I have just started my first job through the medium of Welsh. (Hurrah! Thank you, SSiW!) I am part of a nationwide project to encourage more small or medium-sized private businesses to use Welsh (and to advertise that they do, with the orange badges etc.) I’m going to be working throughout this area in the south-east.
So. To start with, I want to find out what’s available already.
Have you come across a shop, a service, or similar in the area where you’ve found someone working there who speaks or learns Welsh?
Do you perhaps work in a shop or other small business?
If you do, could you let me know, either in this thread or through a PM?
Our brief is to work with:
Small or medium-sized businesses (so not big supermarkets or chains)
Private enterprises (so not council-run services)
Thanks for any information you can give me. I’ll be sure to report back with any successes, so that you know where you can go to practise your Welsh!
Yes, I do live or work in Newport, Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent or Monmouthshire.
No, to the other questions. But @TomCasnewydd would be a good person to speak to - Newport’s local menter iaith Welsh encouragement guy (not official job title).
We have discussed in the past (both on this forum and in real life) about making an effort to capture and then publicise just this sort of info.
There’s actually a slow burning/slow moving project creeping along slowly at the moment, i.e.
(Did I mention it was slow moving?)
It does seem as though there’s a degree of overlap between this project and what you’re doing - worth having a chat about it?
On the data protection front, would this apply to an individual making a comment. For instance, would I technically be in breach if I posted a comment here about Ceri in Waitrose in Canton (probably no Waitrose in Canton so only a hypothetical Ceri) who speaks Welsh? Or, if I made a comment on Trip Adviser that Rhys in the Welsh Long House at St Fagans (not sure if there is a long house there or even a Rhys) speaks Welsh that is easy to understand for learners?
Is that in response to my question or to James’ link, Peter?
If you’re replying to me, I’m just after leads (good places to start on my encouragement programme) - nothing will be taken as set in stone, published, disseminated or anything similar.
There is a Welsh society in Chepstow and Monmouth and Abergavenny and there are people who speak Welsh working in these areas but it is probably very rare that they use Welsh in their jobs because the area has become so Anglicised. However there is a person working for MCC in Usk who has a responsibility for Welsh in the council and similarly in Newport City and of course all the staff of the Welsh department in Coleg Gwent use Welsh throughout the day and also the staff of Menter Iaith BG, T, a M in Pontypŵl.
I live very close to Chepstow and would be happy to meet with you if it would be of value.
Thanks for responding! Yes, I’m working with the Menter Iaith, and Coleg Gwent, and the councils and all sorts of other organisations. But I’m also trying to find out about people’s personal experiences. I’m not just asking in here, obviously! I’m approaching all sorts of organisations and community groups.
You know how it is - you know someone for ages, or use a particular shop, or whatever, and then one day you find out that the other person has been learning Welsh as well. But you’ve been speaking English to each other all that time because neither of you realised!
But perhaps there aren’t any experiences to be shared. That’s fine too. I just want to have a better picture of what is actually going on ‘on the ground’ on a day-to-day level. This will be my baseline against which I can measure any future progress. And if that’s ‘no Welsh at all’ … well, that leaves me a lot of scope for improvement, doesn’t it!
Llongyfarchiadau/Congratulations, Sara.
I was working on the rebuilding of Caldicot School, yesterday. All the site signs were bilingual, with Welsh first. However, I didn’t hear any Welsh spoken.
Fair play, it’s a challenging area that you are in. I can’t recall ever hearing Welsh when I lived there, although my Wife tells me that one branch of her family, from Aberbargoed might have been Welsh speakers. OK, so that is now in Caerphilly, so regarding small businesses, I’m guessing that the ones most likely to have Welsh speaking staff or customers would be those near to the Caerphilly border.
If you are interested, in Chepstow I always speak Welsh with the dentist and in one of the charity shops and I have spoken Welsh with a member of staff in the museum and in one of the building societies.
Oh, I am interested! Thank you! Could you PM me and let me know which dentist, charity shop and building society (or share on here)? I’m going for a little pootle round on Chepstow on Monday afternoon to get a feel for the place in any case.
Portwall dental surgery - Gaenor Davison is the person I speak with. I believe the male dentist who works in the practice also speaks Welsh. Red Cross charity shop and I speak with Lon Worth. I do not know the name of the person in the museum, I only spoke with her over the phone. I think it is Norwich Union or something like that. It is opposite Lloyds Bank. I do not know the name of the person. There may well be other shops/ businesses in Chepstow with an employee who speaks Welsh. Hopefully in the next few months we will be opening a Welsh centre (Tŷ Croeso) in Chepstow. I also know that the owner of a Skip hire company on the trading estate just outside Caldicot also speaks Welsh.
In case anyone’s interested, there’s a lovely ‘pop-up’ shop in the Kingsway Centre in Newport called ‘Crafted’ selling (you’ll never guess!) locally made craft items (very nice ones, as well). Many have a Welsh theme, and lots are in Welsh - there are Welsh cards on sale as well. The chap running it is a Welsh speaker and now has a badge that says so
He’s only there until Christmas, mind - so get in quick if you want some Welsh goodies.
And just outside is a stall selling engraved slate plaques etc. The lovely lady who runs it isn’t a Welsh-speaker herself but a proud grandma to Welsh-speaking grandchildren, so she’s had all her price lists etc. translated into Welsh, and does plaques with Welsh phrases on them.
Hi & congratulations!
There is a deli called The Marches in Abergavenny & there was, can’t vouch for still is, a man in there who was learning Welsh & happy to have a chat.
In Trefynwy, I’m told that the White Swan Tea Rooms has a Welsh speaking member of staff.
Pob lwc, & let me know if you are in either town & have time for a coffee.
Pippa
He is indeed a font of an amazing amount of information 
