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The Welsh playgroup in an estate 'with no speakers'

Garry Owen
BBC News
Hannah Phillips A selfie of a woman with her three children. She is on the left with blonde hair and a black and white top. There is a girl to the right of her with a blakc top nad black hair with her hand near her chin. Below her is another girl with blonde hair squinting at the camera, and next to her is a girl with a white tops with colourful dots with dark hairHannah Phillips
Hannah's three girls aged three, five and 10 are all in Welsh-medium education

A woman who was embarrassed that she could not speak Welsh has sent her children to a playgroup to help them learn the language.

Hannah Phillips' three daughters are all receiving their education through Welsh, with her youngest attending Welsh language playgroup Cylch Meithrin, on the Gurnos estate in Merthyr Tydfil.

"I wanted them to speak our language because I feel I should be speaking Welsh," said Hannah.

The group was set up by Myfanwy Harman in January 2023, where there was just one child, but the group has now grown to 27 children.

Ms Phillips from Penydarren said she was from over the valley and there "are no Welsh speakers in our village".

"I am a massive fan of the language and am slightly embarrassed I don't speak Welsh," she said.

"We went to the Eisteddfod, the sports bit, a couple of weeks ago, it is such a beautiful language. It was lovely to hear, especially my girls speaking in Cymraeg [Welsh]."

A woman in a black t-shirt with long black hair looking at the camera. She is stood in a room with toys behind her. The focus is on her and the room behind is blurred.
Cylch Meithrin was set up by Myfanwy Harman January 2023, and started with just one child, but has now grown to 27 children

Myfanwy Harman said when she first set up the group it was "hard".

"It was difficult to build up that relationship and trust, and show parents you don't need to be afraid of the language.

"Now we have established that and shown that Welsh is for everyone."

Ms Harman said the playgroup had helped changed attitudes towards the Welsh language.

"When we first opened here we had a few occasions when people walked past and shouted over to us things like 'oh we don't speak Welsh here', but as time has gone on they see that they do, and they can."

This term all the children from the Gurnos Cylch Meithrin have gone on to full-time Welsh-medium education, giving the playgroup cause to celebrate, said Ms Phillips.

"Having the opportunity in areas like the Gurnos to introduce our language is fantastic and very much needed in Merthyr.

"I think we get a little bit forgotten sometimes when it comes to the Welsh language and our culture.

"The Gurnos gets massive press coverage for the wrong reasons a lot of the time and this is the stuff we don't see, which is the vital stuff."

A woman with short brown hair looking at the camera. She has a blue t-shirt on
Louisa says learning Welsh has helped her feel part of the community

Louisa Jones who is from Cornwall, but now lives in Gurnos with both her children attending Cylch Meithrin, said: "My little girl and boy were born here and are Welsh, as someone who is Cornish, our language unfortunately died.

"It is so important we don't lose Welsh."

With her children both speaking Welsh, Ms Jones felt that she wanted to learn the language.

"It is really inspirational, so much so that I am now learning Welsh and am volunteering here so that I can be in an environment where I can hear lots of Welsh."

Learning Welsh has helped Ms Jones feel part of the Gurnos community.

"I have always felt a bit of an outsider in this community, but a big thing for me is having a shared culture with my community and having some Welsh language means something.

"I feel much more a part of my community by having this shared culture and heritage."

It is not just parents that are learning Welsh on the estate, Ola Pala is a nursery assistant at Cylch Meithrin, having moved to Merthyr from Poland when she was seven.

Working as a nursery assistant has helped her improve her Welsh.

"Welsh is a hard language to learn and I am still learning, I learnt it when I was in school but I am learning more here because there is Welsh everywhere.

"It really is important for me, because I want to help the children."

A woman and a child playing in a room. The woman is to the right of the image and is wearing a black top and black leggings, she has shoulder-length red hair and has a black lanyard with orange speech bubbles on it. The child is on the left and has a purple t-shirt on with a rainbow on it and purple shorts. She has blonde shoulder-length hair.
Ola is also using apps such as Duolingo to improve her Welsh

Katie Phillips lives in Merthyr and is a former pupil at the Welsh primary school Ysgol Santes Tudful and went to Ysgol Rhydywaun, a Welsh-medium comprehensive school in the Cynon Valley.

She now works for the Welsh language Society, Cymdeithas yr Iaith, and said she felt attitudes towards the Welsh language were changing.

"There's more of a demand for people learn Welsh and for their children to speak Welsh," she said.

"I think people like my parents wish they could have had the opportunity when they were younger, but didn't so we have a bit of a lost generation."

The growth of the Welsh language on the Gurnos estate is being welcomed locally.

Lis Mclean, who runs Canolfan Soar which is home to a number of local Welsh language organisations, said: "I think the Welsh language is incredibly important to people in Merthyr.

"When you watch someone learning Welsh you see them change, they have a certain pride in themselves."