Wales YFC News
Wales YFC’s Welsh Celebration
During the Royal Welsh week, and for the first time ever, Wales YFC hosted a Welsh reception to celebrate the Welsh culture and language within the organisation. It was a pleasure to look back over the last year and recognise the valuable work the organisations’ actions has had on the Welsh language and culture in Wales and to also look forward to the future prosper of the language and culture in our organisation. We were fortunate to have the company of Caryl Jones, a member of the Wales YFC Eisteddfod committee, Daisy Plews Dysgwr y Flwyddyn 2023 (Learner of the Year), Olwen Jones, the winner of the Calondid Award, and Carys Thomas, Carmarthenshire’s County Organiser. At the event with Rhys Richards, Wales YFC’s chairman leading the reception.
Whilst looking back over the last year, it was wonderful to celebrate the success of our Wales YFC Eisteddfod in Ynys Môn, with nearly 600 members competing. It was great to see our members talents being enjoyed by a large crowd not only at the event, but Wales wide with S4C broadcasting the event. The Welsh reception was a great opportunity to launch the Wales YFC 2024 Eisteddfod Programme with Caryl Jones, a member of the Eisteddfod committee and vice-chair of Carmarthenshire taking stage to advertise what this years’ Eisteddfod will have to offer.
It was a pleasure also to have the company of Daisy, Dysgwr y Flwyddyn 2023 and Olwen, winner of the Calondid award 2023 during the event. Hearing them both share their experiences within YFC and seeing their passion for the Welsh language was an inspiration. We, as an organisation are so fortunate to have members and leaders that are so enthusiastic and hardworking, who safeguard and ensure the future of our language. The reception was a great opportunity to launch both the Dysgwr y Flwyddyn and Calondid award for the year 2024/5, so if you’d like to nominate yourself or another member or leader, click on the links below.
Another exciting development from the last year is our writing course that is being led by the authors, Anni Llyn and Bethan Gwanas, with the support of the Welsh Book Council. It is a privilege to see members developing their writing skills and we are proud to announce another writing workshop at Ty Newydd on the 8th of September 2024. If you are interested in being a part of this project or in joining us on the 8th, get in contact with Elliw: swyddogcymraeg@yfc-wales.org.uk.
The show was another busy week for Wales YFC, full of competitions and socialising. It was great to hear that the international reception announcing a trip to Patagonia, giving members an opportunity to explore a part of Welsh history in South America. Our members were also busy taking over the Welsh Language Commissioner’s Instagram page to advertise and celebrate the use of the Welsh language on the show ground.
To finish, we were joined by Carys, Carmarthenshire’s county organiser, to share a new exciting project in collaboration with Arfor. The video project follows two members of Carmarthenshire YFC, highlighting the opportunities available to young in rural Wales. The videos reinforce a powerful message that people can live and thrive in our communities through the medium of Welsh, and we are incredibly proud that YFC plays a huge role in this.
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank every individual, group and organisation that have supported us during the last year. It is a pleasure to work for an organisation that plays such a key role in our rural communities and in safeguarding our Welsh language and culture. We are incredibly grateful for every support.
