Crayons on table

Head4Arts, an organisation working on community arts projects in the South East Wales valleys, will be holding a creative writing workshop through the medium of Welsh at the Hay festival on 26 May, with professional storyteller Tamar Eluned Williams.

This workshop, aimed at children aged 4 to 11, is part of a wider programme of Welsh-medium activities now being organised by Head4Arts. The organisation's commitment to the Welsh language is such that they have received official recognition of the Cynnig Cymraeg (Welsh language offer) from the Commissioner.

The Cynnig Cymraeg is a scheme by the Welsh Language Commissioner to encourage increase in the use of the Welsh language by companies and charities. The scheme was launched to give official recognition to institutions that demonstrate to the Commissioner that they can provide some services through the medium of Welsh.

Sioned Birchall, Promotion and Facilitation Officer with the Welsh Language Commissioner said, ‘We are proud of the partnership that has developed between us and the Head4Arts organisation and consider it extremely important to provide opportunities for children to use their Welsh outside the classroom.’ 

She added, ‘We are working with a range of organisations that have received the Cynnig Cymraeg from us and look forward to working with a number of other companies and charities in the future. As a result of receiving the Cynnig Cymraeg, we want to see people from across Wales using the variety of services available to them through the medium of Welsh.’

According to Kate Strudwick, Creative Director for Head4Arts, ‘Gaining the Cynnig Cymraeg is an important milestone for Head4Arts. As a community arts organisation operating in Wales, we know it is essential to be able to connect with our participants who choose to engage with us in Welsh. The Cynnig Cymraeg lets people know what they can expect from us and helps us focus on improving our Welsh language services. This recent project involves the creation of a storybook to support learning about climate change and biodiversity (Y Llyfrgell Bywyd / The Library of Life), as well free training and resources for teachers in both languages. We look forward to presenting the workshop as part of this year’s Hay Festival Online programme.’

For more information and to book a place on the free workshop which is held on 26  May at 9am visit Hay Festival 2021 - Hay Festival