Let’s hear from practitioners and individuals who use services

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I had never done care work

2

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before coming to Antur and I'll never look back.

3

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I really enjoy what I'm doing these days.

4

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Is Welsh important in your role?

5

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Yes, it's important for us as staff and also for the individuals,

6

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because it is easier for them to talk to us in their first language,

7

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and it's our first language as well. When I speak English,

8

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I can't get the words out. A little bit of 'Wenglish',

9

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admittedly, but speaking English doesn't come easily.

10

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The Welsh language is crucial in my role, in every part of it.

11

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In terms of communication with the individuals, staff, the work I put out externally as well.

12

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Everything we create is in Welsh first and then

13

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in English.

14

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I'm here on Wednesday and Thursday

15

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and I'm in Cibyn on Monday and Tuesday.

16

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I don't like the cold weather,

17

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but the sun makes it too hot so I like to be outside.

18

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The reason I like Tracey so much is

19

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because she's the best step-mum to me in the cafe.

20

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Good food! Every time she makes me good food

21

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I tell her 'you're getting 100 out of 100 for the food!'

22

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I'm Llyr.

23

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And where do you live, Llyr?

24

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Llanllyfni.

25

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Can you speak English?

26

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No. I can't speak English, no because I only speak Welsh.

27

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Do you like to speak Welsh?

28

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Yes, I do.

29

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Is it important to you?

30

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Yes. I like to speak Welsh every time.

31

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Something else in Welsh is, I go, 'This is me'.

32

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'Don't be afraid to open your heart. Don't be afraid'.

33

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And then, I go through that.

34

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Michael Bublé, 'feeling good'.

35

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'I am feeling good!'

1

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I think that it's really important to provide a care service through

2

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the medium of Welsh

if people choose it.

3

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Where we live and work in Gwynedd,

4

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it s a very Welsh place

where the majority of people

5

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we look after and care for

6

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have lived their lives through the medium of Welsh

for years.

7

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This is what is natural to them.

So, I think it's very important that

8

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we help them continue

with their lives as they've known them

9

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and they're used to.

10

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Keneuoe came to live in Bala back in 1997 and she didn't have a word of Welsh.

11

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In her current role

she's an inspiration

12

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and she has continued to develop

and continued using and promoting the language.

13

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It's only been five years since Keneuoe

joined the care sector and in her words,

14

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she regrets that she

didn t come much sooner.

15

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They know I can speak Welsh,

they have settled down well,

16

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because I give them time,

I sit down and speak with them

17

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and that enables them to

express any concerns they have,

18

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or just share history and have a

more detailed conversation with

19

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them in their language,

in the language of their choice.

20

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So that's important in my opinion,

and I'm proud that

21

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I am making a difference.

0:05

I’ve lived in Carmel for over 50 years, Cilgwyn is where I was raised

0:12

Well done, and you’re in Plas Gwilym now.

0:15

Yes, I’m in Plas Gwilym now.

0:16

And I was at home in Cilgwyn and I'm at home here too remember.

0:21

Yes

0:22

Have you always spoken Welsh?

0:23

Yes, Welsh.

0:25

I'll tell you, my Mum was South Walian and dad from Penygroes, here

0:30

I went to school at the age of four and got a slap on my hand for speaking Welsh.

0:40

And speaking my mother’s Welsh, I was

0:43

"tefe", "dan staer" for 'under the stairs’ but I didn’t know that I was wrong.

0:51

And I went home and said, and my dad said, "Where did you get the slap?"

0:57

"On my hand, here”

1:00

And then he got angry.

1:01

Then he turned to us, we were four children, and mum was there.

1:06

"There is no word of Welsh in this house from now on.

1:12

You all speak English”

1:15

To tell the truth, at the age of four, I didn't really know what he was thinking

1:19

I probably wasn't supposed to know.

1:22

And he says "Out with the children you will be allowed to speak Welsh as you can and as

1:28

you want, but Morfydd must learn correct Welsh

1:34

she’s not getting a slap again”

1:37

And I played with the kids and I picked it up just fine.

1:41

And do you speak Welsh to everyone everyday here?

1:44

Yes, yes

1:46

But, if there's someone English there and wants me to reply, I do but

1:53

I prefer Welsh

1:56

I would speak English, I can, because Mum turned to English at that time of

2:04

language of the ‘south’.

2:06

Then English is at the top of the list in the way I can, but Welsh beats it.

2:14

But I don't know, if I was here and everything was in English, I don't think I could

2:22

stay long.

2:24

No

2:25

it would be good for nothing for me.

2:28

You know when you're going to see Dr Britto now and you know

2:31

that you have to speak English with him.

2:33

How do you feel about that?

2:37

Well, I have freedom, don’t I

2:42

I could say in English to him "I'm sorry, I can't speak English, only that."

2:50

And he would fetch one of the girls to talk to me and for her to tell him what I was

2:56

saying.

2:58

But I don’t need that, I can speak English for myself.

3:04

But I don’t know, it doesn’t come naturally.

3:11

To us Welsh, it doesn’t.

3:14

Do you feel more confident in Welsh?

