FOLLOWING the approval of its Welsh Language Promotion Strategy by Cabinet on Monday, May 22, Carmarthenshire County Council wishes to invite members of the media to the official launch of its Welsh Language Promotion Strategy at the Urdd Eisteddfod, Llandovery.
The Welsh Language Promotion Strategy has been created in partnership with the Carmarthenshire Welsh Language Strategic Forum.
The recently published 2021 Population Census Results highlighted that Carmarthenshire experienced the highest percentage loss of Welsh speakers of all the counties of Wales, for the second decade running.
Recognising the alarming decline in the number of Welsh speakers within the county, the local authority is taking firm and confident action to stop this damaging trend and will set out its plans at the launch of its Welsh Language Promotion Strategy at the Urdd Eisteddfod in Llandovery.
There are four high-level objectives as well as a set of sub-objectives identified within the Strategy which will enable Carmarthenshire County Council to achieve its aim. An Action Plan will also be prepared to drive forward its implementation.
The high-level objectives are:
Objective 1. An Increase in Welsh speakers.
Objective 2. Maintaining the pride, use and confidence of the County’s residents in the Welsh language.
Objective 3. Welsh as the norm in the workplace and workforce.
Objective 4. Thriving Welsh communities.
Cllr. Glynog Davies, Cabinet Member for Education and the Welsh Language said: “The decline in the number of Welsh speakers within our communities is a grave concern and an issue that we must address. This strategy will be integral in our commitment to turn the tide in Carmarthenshire and, I believe, provide an example to the whole of Wales to follow.
“I would like to thank all the County Council’s partners for their willing collaboration through the County’s Welsh Language Strategic Forum on the development of the Welsh language Promotion Strategy, for which the Council is statutorily responsible. It wouldn’t have been possible to deliver the Strategy without the full support of the Forum and I look forward to another five-year period of working together for the benefit of the Welsh language in Carmarthenshire.
“I’m looking forward to launching the Welsh Language Promotion Strategy at the Urdd Eisteddfod next week. It’s important that we look confidently to the future to encourage confidence within Welsh speakers to use the language across all aspects of their lives.”
The session at the Eisteddfod will be chaired by Meri Huws, former Welsh Language Commissioner and Chair of the Carmarthenshire Welsh Language Strategic Forum.
If you wish to attend the launch of the Welsh Language Promotion Strategy at the Urdd Eisteddfod in Llandovery, please email [email protected] by 16:00hrs on Wednesday, 31 May.
