Mudiad Meithrin: Concerns some Welsh-language nurseries could close
The chief executive added that they "don't have a magic wand to fix things overnight", but that they had not seen evidence of a reduction in volunteers.Cylch Meithrin Cilfynydd in Pontypridd opened following efforts by local parents, who were concerned about the effect closing Ysgol Pont Sion Norton would have on Welsh-medium education in the village.Within a few years, however, the Cylch had closed."There were three of us volunteers, without expertise in childcare," said Lowri Real, the Cylch's former secretary."Finding a site was one challenge, staffing was a huge challenge, and trying to ensure that the business was sustainable."But unfortunately, with staffing and site costs it was just impossible to run it viably. The three of us were essentially running a business on goodwill alone."They were encouraged by the Mudiad Meithrin to apply for grants from the Flying Start scheme, but that would have meant offering more childcare hours and so more admin work."That was beyond our means as a small committee," said Ms Real.She added that it was frustrating not to be able to continue with what they had been offering."If we don't look again at the system, I worry about small communities like this who will lose the language," she said."We need to come round the table and look at this, because the system isn't working and isn't sustainable."I wouldn't be encouraging anyone to open a Cylch Meithrin, because it has been heartbreakingly difficult."
Two years ago, Cylch Meithrin Pontrhydfendigaid in Ceredigion was recognised as the top nursery in Mudiad Meithrin's annual awards.But maintaining that high standard was a challenge said Gwawr Evans, chair for the past five years."It's a lot more work than I'd thought," said the mother of four, who also runs a business."It's been an eye-opener seeing how much the committee does for the Cylch."The Cylch had secured grants to pay for a staff member to do admin work, but Ms Evans said more practical help from Mudiad Meithrin would be welcome."The Mudiad does great work, but more help for committees to deal with reports and staff assessments would certainly be welcome."She was worried that fewer people would want to volunteer in the future."I think it would be a challenge to find anyone willing to take over as chair, treasurer, secretary."No one wants to do it because they see how much work it takes."People have so much more going on with children, work, looking after the house."I'm worried about the nurseries' futures, and how they're going to be run, if more people aren't coming through."
'Parents want more childcare provision, not less'
Mudiad Meithrin's chief executive Dr Gwenllian Lansdown Davies said she was aware of the pressures on volunteer committees, given the high standards of the childcare sector.Mudiad Meithrin will now review the voluntary committee model to see whether there were other alternatives."The advantage of a volunteer model is that the Cylch belongs to the community," she said."But of course, as childcare demands become ever more complex, the demands on committees also increases."We have a responsibility as Mudiad to take stock of that, and think what can we do differently, while accepting that we don't have a magic wand that can fix things overnight."
Mudiad Meithrin said it was always looking for ways to relieve pressure on volunteer committees.It added that although it was impractical for all nurseries to be part of the Flying Start scheme, many parents were now looking for all-day childcare rather than a few mornings a week.The number of Cylchoedd Meithrin providing Flying Start has more than doubled to 44% over the last three years."Communities and parents on the whole want more childcare provision, not less," said Dr Davies."The concern is if it's not being provided in Welsh, that we'll lose children from the Welsh-medium sector to the English-medium sector."Although Mudiad will look at alternative models, Dr Davies said there was no evidence so far that workload concerns were putting people off joining committees, or setting up new Cylchoedd Meithrin."We have more individuals volunteering on the committees this year than last year, but that doesn't mean we aren't aware of the pressures on them," said Dr Davies."The important thing is that we work in partnership with our 1,200 volunteers and say, if there's something we can do differently or better, thrn we should do that together."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Britain isn't broken, but people believe it is, and that is a big problem for Keir Starmer
