New schemes launched to boost Welsh-speaking heartlands

Government funding has been announced to help boost the economies of Welsh language communities.

The new support is part of the Welsh Government’s three-year multi-million-pound ARFOR programme and is part of the Welsh Government’s Co-operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru.

The new round of support builds on the experience and evaluation of the earlier ARFOR programme which launched in 2019.

Economy Minister Vaughan Gething and Plaid Cymru Designated Member Cefin Campbell announced details of the programme at the National Eisteddfod in Llŷn ac Eifionydd today.

Attending a launch event with the Leaders of Anglesey, Gwynedd, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire Councils, the Economy Minister and Designated Member outlined the programme which will be delivered by the local authorities and aims to strengthen the economic resilience of Welsh language strongholds – and create jobs to support the language.

The funding, which is available to Gwynedd, Ynys Môn, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, is supporting a number of strategic interventions, including a focus on opportunities for young people and families, to enable them to stay in or return to their home communities.

Launching the programme, Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said: “ARFOR 2 has the potential to make a significant difference in our Welsh speaking heartlands, by taking forward our ambitions of spreading economic prosperity across Wales.

“By working with our local authority partners, we want to support communities that are the strongholds of the Welsh language to flourish through economic interventions and contribute to increasing opportunities to see and use the Welsh language on a daily basis.”

Designated Member Cefin Campbell said: “ARFOR is an exciting programme to support and grow the local economy and the Welsh language together. By investing in these areas, we will encourage and enable entrepreneurship and help businesses grow. This will support vibrant, thriving communities.

“It is great to be at the National Eisteddfod to highlight the programmes supported by ARFOR, a key project that has been enabled by the Co-operation Agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government.”

Strands

There are five different strand to the ARFOR programme – these are:

Llwyddo’n Lleol 2050 – A scheme for young people and young families under 35 to gain job opportunities and experiences that can encourage people to stay or return to their indigenous communities. Over the next few weeks, we will welcome applications from applicants to be part of the scheme. This support is administered by Menter Môn in partnership with Menter and Busnes. £3m will be invested to implement the project.  More details can be found here.

Cymunedau Mentrus – a fund that offers support to private / Community / social enterprises to develop new services / products within communities with a view to developing the local economy and increasing visibility of the Welsh language. For more details visit www.rhaglenarfor.cymru

Cronfa Her – a package of support for meeting the local and regional challenges of Anglesey, Gwynedd, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire. Individuals with innovative ideas to meet the economic challenges of the ARFOR Region will have the opportunity to apply for financial support. £2.6m will be invested to implement the project which will be delivered by Menter Môn in partnership with Menter and Busnes

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning – Wavehill has been appointed to carry out the monitoring and evaluation of the ARFOR Programme to identify what has been learnt from the link between the local economy and the Welsh language. This work is in its early stages but more details are available at www.rhaglenarfor.cymru

Bwrlwm ARFOR is about how businesses use Welsh and the benefit of doing so.  The tender for this work is now live. For more information visit www.rhaglenarfor.cymru.

Applications close on August 14.