College Staff Honoured at National Work Welsh Awards Ceremony

Two members of staff from Grŵp Llandrillo-Menai who are integrating their newly-gained Welsh language skills into the workplace, were both honoured at the annual, national ‘Work Welsh Awards 2021’ ceremony.

This year’s panel of Work Welsh officers received nominations from the length and breadth of Wales, and after much deliberation, selected the winners for all six categories. Work Welsh is a programme designed to strengthen Welsh language skills in the workplace. The scheme is funded by Welsh Government and has been developed by the National Centre for Learning Welsh.

Winner of the ‘Work Welsh Learner who makes the best use of Welsh for work purposes (Entry level)’ category was Matt Nash, Grŵp Llandrillo-Menai’s director of financial services. Thomas du Prez, lecturer within the Sports department, was awarded second place in the ‘Work Welsh Learner who has made the best progress (Entry level)’ category. Grŵp Llandrillo-Menai comprises Coleg Llandrillo, Coleg Menai and Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor.

Matt Nash is very keen to use Welsh in his everyday life as well as for work purposes. He has made great progress and can now have a substantial and challenging conversation in Welsh.

He took a prominent role in a social evening - ‘Hwyl yr Ŵyl’ ‘(Season’s Fun’) - by singing a challenging carol in Welsh; everyone agreed that this was the highlight of the night. Matt’s readiness to perform in Welsh to a large audience on Zoom is an inspiration to colleagues, and he thoroughly deserves the accolades for embracing opportunities to use Welsh in his professional life.

Thomas du Prez started learning Welsh in September 2020 as a complete beginner. Thomas, who is originally from South Africa, has fully embraced the opportunity to learn Welsh, and his progress and confidence to use the language has now been recognised at a national level. He never misses a Welsh lesson, has a healthy interest in grammar, and expands his skills by reading.

The other four categories were: ‘Work Welsh Tutor of the Year’, ‘Work Welsh Employer of the Year’, ‘Work Welsh Learner who has made the best progress (Foundation+ levels)’ and ‘Work Welsh Learner who makes the best use of Welsh for work purposes (Foundation+ levels)’.

Work Welsh offers options for learning, improving, and using Welsh skills for work purposes, and offers support for employers as well as employees.

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