The Welsh Language Standards were adopted in 2016 and we are required to comply with 171 Standards.
These Standards ensure that we treats the Welsh and English languages on a basis of equality and respects the rights of Welsh speakers.
We are proud of our Welsh heritage, culture and the Welsh language in Wrexham. We believe that respecting and meeting the language preferences of our customers is central to good and effective customer care. We provide services to the most vulnerable people in our community where accessing services in an individual’s first language is especially important
We have made good progress in complying with the Standards and promotion of the Welsh language and culture in Wrexham. There are still areas for improvement especially around recruitment and workforce development and work in this area will continue in 2023/24. We have strengthened the links between the Welsh language and the Council Plan and continue to ensure that the Welsh language is mainstreamed throughout all of our priorities and policies.
Over the past year we have received a fewer complaints via the Welsh Language Commissioner which demonstrates that we are now more self-regulating but also striving to deliver more services in Welsh.
As a result of a collaboration between Wrexham Council, the Urdd and Freedom Leisure, we are now delivering swimming lessons through the medium of Welsh. We will continue to work with the Urdd and Freedom Leisure to expand this provision across other leisure facilities. We also remain committed to recruiting individuals who could teach swimming through the medium of Welsh. You can find more information on this by visiting here.
We look forward in anticipation to the National Eisteddfod coming to Wrexham in August next year. During the planning phase as well as the week-long event, we expect this celebration of Welsh Language and Culture to provide a real boost to Cymraeg and Welshness in the area. We encourage everyone to get involved! More information can be found on the Eisteddfod Website.
Cllr Hugh Jones, Welsh Language Champion at Wrexham Council said: “Cymraeg is for all of us, and the best thing is we don’t have to know much in order to use it more in our daily lives. By doing things such as simply switching a ‘good morning’ to a ‘bore da,’ or a ‘thank you’ to a ‘diolch’ we can increase our daily use of Welsh, and in doing so encourage others to join in.
“I’m happy to see that our report shows how we have progressed and look forward to the work that we will be doing next year in promoting Cymraeg and the arrival of the National Eisteddfod to Wrexham.”
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*Our Welsh language annual report can be found on our Website
