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Welsh Language Policy on Grants

Background: Sport Wales Grants and Investments

Sport Wales is the national organisation responsible for developing and promoting sport and physical activity in Wales and the main adviser to the Welsh Government when it comes to sport and physical activity.

It distributes Welsh Government and National Lottery funding to enable sport in Wales to thrive. 

At a participation level, Sport Wales invests in grassroots sports through schemes to meet the needs of clubs and other local organisations providing sport and physical activity opportunities. 

It also provides the most promising sportsmen and women with the support required to compete successfully on the world stage and realise their potential.

Sport Wales invests in a range of partners to carry out activities at both a community and high-performance level.

Sport Wales funding, therefore, has the potential to make a significant impact on people across Wales.

The Welsh Language 

As a public sector body Sport Wales has a duty to comply with the Welsh Government’s Welsh Language Standards.

There are currently 156 Standards within the Sport Wales Welsh Language Standards document, divided across service delivery, policy making, operational and record-keeping.

Sport Wales strives to ensure that all investments and decisions made have the maximum impact on the ability of the Welsh nation to participate in sport and physical activity and achieve elite sporting success, and do so through their language of choice.

In reading this policy, reference should be made of Standard 90 of the Sport Wales Welsh Language Standards.

The Sport Wales Policy 

All grants and large investments made by Sport Wales will:

  1. Be promoted bilingually
  2. Provide the option for the applicant to carry out the full application process through the Welsh language
  3. Look to make a positive impact on the use of Welsh language in sport
  4. Not treat the Welsh language less favourably than the English Language
  5. Have NO NEGATIVE IMPACT on the use of Welsh language in sport.

 

How will this work in practice?

1. Be promoted bilingually.

Promotion of a grant MUST adhere to the Sport Wales Welsh Language Scheme. Examples can include marketing literature, social media or public events.

2. Provide the option for the applicant to carry out the full application process through the Welsh language.

Any application process or system MUST adhere to the Sport Wales Welsh Language Scheme. Any online or paper-based system must be bilingual while applicants will be able to speak to someone for guidance and support using the Welsh Language.

3. Look to make a positive impact on the use of Welsh language in sport.

Information on the development of the Welsh language, and the impact of the grant, will be included as standard across awards of all Sport Wales grants.

Data will be collected on Welsh language provision and participation through the application process. This data can be used proactively by Sport Wales and the sector to plan further use of the Welsh language in sport. 

Each grant scheme will have a monitoring process in place to ensure compliance with the condition of the grant. The level of monitoring will depend on the grant being given.

All grants will have a compliance element as standard. For example, depending on the level of grant, non-compliance with grant conditions can result in no future grant being awarded or funds being reclaimed.

4. Not treat the Welsh language less favourably than the English Language.

The full application process must adhere to the Sport Wales Welsh Language Scheme.

5. Have no negative impact on the use of Welsh language in sport.

A grant will not be approved if it has the potential to negatively impact on use of the Welsh Language. For example, if a club had a policy barring the offering of any opportunities in the Welsh Language. 

The Policy in Action

It will be a requirement for all areas of the business dealing with grants to follow the principles of the grants policy.

Any requirements for further information or guidance should be made to Ian Blackburn, Regulatory Compliance lead or Brian Davies, Sport Systems Director.

Examples: Case Studies on Welsh Language projects funded by Sport Wales

Case Study 1 - Clwb Pel Droed Mynydd Tigers 

The club is based in Bethesda in an area of economic deprivation in Gwynedd. It runs several mini and junior teams between the ages of U7s and U16s. Not having use of its own pitch(es), the club must use pitches in various locations – predominantly outside of the village – as and when they are available. This is not an ideal situation for a club looking to grow footballing provision in the area. It has been offered a piece of land from the rugby club. Sport Wales awarded a grant of £15,000 to convert this into a football pitch. The club is wholly Welsh-speaking, with all sessions being undertaken via the Welsh language. The outcomes:

  • 6 x new junior sessions
  • 4 x new adult sessions
  • 45 x new junior participants
  • 40 x new adult participants
  • 3 x new junior teams
  • 2 x new adult teams

 

Case Study 2 – Gwynedd County Council and the Outdoor Partnership

Sport Wales funding for Gwynedd County Council supports the development of their Local Sport Plan (LSP), which delivers local sporting opportunities across the schools and communities of Gwynedd through the medium of Welsh.  An example of this work are projects delivered in partnership with the Outdoor Partnership.  Sport Wales funding, both indirectly and directly into the Outdoor Partnerships supports their work in providing opportunities across north west Wales for:

  • Children, young people and adults to take up outdoor activities in their local communities.
  • A secondary schools’ competition programme, which includes mountain biking, bouldering/climbing and kayaking.
  • A volunteer programme providing mentoring, Continued Professional Development and national governing body qualifications.
  • Using the outdoors as a means to engage and support local unemployed people living in socially deprived areas on a pathway to participation, volunteering, training and employment.
  • Increasingemployment opportunities for women who are currently under-represented in the outdoor sector.