered different ways of presenting the language to various audiences, such as small businesses. Following this, we organised workshops for creative individuals to create art through the Welsh medium, encouraging the use of music, visual art, poetry and more. During the summer, sessions were held with young people to provide opportunities to collaborate through Welsh – two young people are still working with me, one as a music producer, the other consulting on written productions for young people on the Connect a Thriving project.
We also organised ‘Crimbo Cymraeg’, a Christmas fair for the community. We saw this as an opportunity to encourage regular and fun language learning by creating opportunities for those needing more confidence to practise the language in a safe forum. We provided Welsh language-only humourous cards to encourage further use of the language at home.
3. What changed because of your project?
The project is still ongoing and will continue once the Llais y Lle funding comes to an end. In the future, we will work with a local café (Parc Arts) for freelancers to display Welsh artwork and further promote the language there. Bridie has also created an amazing chair with all the poetry included in the fabric.
Because of Llais y Lle, we have seen the importance of building relationships and creating 1-1 opportunities for people to practise Welsh, and this is vital to promoting the use of the language. We want to remind people to have fun whilst speaking Welsh and that using ‘Shymraeg’ still means you’re speaking the language.