Friday 29 January 2016

YMCA Steps Project wins CHC's Pat Chown Capturing Creativity award

The YMCA Steps Project was honoured to receive the Pat Chown Capturing Creativity Award in November 2015 for our work with mental health service users in partnership with Cardiff and Vale UHB. It is a privilege to support our service users and help them move forward on their journey towards independent living so to be recognised for this work by Community Housing Cymru was very special.

As part of the award, we were given the opportunity to nominate another charity to receive a donation of £1000. After consulting with staff and residents at the YMCA, we chose the FAN Charity. They support 16 FAN groups in Cardiff which give people a chance to come together, develop their speaking and listening skills and build friendships. The groups are attended by people of a whole variety of different nationalities and are a great place for people to improve their English and find a sense of community in a new country and city. The YMCA also benefits from the support of the FAN charity in the running of a FAN group at the hostel for our residents.




YMCA staff and residents were privileged to attend another local FAN group on Tuesday along with John Chown in order to present the donation. We were able to take part in the actual meeting and witness first-hand how important and beneficial the group is for those who attend. The donation given in memory of Pat Chown will be spent on advertising and promoting the FAN groups so that more people can benefit from the incredible service that FAN offers.


 

Andrea Reynolds, Cardiff YMCA Housing Association

Friday 22 January 2016

Dwy Iaith dan Un To / Two Languages under One Roof #DIUT



(Scroll down for English)

Yr wythnos yma mae Grŵp Cartrefi Cymunedol Cymru yn dathlu'r Gymraeg ac yn ail-ategu ein hymrwymiadau i fod yn sefydliadau cynhwysol a dwyieithog drwy gyfres o sesiynau gyda ffocws ar y Gymraeg yn ein swyddfeydd. Mae'r Gymraeg yn rhan hanfodol o fywyd a chymdeithas yng Nghymru ac mae hynny'n wir am waith CHC a'r aelodau a gynrychiolwn ym mhob rhan o Gymru, a gyda safonau'r Gymraeg yn cael eu hymestyn, rydym hefyd yn sicrhau fod gan y Gymraeg rôl gyfannol i ni yma.

Mae tair prif thema yn ganolog i'r wythnos: Ymwybyddiaeth Iaith, Dysgu Iaith a'n Cynllun Iaith; mae'r holl sesiynau sydd ar y gweill ar gyfer yr wythnos Gymraeg yn cyd-fynd gyda'r themâu pwysig yma ac yn sicrhau ein bod yn dysgu mwy am y Gymraeg yn ogystal â'n hymrwymiadau i ddwyieithrwydd a galluogi dysgu'r iaith ei hun.

Cafodd ein hwythnos Dwy Iaith dan Un To ddechrau gwych gyda seminar ar ymwybyddiaeth iaith gan Meirion Prys Jones, Prif Swyddog Gweithredol y Rhwydwaith Hyrwyddo Amrywiaeth Ieithyddol a Phrif Swyddog Gweithredol olaf Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg (y person delfrydol i godi ymwybyddiaeth!). Addysgir y wers i ni llawer am hanes Cymru ac o'r iaith Gymraeg ac addysgon ni wersi pwysig am hunaniaeth Gymreig a'r angen i sicrhau bod yr iaith Gymraeg nid yn unig yn goroesi, ond yn ffynnu.

Yn ystod yr wythnos bydd Lowri, ein tiwtor Cymraeg poblogaidd, wedi cyflwyno dwy sesiwn blas ar y Gymraeg gydag un yn canolbwyntio ar y Gymraeg yn y gwaith a'r llall ar y Gymraeg tu allan i'r gwaith ar gyfer dechreuwyr llwyr i gymryd cam cadarn ar y llwybr i roi cynnig ar y Gymraeg ac ennyn brwdfrydedd pawb ohonom am ddysgu'r Gymraeg. Byddwn hefyd yn edrych ar yr amrywiaeth o dechnoleg iaith a all gefnogi dysgu a galluogi pawb yn CHC i weithio'n effeithiol yn ddwyieithog.

I ategu ein hymrwymiadau i ymwreiddio'r Gymraeg yn ein gwaith byddwn yn edrych ar ein Cynllun Iaith Gymraeg cyfredol ac edrych ymlaen at y safonau - bydd Swyddog Cydymffurfiaeth o swyddfa'r Comisiynydd Iaith yma i drafod gwaith y Comisiynydd a safonau'r Gymraeg er mwyn hyrwyddo manteision y Gymraeg a dwyieithrwydd.

Bu trefnu'r wythnos Gymraeg yn llafur cariad i mi. Ar ôl astudio'r Gymraeg fel ail iaith, rwy'n awyddus i rannu fy angerdd at yr iaith gyda fy nghydweithwyr a fu'n eiddgar iawn helpu i drefnu'r wythnos yma a chymryd rhan. Mae amseriad yr wythnos hefyd yn ddelfrydol oherwydd nid yn unig mae'r safonau ar y gorwel ond mae hefyd ddigwyddiadau Cymraeg gwych i ddod eleni megis Tafwyl a'r Eisteddfod Genedlaethol sy'n wirioneddol ddangos yr etifeddiaeth barhaus a lle canolog y Gymraeg ym mhob agwedd o fywyd yng Nghymru ac yn sicr ni fydd CHC yn colli'r cyfle!



This week at the Community Housing Cymru Group we are celebrating the Welsh language and reaffirming our commitments to being inclusive and bilingual organisations through a series of Welsh-focussed sessions at our offices. Welsh is an integral part of life and society in Wales and that is true of the work that CHC conducts and the members that we represent right across Wales and, with forthcoming language standards being rolled out, we are ensuring that Welsh also plays an integral role for us here.

Central to this week are its three major themes: Language Awareness, Language Learning and our Language Scheme; all of the sessions planned for this Welsh week fit in to these major themes and ensure that we learn more about the Welsh language as well our commitments to bilingualism and enabling learning of the language itself.

Our Dwy Iaith dan Un To week got off to a brilliant start with a seminar on language awareness delivered by Meirion Prys Jones, CEO of the Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity (NPLD) and the last CEO of the Welsh Language Board (the ideal person to raise awareness!). The session taught us a lot about the history of Wales and of the Welsh language and we learned important lessons about Welsh identity and the need to ensure that the Welsh language not only survives but thrives.

Our popular Welsh language tutor, Lowri, delivered two Welsh taster sessions this week with one focussing on Welsh at work and the other on Welsh outside of work for complete beginners to get people who don’t speak Welsh a strong footing on the ladder to really giving Welsh a go and getting us enthusiastic about learning Welsh. We’ll also be looking at the array of Welsh language technology that can support learning and can enable everyone at CHC to work bilingually efficiently.

To reaffirm our commitments to wedding Welsh to our work we will look at our current Welsh Language Scheme and look ahead to the standards – a Compliance Officer from the Welsh Language Commissioner’s office will be here to talk through the work of the Commissioner and to discuss Welsh language standards with us to really promote the advantages of the Welsh language and of bilingualism.


Organising a week of Welsh has been a labour of love for me. Having studied Welsh as a second language I am keen to share my passion for the language with my co-workers who have really jumped on board in helping organise this week and in taking part. The timing of this week is also ideal because not only do we have standards on the horizon but there are great Welsh language events to come this year, such as Tafwyl and the National Eisteddfod, which really showcase the lasting legacy and the undeniably solid and rightful place the Welsh language has in all aspects of life in Wales and CHC certainly won’t be missing out!


Liam Townsend
Research Assistant / Cynorthwy-ydd Ymchwil