1st Issue - May 2008

Welcome to Camau – Newsletter for Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint!

We intend to publish this quarterly newsletter to keep in contact with you, our members, partners and supporters. We also hope to attract more volunteers and members by giving them a taste of the work we do at Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint, and to also inform them about future events. Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint belongs to everybody that works and lives in the County. We would love to hear about any ideas you may have or any feedback you would like to give us about our activities.

Harri Bryn Jones – Chairman; Gwawr Cordiner – Chief Officer

First Steps "Kids Soak It Up" Campaign to Promote Welsh Medium Education "Small children learn languages easily. They soak up language like a sponge soaks up water." We organised a series of events in the Holywell and Buckley area during February and March 2008 to promote the benefits of Welsh medium education to new parents and parents to be. A puppet show with Cwmni Cortyn in Holywell Leisure Centre A Nursery Music Session in the Old Library in Halkyn A Sali Mali party at the Cylch Ti a Fi in Buckley A Mother’s Day craft session with Mari Gwent, at the Cylch Ti a Fi in Greenfield Distributing information packs at the new Tesco store, Holywell, on St David’s Day During Sali Mali’s Party at Buckley, we were delighted to meet one of the parents, Jane Puplett. Jane received a Kids Soak It Up pack last year, from one of her friends who visited the Asda Store at Queensferry, and as a result decided to move to Flintshire from Ellesmere Port. Jane explains, ":This gave us the access to information we needed to make educational choices for our children. We moved to Mold in June 2007. Now our eldest child attends the Cylch Meithrin and I take our youngest child to the three Ti a Fi groups. Without this campaign I believe our children would have missed the opportunity to benefit from the Welsh language.": Following on from the response at Halkyn, the Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin launched a new Cylch Ti a Fi at the Old Library Halkyn on the 29th of April. Please contact Marian Antrobus on 07792 946986 for further information or for a full list of Cylchoedd in the county contact http://www.mym.co.uk/	Welsh Learners Eisteddfod North East Wales The catchment of the Welsh Learners Eisteddfod was extended this year to include Denbighshire and Wrexham with the co-operation of Menter Iaith Sir Ddinbych, and Menter Maelor. The canteen at Deeside College, Connahs Quay was full of enthusiastic competitors on 22nd of February. Congratulations to Peter Jones of Rosset, Wrexham on winning the chair for the third time - Triple Crown! The Welsh Learners Eisteddfod will be visiting each of the three counties in turn, with Denbighshire welcoming the Eisteddfod in 2009. Jan Wilson Jones judging the cookery competition Call into our Welsh Chin Wag sessions: The Pavilion, Flint - Wednesday - 10.30 County Hall, Mold - Thursday - 12.30 Deeside College - Wednesdayr - 12.30 Ruthin Castle Pub, Mold -Nos Fercher -20.30 Would you like to attend our Welsh Chin Wag Sessions? For more information, contact mailto:ellie@menteriaithsiryfflint.co.uk?subject=Sesiynau%20Sgwrs


Happy Birthday!
January was an important milestone in the history of Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint, as we celebrated our tenth anniversary. Everyone who has been involved in establishing and developing Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint over the last ten years should feel very proud about what has been achieved so far to promote the Welsh language and further bilingualism within Flintshire. The celebrations began with a Plygain - an evening of hymn singing in the vestry of Bethesda Chapel Mold. We had fantastic weather on Saturday 12th January for our family walk through the dunes and beach of Talacre, in the company of Iwan Roberts, from the Edward Llwyd Society. For more information about walks in your area, contact Cymdeithas Edward Llwyd.	Members and Staff on the Family Walk across Talacre Beach
Rhys Jones, Caryl Parry Jones and Gwawr Cordiner wishing the Menter a Happy Birthday	A tenth anniversary party was held on Tuesday night the 22nd of January, in Deeside College, Connah’s Quay. The party was an opportunity for us to say ‘diolch’ to all the individuals and organisations that have worked with the Menter over the last decade. Especially our members that have voluntarily given their time over the years, and our main sponsors the Welsh Language Board, Deeside College and Flintshire County Council. An entertaining evening was had in the company of Rhys Jones and his daughter Caryl Parry Jones, both very proud of their Welsh upbringing in Flintshire. We were pleased to hear that Caryl continually acts as an ambassador for Flintshire!
The anniversary celebrations came to an end with a St Dwynwen gig in the Bryn Griffiths Club, Mold, with Mattoidz, Monte Cassino and Six Ton Dog. A quiz for young people was held at the Rhuthun Castle Pub in Mold on the 30th of January. If you want to see some more of Mattoidz, click on the picture!
	A New Image for the Future During the anniversary party we also launched our new logo which presents a fresh and modern image of the Menter. The logo is a development of the original that was based on the Flintshire Bridge, and is a symbol of the work the Menter undertakes in creating a bridge between Welsh speakers, Welsh learners and non Welsh speakers in the County. Thanks to Clic for working with us all on the design.