3:17

Well, yes

3:19

The thing is, when you're Welsh you feel, especially in central Wales,

3:25

"Oh, I’m home.

3:28

"I’ve got the right to speak how I want".

3:31

You see, it brings back to me what that teacher did, give me a slap for

3:37

not speaking correctly.

3:40

In a way I've always been careful how I speak.

3:46

The words have to be right.

3:54

Do you speak Welsh everyday here, Will?

3:56

Every day, nothing else but Welsh.

3:59

How do you feel about Welsh, Will?

4:03

Well, that's the language I was born with.

4:05

My mum and dad and grandparents

4:11

I am Welsh through and through

4:15

I prefer to speak Welsh than English.

4:17

Do you think it makes a difference, Will, to the way you live and your care

4:23

if you can't speak Welsh every day to people?

4:27

Yes, no doubt.

4:30

I wouldn’t feel happy.

4:34

I’m happy here, everyone here is Welsh.

4:37

Everyone, staff and residents.

4:42

It makes a lot of difference.

4:46

A lot.

4:47

In what way?

4:49

Well, it’s my language - Welsh.

4:51

I go to another language when I speak English.

5:00

And I often don't know how to put things across from Welsh to English.

5:01

Right

5:02

Do you know what I mean?

5:04

Yes

5:06

If I want to say something in Welsh I can say it, but if I want to

5:08

say the same thing in English, I have to think.

5:12

Can you still speak English?

5:15

Yes.

5:16

Not good English, but I can communicate

5:23

You know when you chose to come to live in Plas Gwilym, was it important to

5:27

you that it’s a Welsh home?

5:30

Yes, yes

0:01

When Dad got his Multiple Systems Atrophy diagnosis back in 2011

0:06

our world was turned upside down.

0:09

We knew we’d lose him and there was nothing anyone could do.

0:15

The brains cells that regulated his neural system were dying. It’s a rare condition and a horribly cruel one.

0:25

After some research, we knew to some extent what to expect.

0:31

Walking became difficult so he needed a stick and then a frame.

0:36

In the end he couldn’t move at all without a mechanical hoist.

0:41

He was trapped in his own body unable to do anything for himself.

0:46

Quite early on communication became a problem because he couldn’t talk.

0:53

It took all his energy to speak. Although we were prepared seeing him struggle to speak was hard.

1:02

We never expected language problems. You tend to think in the same language as your mother tongue.

1:13

Speaking a second language involved thinking in one language and translating that into the second language.

1:23

The process is tough for the healthy never mind someone who is ill.

1:28

When English-speaking health professionals came to see Dad, I could see that he had to use twice as much energy.

1:38

He’d often end up in tears of frustration. That added level of distress for him also had a huge effect on us as a family.

1:50

In a period that was already terribly difficult.

1:55

We know it’s not possible for every health professional to speak Welsh.

2:02

However, the reaction of some of those professionals to Dad’s distress was unacceptable.

2:09

They seemed to ignore or dismiss the importance of this difficulty.

2:15

That made us very sad indeed. We just wanted his final days to be as untroubled as possible.

2:27

It was heart-breaking to see him failing to communicate and

2:32

then not even having the opportunity to communicate in his mother tongue.

2:39

When his communication stopped we had to find a machine that spoke for him.

2:47

We thought we could insert questions and answers Dad would have used.

2:55

He’d be able to press a button and the machine would speak for him.

3:03

It was another heart-breaking process. At least it allowed us to communicate.

3:10

Very quickly in this process we discovered nothing existed that worked in the medium of Welsh.

3:20

That was a huge blow. We’d never spoken anything but Welsh at home.

3:30

Switching languages would have been weird,

3:34

and his grandchildren could only speak English. That was very sad though.

3:43

This horrible illness was stealing everything from him.

3:47

And taking him from us. And stealing our language.

3:53

What really hurt was that the officials charged with providing the communication device didn’t care or understand the problem.

4:01

Or the effect it was having on Dad and the rest of us.

4:09

Mum had worked so hard up to this point to care for Dad.

4:15

She was determined to find a device that worked in the Welsh language

.4:24

It turned into a months long battle in a time that was already so hard.

4:35

We finally managed to source some software in Welsh.

4:39

We were both happy to get it and frustrated that we’d had to fight so hard to get something that should’ve been

4:46

readily available in our mother tongue, especially for people on their death bed.

4:56

I don’t expect every health worker to rush out and learn Welsh.

5:02

But I do expect them to be at least sympathetic to the linguistic needs of the patient and his family and friends.

5:15

I can’t explain the difference it made when Dad heard the Welsh.

5:23

We were so lucky that the GP who came out to see Dad

5:30

and explain all the processes of his condition had learnt the language.

5:37

Although he wasn’t fluent, he could sustain a chat and Dad soon relaxed.

5:43

Then he’d explain the technical processes in English. I can’t tell you how invaluable that was to Dad and to us.

5:54

Please, if you ever come across this scenario, be sensitive.

6:00

Even if you only know the odd word it makes a difference to the patient.

6:09

Dad died in 2019 after years of battling. We treasure the fact that he died as the Welshman he had always been.