Fraser Nelson, the former editor of The Spectator, the Conservative weekly, is having a remarkable afterlife as a great defender of the Labour government. He has gone head to head with Nigel Farage over the Reform leader's claim that we are living in 'lawless Britain'. There is less crime in Britain today than there has been for decades, Nelson pointed out at one of Farage's media conferences this week. This reduction in crime is nothing to do with people not bothering to report crime to the police any more, because the figures come from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, a large survey of a representative sample of the population that asks people if they have been the victim of a crime in the previous 12 months. The number of crimes has fallen by four-fifths since 1995. Farage waved the Crime Survey aside, saying it was 'discredited' because it does not include shoplifting. It doesn't, because it asks people about crimes of which they have personally been the victim, and it is true that shoplifting has increased. But that does not mean the Crime Survey is discredited. On the contrary, it is the best and most reliable evidence, and it is especially useful for measuring trends over time, because it is not affected by changes in the way police record crime. What did Farage say to that? 'We all know that crime has risen significantly over the course of the last few years.' A big welcome back, please, to that dread phrase, 'we all know'. For years I would point out that four public inquiries had found that Tony Blair told the truth about Iraq, only to be told that 'we all know' he didn't. As Nelson comments: 'This is the politics of perception.' As he points out in an excellent article in The Times today, it is the same with road safety, air pollution, sewage, and living standards. 'We all know' they are getting worse – when in actual fact they are getting better. So it does not matter to most people what the Crime Survey says. Most people believe that crime is rising, and the numbers who believe that have not changed over the years that crime has been falling. People are influenced by reports of terrible things happening to other people, and misremember their own experience. Anything more than five or 10 years ago was a golden age when there was some decent music in the charts and Mars bars weren't behind perspex screens. Why, though, has what 'we all know' become so much worse in the past year? Probably because some highly visible crimes have increased: shoplifting, phone thefts and graffiti. These are crimes that make people feel threatened by disorder, even as more of us than ever report feeling safe walking alone in their local area at night. What is corrosive is the perception – 'we all know' – that the authorities are not securely in control. Behind that perception lies the reality of asylum-seeker hotels and a government that is powerless to stop the boats. What has changed since the election is that Farage is more active, at the head of a social-media movement and a TV channel, GB News, dedicated to portraying the country as a hellhole. The intensity of this campaign to spread fear and insecurity seems to have reached a critical mass that is dangerous to Keir Starmer. He cannot fight it with facts – or not only with facts – because the answer will always be that 'we all know' that the facts are wrong. As Ian Leslie, the advertising executive turned social commentator says, 'Instead of asking, 'Why are people angry?' we should ask, 'What are we missing?'' What the government needs is to take visible and forceful action on the things that people care about, the shoplifting, phone snatching and graffiti, but above all on asylum hotels and stopping the boats. So far, Starmer has tried to do all these things, but limply. There have been roundtables at No 10 with the police and representatives of the retail industry and phone companies. Even these feeble initiatives have been undermined by people in authority doing foolish things, such as the police in Wales telling off a shopkeeper for calling thieves 'scumbags' and Andy Lord, the London Underground boss who accused citizen graffiti-removers of defacing trains themselves so that they could pose as heroes for cleaning it up. Most importantly, Starmer now has a treaty with France to return some of the cross-Channel migrants, but it will take a long time to build up to returning all or nearly all those who arrive – at which point the crossings would stop – and it is not clear that the French are in it for the long haul. One thing that Tony Blair understood, as he faced spikes of street crime, anti-social behaviour and asylum-seeker numbers, was the importance of 'grip'. It may sound like annoying spin-speak, but it was critical to communicating that he understood how people felt and he was doing something about it. Starmer should be grateful to Fraser Nelson, formerly of The Spectator, for pointing out that we are safer, richer and healthier than ever before – but if the perception is that we are not, the government has to get a grip on what 'we all know'.