Welsh on Tour 2008 This is the second year of the Flintshire Welsh on Tour organised by the Welsh language partners in the county to promote the use of the Welsh language across all sectors. Our partners on the tour include, University of Wales Bangor, Popeth Cymraeg, Merched y Wawr, Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin, The Urdd, Twf, Menter a Busnes, Flintshire County Council, Welsh Language Board, Welsh College of Horticulture, Welsh for Adults Centres, Coleg Harlech, Deeside College, the Cadi Ha Festival, Young Farmers Clubs and the Tegeingl Folk Festival. Listed below are some of the events programmed for the week 26th April - 3rd May 2008: Bethan in the Bluebells A Flower Arranging session through the medium of Welsh was held in the company of Bethan Gwanas, the author and TV presenter. Bethan is currently filiming a new series of “Byw yn yr Ardd”, a lifestyle gardening programme, which will be broadcast on S4C in June. Alchemy Restaurant’s Welsh Language Policy was launched in the company of Gwinology. This will be an opportunity for local businesses to obtain information from Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint and the Welsh Language Board on how to use Welsh for the benefit of their business and the support available to them to help them market their businesses bilingually.	Hwp Ha Wen! - Cadi Ha Festival The highlight of a busy week, will be the 11th Cadi Ha Festival held in Holywell on Saturday 3rd of May at 10.15am with hundreds of local school children keeping the old traditions alive, bringing a whirlwind of dance and colour to the town centre. The dancers will then visit Plas Pen Ucha in Caerwys, the home of the Honourable Herbet Lewis, who recorded the oldest version known of the Cadi Ha song in the Holywell workhouse at the beginning of the last century. The celebrations will continue on Caerwys Square at 2.45pm, with Caerwys Choir, before finishing with a Mayday Twmpath in the Church Hall, Mold, at 7.30pm.A warm welcome to all to join in the dancing or just come and watch!
Securing Resources We were successful in our application for funding from the Awards for All Scheme. The additional funding will enable us to invest in new and innovative marketing resources and techniques to ensure greater participation in our events and projects. We have also been successful with our application to Flintshire County Council for continued funding of the Welsh Learners Officer’s post until March 2009. This means that we can continue to develop and extend our provision for Welsh learners in Flintshire.	Tegeingl Festival August 15-17 The Menter Iaith is pleased to provide administrative support to this exciting new project. Tegeingl is a festival of traditional performing arts. When the Romans came to this area, the Decangli were the native Celtic tribe. Once the Romans had left, the area became know as Tegeingl after the Decangli tribe, an area which roughly corresponds to Flintshire’s boundaries today. The Tegeingl Festival will reflect the rich art and folk culture that has developed and survived here in the land of the Decangli. The location of Tegeingl/ Flintshire on the Welsh border ensures that the area has a rich and unique mixture of history, culture and tradition. Traditional and contemporary folk songs, music and dances will have prominence alongside music from other cultures. A Marquee will be located on Mold, Rugby Club fields with space to hold concerts, competitions and folk dances.
A second venue in the Rugby Club will be available for art activities for children and families, dance and language workshops in addition to professional musical and voice workshops. There will also be an area for youngsters and a Young Musician competition. In addition there will be a wide range of craft stalls, gifts and local produce as well as musical instruments and music, which will enable the visitor to experience a taste of Flintshire and the surrounding area. Remember to visit http://www.tegeingl.com/ for more information and to book tickets.. Tegeingl – the festival of hidden folk

Menter Iaith Membership Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint is a Company Limited by Guarantee with six Directors, four members of staff and 50 members. The main objective of the company is to "promote and extend the use of the Welsh language in Flintshire" We recognise that it is only through the support of our volunteers throughout Flintshire and beyond that we are able to meet our objectives. Membership is available to anyone who shares this vision, and all members are invited to the Annual General Meeting to elect Directors. Annual General Meeting - July12th We will be consulting with the members of Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint before adopting a new constitution at the next Annual General Meeting which will be held at Futures@Holywell on the 12th June at 7.00 pm. There will be an opportunity for members to talk to staff and Directors about any events you would like us to organise during the year. Our guest speaker will be Chief Inspector Ray Hughes from the Welsh Department of North Wales Police who will talk to us about North Wales Police’s commitment to their Welsh Language Plan and to bilingualism within the force, which will ensure a comprehensive service to bilingual communities in North Wales.
The next issue of Camau the Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint Newsletter will be out in July. We hope you have enjoyed reading this first issue and we would be very pleased to receive your suggestions about how you would like to see the newsletter develop further. Please ring us on 01352 755614 or call in at our offices at Terrig House, Mold. If you would like to receive the next issue by e-mail contact us on mailto:busnes@menteriaithsiryfflint.co.uk?subject=Newsletter