Call for UK banks to accept cheques written in Cornish language
A campaign has begun to make sure that all banks in the UK accepts cheques that have been written in the Cornish language.
Lianne Wilson, who is from St Austell in Cornwall originally, but now lives in Cardiff, has launched a petition after hearing stories of cheques written in the language being refused in banks.
She said some banks, including Lloyds , have publicly stated that they won’t accept cheques written in Cornish, and that they would only accept them in English, Welsh, or Gaelic.
Banks have to accept cheques written in Welsh by law following successful campaigning on the issue.
The petition says: “We want to make it the written policy of all banks operating in the United Kingdom to be obliged accept correctly-written cheques in Cornish/Kernewek.
“Recently there have been stories of these cheques being refused in branch, even in Cornwall, despite them being accepted previously.
“Some banks, such as Lloyd’s have even publicly stated that they will not accept cheques written in Cornish (only in English, Welsh or Gaelic).
‘Home language’
It added: “Cornish is an indigenous language of Britain and is older than any of these banks. It is home language of the UK and it is the native language of a growing number of Cornish people.
“It is spoken by a growing number of Cornish folk both in Cornwall and elsewhere in the UK (as well as abroad).
“Furthermore, the rights of the Cornish are protected legally under the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, enshrining our right to expression of our cultural identity in law and making us legally equal to the Welsh, Scots and Irish (whose cheques are accepted).
“As such, we have the right to write our cheques in our language and are demanding that banks operating in the UK address this in their formal policy. Accept cheques written in Cornish!”
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Better have a go at Google Translate as well …
Beth, i ganiatau cyfiethu i ac o’r Gernyweg?
Ie, yn union hynny
Such an important symbol of the need for action – even if cheques are mostly out. I had the privilege of encouraging the WJEC via its Cornish supporting Chair Garth Jenkins to support Cornish exams Later as Chair of the Welsh Language Boards public sector committee we urged our fellow local authority members to support the language in civic life and use the template of our own experience to support Cornish Consul Kernow is still trying it’s best to develop bilingual opportunities and the Banks who treated Welsh in such a disrespectful way for so many years need to understand… Read more »
A seemingly small matter, and one that might for a while only involve the occasional transaction, but nevertheless a vitally important issue in the campaign to safeguard and promote the native linguistic biodiversity of Britain. If this campaign over cheques is successful, it’s a step forward.
May suggest the people Cornwall separate from the political control of England and rejoin Cymru. After all, we are one and the same Cymry people, who occupied the same land, speaking the same language and worshiping the same deities, until the Germanic Kingdoms united and England was born in the 10th century consuming and dividing Cernyw from the kingdoms of Cymru, as done with other Welsh speaking Cantrefi.
Dwi’n deall e’n iawn. I’m not a Cornish speaker, but I understand it.
I thought I understood it based on the Welsh, but I had it wrong.
In Welsh, pedwar deg = 40
On the cheque in the photo, peswardhek = 14