The Independent
5 hours ago
- The Independent
Mapped: Where 16 and 17-year-olds could sway the vote in next general election
Leading pollsters have suggested Labour 's plan to lower the voting age to 16 could 'backfire' as Reform UK and Jeremy Corbyn 's new party could end up gaining the most from the policy instead. The 'seismic' move announced by the government as part of a raft of measures last month would allow around 1.5 million more teenagers to cast a ballot, bringing UK-wide elections in line with Scotland and Wales by the time the country next goes to the polls, due by the summer of 2029 at the latest. Keir Starmer encouraged 16 and 17 year olds to use their vote at the next election, with No 10 saying the prime minister would 'absolutely encourage them to be as engaged as they can be in the future of their country'. But top pollsters have warned the rewards Labour may have been hoping to reap from their plans might not come to fruition, with Nigel Farage 's Reform and Mr Corbyn's party the potential real winners. Respected pollster and Conservative peer Robert Hayward told The Independent: 'I just don't think the policy will be as beneficial as the Labour Party thought when they first proposed it. 'My expectation, in the multi-party political field that we have at the moment, is that the non-mainstream, non-legacy parties – such as Reform, the Green Party and Corbyn's party – will be the beneficiaries of younger people's willingness to vote away from the traditional parties.' Martin Baxter, director at pollster Electoral Calculus, added: 'It could be that Labour's plan for votes for 16 and 17 year olds – which did look a bit like semi-naked tilting the scales in Labour's own favour – might backfire a little bit, if Reform and Corbyn attract those new voters.' Louis O'Geran, research and communications associate at pollsters More in Common UK, agreed. 'It would be a mistake to see the lower voting age as an easy win for Labour,' he said. The numbers behind the 16 and 17 year old voters mapped out The Independent has mapped out the numbers behind the new 16 and 17 year old voters, showing how many are living in each constituency across the UK. Mr O'Geran pointed to the gender divide among young people. 'In general, we know that young people are more likely than the public as a whole to vote for Labour or the Greens,' he said. 'But there is a notable gender divide: Gen Z men are more likely to back Labour and Reform, while the Green Party often leads among Gen Z women.' With Mr Corbyn's party likely to focus on green issues, Lord Hayward suggested young girls could therefore also support the former Labour leader's party 'if it gets fully off the ground'. He described a key attraction of the new party to younger people as the mere fact that it is 'none of the above' – an example of what he described as the evidenced phenomenon that 'young people enjoy the opportunity of voting by voting not for mainstream parties'. However, he cautioned that the impact of the party, which Mr Corbyn launched alongside Zarah Sultana only last month, and is yet to be officially named, is yet to be truly known. Mr Baxter added that data on the new party's voting potential is hard to establish yet, with the next general election not for another four years. He said: 'The younger generations of 18 to 24 cohort is quite pro-Labour. 'It's also slightly surprisingly more pro-Reform than you might think. 'At the moment, I'm not seeing hard data on the 16 and 17-year-old vote – or really, the people who will be 16 or 17 in 2029. It's slightly weird because these people are currently 12 and 13, so their political views are perhaps not fully developed yet. 'But is there the potential, when they do grow up to be 16 and 17, for Jeremy Corbyn to get votes? Yes.' Policy could ' subtly reshape political map' Lord Hayward explained that the impact of the new teenage voters is expected to be 'fairly consistent' across the UK because their distribution is 'fairly flat' around the country. Most constituencies will see a 'reasonably average impact', he predicted. The exceptions will be the south coast and the south west as well as inner London – the former because these are known as the 'retirement belts', areas with high proportions of older people, and the latter because these can be described as the 'ultra expensive zones', places most young people cannot afford. Mr O'Geran agreed, predicting that, with 16 and 17-year-olds only making up around 2 per cent of the electorate, 'in most constituencies they won't make a difference to the outcome'. However, he does believe the young voters might still make an important difference overall. He said: 'In an increasingly fragmented political landscape, their votes could help determine the outcome of a handful of tight races across the country.' He suggested Gaza could be a deciding issue for this younger group – which, in turn, could be a deciding factor for tight races. He explained: 'In urban seats where Labour faces strong independent challengers, 16 and 17-year-olds could help tip the balance. All of the youngest constituencies in the country are also places where Labour is under pressure from a 'Gaza Independent'. In fact, there are seven constituencies where Labour's majority over an independent candidate is smaller than the number of 16 and 17-year-olds in the seat. 'With politics looking increasingly volatile, even numerically small changes in the electorate can have outsized local effects, and could subtly reshape the political map over time.' Key trends from split votes to not voting Lord Hayward also outlined some of the key trends the UK is likely to see when this new cohort votes, notably 'voting going all over the place and also not voting'. Describing 16 and 17 year olds as of 'enormous fluidity', he said the first will be the likelihood that the group's votes will be scattered. He explained: 'All indications is that Labour will not be a big beneficiary of that age group of those who vote, because polling indications are that they are much more likely to split their votes all over the place.' Secondly, Lord Hayward predicted a low turnout from 16 and 17-year-olds based on the figures from the 2024 election. 'Turnout was down across the board by just short of 10 per cent at the last election,' he said. 'But turnout was lowest among the youngest. Therefore, there is no reason for believing an even younger age group will not follow the trends of those immediately above them, by being actually a very low turnout demographic cohort.' Declining birth rates also have the potential to further minimise the impact of new teenage voters, simply because that age group is expected to shrink in the coming years, he said.
