by Angharad Evans, Welsh Language Communications Officer
Aren't we lucky where we live? And more than that the ability to communicate with each other in Welsh?
Two women from Ceredigion have launched a new society for Welsh speakers working in the field of Communication, and both have close links with the Farmers’ Union of Wales.
Gwenan Davies is the daughter of Cwmcoedog, Mydroilyn, and the family have been members of the Union for many years. Cwmcoedog has now developed to offer state of the art cottages and glamping facilities.
Manon Wyn James lives in Tregaron and is the wife of Gwion James, Senior Insurance Executive at the Union’s office in Lampeter.
They both set up SYLW to create a community for communication experts to share ideas, make connections and develop careers in a completely Welsh environment. The pandemic has enabled virtual communication conferences and attract members via a digital system.
“Communication is an area that continues to grow,” said Manon. “No organisation or company is going to be able to operate without a Communications team or person at the helm. It's an exciting area to work in, and it's an area where connections are so important. So hopefully SYLW will be an opportunity for Welsh Communications experts to get to know each other and learn from each other's experiences too.”
With a large number of training courses already available in English, there is no doubt that there is a great demand for a Welsh speaking community to host specialist Communication events.
“We started chatting some months ago, having attended several English language training courses and saw a real demand for something similar in Welsh. Welsh speakers working in the field need to be given the opportunity to network in Welsh,” said Gwenan.
"We didn't want to wait until the end of the pandemic so we decided to launch it back in May."
The first SYLW virtual conference was held in June with over 80 attendees. A series of SYLW talks is on the way in September and a Mentoring scheme will be launched in the Autumn.
“The response so far has been exceptional, and SYLW now has over 270 members. We look forward to developing the initiative further.”
Good luck to Manon and Gwenan with the new venture, and it's great to see two women from rural Wales willing to take risks and breaking new ground by putting Wales on the map ensuring that everything Welsh gets the attention it deserves.