October 10, 2022 - 1535 views
The Welsh Government will invest £11 million over the next three years in Arfor 2, Economy Minister, Vaughan Gething and Designated Member Cefin Campbell have announced today.
£11 million to be made available for communities in four counties with the highest levels of Welsh speakers.
Funding will support 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.
The programme will play a key role in the Welsh Government’s Welsh language strategy (Cymraeg 2050), which aims to ensure there are 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050. Arfor 2 is a new programme to be delivered by local authority partners which will help strengthen the economic resilience of Welsh language strongholds.
As part of the Co-operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru and building on the experience and evaluation of the earlier Arfor programme launched in 2019, the Welsh Government funding will be available to the four local authorities of Gwynedd, Ynys Môn, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire.
The main objective of Arfor 2 is to support the communities that are strongholds of the Welsh language to flourish through economic interventions which will also contribute to increasing opportunities to see and use the Welsh language on a daily basis.
It will also help:
- To create opportunities for young people and families (under 35 years old) to stay in or return to their indigenous communities, supporting them to succeed locally by engaging in enterprise or developing a career
- To create enterprising communities within Welsh-speaking areas, by supporting commercial and community enterprises that aim to preserve and increase local wealth by taking advantage of the identity and unique qualities of their areas
- To maximise the benefit of activity through collaboration, to ensure that good practice and lessons learnt are shared and that there is on-going monitoring to ensure continuous improvement
- Strengthen the identity of communities with a high density of Welsh speakers, by supporting the use and visibility of the Welsh language, encouraging a sense of place and local loyalty
Today’s announcement outlines that agreement has been reached with partners in the local authorities on a programme of activity that will help support our Welsh speaking communities, work will now continue on the detail of the proposed interventions.
The Arfor 2 programme will also look to promote the learning and sharing of good practice and broaden our understanding of the links between economy and language and identify those interventions which can make a difference.
Economy Minister, Vaughan Gething, said: "I am pleased that through collaborative working with local authorities and with Plaid Cymru, we have reached agreement on a strategic programme of interventions for Arfor 2 which has potential to make a significant difference in our Welsh speaking heartlands taking forward our ambitions of spreading economic prosperity.
"By working with our local authority partners, we want to support communities that are 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: "By working together we are building on the successes of the Arfor pilot which aims to support and grow the local economy and the Welsh language together. The investment of £11m in this scheme is a direct boost to the economies of the west that will further promote entrepreneurship, business growth and help protect the Welsh language. We want to make sure communities in these areas can thrive and people are able to stay in their local communities for work or to grow a business."
The Economy Minister and Designated Member announced the new funding package for Arfor 2 during a visit to Canolfan S4C Yr Egin in Carmarthen and met with local entrepreneurs.
Arfor has already show its worth during the first stage of the programme. On Anglesey, 55 local businesses were assisted through an investment of around £400,000. This money either safeguarded or created 80 jobs and promoted the use of the Welsh language in 48 businesses.
Support has also been provided to the county of Gwynedd.
Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn, Gwynedd Council Leader, said: "I welcome today’s announcement and very much look forward to strengthening the links we have forged through the Arfor project. Our communities may seem vulnerable in some ways, but simultaneously they are vibrant and exciting places with much to offer. I am confident that this investment will help increase opportunity and so encourage our young people to stay and build their lives here, further safeguarding our language, culture and way of life."
