Hopes for economic boost as ARFOR fund reaches £2million milestone

Thirty innovative projects across north and west Wales have secured funding totalling over £2 million through the ARFOR Challenge Fund.

The fund was set up topilot new and innovative solutions to challenges that exist in the ARFOR area, which covers Anglesey, Gwynedd, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire.

With a focus on bringing organisations together to innovate, collaborate and solve local and regional challenges, and to pilot ideas that can become commercial entities in the long term, the ARFOR Challenge Fund aims to ensure the economic vitality of communities and enable people to live and work in those areas.

The successful projects now complete the programme, with each one demonstrating a passion for the heartlands of the Welsh language, with a focus on stimulating economic growth. The thirty awarded projects vary widely, from innovative digital solutions aimed at supporting the language in business; a campaign set to attract back to Wales top graduates; through to sector specific projects in the areas of sports, farming, and childcare.

One of the successful project applicants is M-SParc on Anglesey. Its project (London Welsh Network) has been approved under the Cronfa Her Fach (Small Challenge Fund). Lois Bevan Shaw of M-SParc said, “We are over the moon with the outcome of our application to the Cronfa Her Fach fund. While we are passionate about retaining young people in our area, we also recognise that many who have since moved away are now looking to return home.

“With our project, we are making it easier for the 1,500 members of the London Welsh Network to access information and assistance on making a return to the area, either to start a new business or who are seeking investment opportunities across the region.”

Another successful project applicant benefiting from the Cronfa Her is Caernarfon based Welsh translation company, Cymen Cyf. Funded under the Cronfa Her Fawr (Large Challenge Fund), the project will collect model data such as voice files and Welsh text to produce a bank of audio sayings in Welsh.

Cymen Cyf. Company Director Aled Jones said, “We are looking forward to pushing the boundaries of voice technology through the medium of Welsh with our Cronfa Her project. The economic development opportunities that will come from this is that people will be able to use the language model on personal devices, to transcribe and create synthetic language. The data will be open to anyone wishing to use.

“It's great that the project will also help drive collaboration across the region. We will be capitalising on the expertise of the Language Technology Unit at Bangor University, but also Stiwdiobox at Yr Egin in Carmarthen, Y Pod website, and podcasting producers to share information about the technical side of recording voices.”

ARFOR is a joint venture between the local authorities of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Gwynedd and Anglesey following a co-operation agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru. It is now in the second phase of its activities, which will run until March 2025, as it seeks to use economic development as a means to support and maintain the Welsh language in its heartlands.

Jeremy Miles MS, Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Welsh Language said, "The economic prosperity of our Welsh-speaking communities is fundamental to ensure the language continues to thrive, and it's great to see businesses and community groups working together in order to create opportunities to innovate within the Welsh language heartlands.  I look forward to seeing how the pilot projects progress over the coming months."

Cyngor Gwynedd Leader, Cllr Dyfrig Siencyn said, "The diverse range of projects is extremely promising, and shows the entrepreneurial ability and talent that is inherent in the ARFOR region. It's great to see initiatives succeeding in all four counties and I look forward to following the projects as they develop.

"Our aim is to stop the outflow of people who are leaving our areas, and acknowledge the adverse effect it has on the Welsh language and society in general. In Gwynedd we are already experiencing challenges due to the talent drain, but, by being positive and innovative we have an opportunity to highlight the area's potential. This is a great place to live and work, and we want to give people the best chance not only to stay, but also to return to their roots."

Leader of Ynys Môn Council, Cllr Llinos Medi added, “It is good to see so many new innovative projects happening across the region in response to the opportunities and challenges facing our communities.”

Further afield, projects in Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire have also been successful.

Carmarthenshire based, Goiawn, has also been successful with their project Antur Amser - a VR educational package for children. Osian Evans, Director of Goiawn based in Carmarthenshire, commented, “We recognise the challenge Welsh education faces in the digital age, where English-language media dominates. With Antur Amser, we aim to revolutionise Welsh literacy through an engaging, state-of-the-art programme that weaves the magic of entertainment into education. Our approach integrates the latest in immersive technology to make learning a dynamic and interactive experience, ensuring that the Welsh language thrives in modern classrooms and beyond.”

Looking internationally to connect businesses from across the region is Ceredigion based, creative projects agency Sgema. Working with Welsh diaspora membership organisation Global Welsh. Meilyr Ceredig, Director of Sgema said, "The Global Welsh ARFOR Connector Hub looks to connect local businesses with the extensive network of Welsh diaspora across the globe. Through the network our aim is to create a unique opportunity for growth, innovation, and cultural exchange along with leveraging the Welsh language as a strategic economic asset. The Connector Hub is a digital space where a community of Welsh entrepreneurs worldwide can engage, share, and collaborate to drive both regional and global success."

Cronfa Her ARFOR is run by Menter a Busnes and Menter Môn on behalf of the Welsh Government.

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For further information, contact Sara Davies, Innovation and Business Growth Projects Manager on sara.davies@menterabusnes.co.uk

Cronfa Her ARFOR projects

Below provides a summary of the thirty successful projects.

