Cardiff and Vale College benefits from Cymraeg 2050 grant

A scheme to encourage people to speak Welsh at Cardiff and Vale College is one of 26 innovative projects that has been awarded part of the Cymraeg 2050 £425,000 funding by the Welsh Government.

The projects are designed to promote Welsh in the community and Welsh language technology. The funding was announced by Minister for the Welsh Language and Lifelong Learning Eluned Morgan, who visited the College earlier this week.

The Cymraeg 2050 Grant is a key element of the Welsh language strategy, Cymraeg 2050: A million Welsh speakers. It provides grants to fund innovative, short-term projects which aim to increase people’s daily use of the language and to promote technology which supports the use of Welsh.

Cardiff and Vale College’s project involves swipe technology to encourage and reward the use of Welsh across its campuses.

Cardiff and Vale College Principal Kay Martin said: “At Cardiff and Vale College we are proud to be Welsh and strongly believe that being bilingual increases employability so we encourage and support the use of Welsh by staff and students. We are extremely pleased to receive this funding to expand our existing portfolio of support for Welsh speakers that will help the Welsh Government achieve its target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050.”

The Minister said: “We want the use of Welsh to be a routine part of everyday life so that speakers at all levels feel confident in in using it in formal and informal situations. The projects announced today will make it easier for people to use the language, whether face to face in the community and in the workplace or through dual platforms.

“It is very heartening that we have had to increase the fund to accommodate the excellent projects put forward to us. We’re under no illusion about the challenge of creating a million Welsh speakers by 2050 and I’m delighted there are so many organisations and people who are willing to join us in this task.”