Gwynedd

• Cymen: Developing Welsh Speech Recognition Technology.
• Sain / Oleia: Canolfan Sain (Sain Centre): Developing a digital and physical space; preserving and digitising Sain’s catalogue sustainably, ensuring that it remains accessible to future generations.
• Bangor University: Research scheme into bilingual staff recruitment challenges (Welsh/English).
• Cwmni Bro Antur Aelhaearn: Antur Aelhaearn housing and language project – a model that enables learning, piloting and sharing lessons across the ARFOR area when considering a local home ownership model.
• Adra: Upskilling the construction sector to take advantage of framework contracts for the benefit of SMEs.
• Pennotec: Algae Trap Service from an environmental biotech business. An initiative to develop and test an innovative method of removing algae from ponds in the ARFOR region.
• Adain: Normalising the Welsh language in Digital Marketing. An initiative to help businesses within the ARFOR area to strengthen their digital presence in Welsh and create relationships with other businesses.
• Bangor University: ARFer: An app developed to support individuals and groups to use more Welsh at work.
• Asiannt Cyf: Facilitating Welsh medium/bilingual community childcare and early education providers to improve and develop their standard of provision in line with local authority and Welsh Government requirements, promoting and maintaining recruitment and retention of local workforce, subsequently leading to an increase in business stability and growth.

 

Ynys Môn

• M-SParc: Rhwydwaith Cymry Llundain (London Welsh Network): A scheme that gives M-SParc and the region the chance to highlight the opportunities available across the ARFOR area to the London Welsh community.
• HAIA / M-SParc: Gwlad y Gemau (Games Country): Reviving the Welsh language through Esports Innovation and Language Technology.
• MySparc: A digital portal in the form of an app that brings a business eco-system, enterprise, academia, students and investors together in one place to create the ARFOR Innovation community.
• M-SParc: Academi Iaith a Gwaith (Language and Work Academy): The scheme enables people to gain employment, to learn or improve and use their Welsh. It offers

financial support to people while employed, and to create Welsh languages spaces .

 

 

Ceredigion

• Sgema Cyf: GlobalWelsh: unleashing the potential of the ARFOR diaspora - Creating a 'Welsh Space' digital Community (Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion) for globally networked companies & mapping other companies that can benefit from the area. A focus on increasing the economic value of companies as attractions to collaborative investments and new ideas. A partnership with GlobalWelsh.
• Fflach: Transitioning Fflach, a company that was a platform for Welsh musicians, to become a community company.
• Hybu Cig Cymru/Meat Promotion Wales: Decarbonising Beef: Research focusing on evaluating and demonstrating financial and environmental opportunities of adopting new practices of beef production, as well as educating farmers about the effectiveness of beef production.
• Tan y Graig: Blas ar Gymru: A scheme to create a truly unique Welsh experience that will celebrate Welsh culture and traditions.
• Golwg: Extending the local websites across ARFOR: A scheme that conducts research in the communities of Carmarthenshire and Gwynedd (except Arfon) that would explore demand.
• Theatr Gydweithredol Troed-y-Rhiw (Troed-y-Rhiw Co-operative Theatre): A scheme that invites 10 fledgeling dramatists for a residential weekend for an opportunity to be inspired to write. They will have the opportunity to be mentored for a period of 3 months to hone their craft, before producing original plays to be published on our online platform, y Llyfrgell Ddramâu (the Drama Library) by the end of the year.
• Rupert Allan: A project to profile cultural and business priorities on the public online map (OpenStreetMap) building on food, farming and cultural tourism as a dynamic Community Archive.

 

Carmarthenshire

• Prifysgol Cymru Y Drindod Dewi Sant / University of Wales Trinity Saint David: IAITH GWEITHLE, IAITH GWEITHLU (Language of the workplace, language of the workforce): Analysis of Welsh language use in workplaces and by the workforce in ARFOR counties.
• Go Iawn - Antur Amser (Time Adventure): A VR game style educational package for schoolchildren.
• Tetrim Teas: Tyfu Iaith, Tyfu Madarch, Tyfu Partneriaeth (Grow Language, Grow Mushrooms, Grow Partnership). A scheme that gives three underprivileged communities in west Wales the opportunity to benefit from the experience and expertise of Madarch Cymru (Mushrooms Wales)
• Iaith - Cadernid Iaith: (Language – Linguistic Assertiveness): A project developing and piloting Linguistic Assertiveness training for the infants and young children care sector.
• Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru (National Theatre of Wales): An initiative to develop and reinvigorate the technical theatre workforce in west Wales and nationally. Successful applicants will be awarded a 6-month work placement.

 

Outside ARFOR

• Darogan Talent: Attracting graduates to the ARFOR area - a pilot focusing on attracting students and recent graduates studying outside Wales to the region by informing them of the range of opportunities available there, and by hosting a series of events for students outside Wales.
• Llais Cymru (Voice Wales): Ffenest Siop (Shop Window) - the Ffenest Siop website ensures that anyone who wants to receive a service in Welsh, can find businesses and services that offer this within ARFOR areas.
• Mentrau Iaith Cymru (Language Initiatives): This project will stimulate the entrepreneurship of Welsh people in the field of leisure and sport.
• Undeb Rygbi Cymru (Wales Rugby Union): Workshops through the medium of Welsh to normalise and promote the use of Welsh on the ground and in business. A pilot scheme to create stronger links between rugby clubs, local businesses and their relationship with the Welsh language - to result in economic benefit.
• Alaw / Cymdeithas Bêl-Droed Cymru (The Football Association of Wales): A series of events in each of the counties within the ARFOR region that emulate the FAW and Wal Goch (Red Wall) culture, including bilingualism, inclusivity and connection with the business community.