The Guardian
21 hours ago
- The Guardian
Three thousand riot officers readied for weekend of protests in England and Wales
Three thousand riot officers will be deployed and placed on standby amid concerns a string of anti-asylum seeker protests and counter-protests this weekend could lead to violence and disorder. Police commanders at a national level have made the decision. It is the first time since last summer's riots that there has been a mass and national standing up of specialist public order officers. Some of the extra riot officers will be deployed on the streets, kitted out in helmets and shields to act as a deterrent. Others will be held in reserve and all will be on standby to be rushed across England and Wales to 'hotspots' of violence and rising tension, a police source with knowledge of the planning for this weekend said. The same source stressed there was no specific intelligence of violence, but 800 extra riot officers were ordered to be made ready on Friday, on top of the 2,200 planned already. At least 20 protests targeting hotels used by the government to house asylum seekers are thought possible this weekend, with each one in turn potentially attracting a counter-protest. One senior officer in an area expecting protest said: 'It is impossible to tell what you are going to get. 'Within crowds you can get different factions, concerned locals, bystanders, extremists.' Officers will need to keep both sides apart as well as ensure disruption is kept to a minimum for the vast majority of people in the areas affected. The 3,000 riot officers have been requested from local forces and will be directed by the National Police Operations Centre. Local commanders will make decisions about specific deployments. In some areas public order officers may deploy in full riot gear from the start to act as a deterrent, other forces will prefer to have officers in regular uniforms, so called 'soft hats', to start with, with fully kitted riot officers in reserve and close by if trouble erupts. The far right is pushing some if not most of the protest but those attending are expected to also include local people left concerned by claims linking asylum seeker hotels to serious crime. Police public order resources this weekend face a pincer movement from right and left. The Metropolitan police, which covers Britain's protest capital of London, is calling in support from other forces as it faces three days of substantial public order challenges. It thinks it unlikely many will turn out to an anti-migrant protest in Islington, north London, on Friday night, more are expected at another in Canary Wharf on Sunday. On Saturday in central London there is a pro-Palestine march, as well as a protest where those who support Palestine Action or oppose the ban on it under terrorism laws, are being encouraged to dare police to arrest them. Organisers and police sources agree privately hundreds are likely to turn up, the range likely to be 200 to just under 1,000, encouraged to hold placards containing the words 'I support Palestine action', which police say will lead to arrest. Organisers hope to stretch to breaking point the police and criminal justice system's ability to deal with a mass defiance. Police believe they will manage unless the numbers exceed expectations. In London, small groups of protesters started to gather from about 5pm on Friday across the road from the Britannia International hotel in Canary Wharf. Riot police scrambled to keep groups of masked men who broke away from the anti-asylum seeker protest from reaching a separte group of anti-racism activists who had attempted to walk down to the Britannia hotel from Heron Quay DLR station behind a banner. About 200 anti-migrant protesters – including men waving St George's flags and an Israeli flag some of whom were supporters of the far-right activist known as Tommy Robinson – had gathered across the road from the hotel, with some hurling abuse at a Stand Up to Racism protest of about 100 activists, trade unionists and others. Police kept a distance but vans with public order officers were also stationed in streets nearby. On Sunday in London, there will be a march in support of the release of hostages taken from Israel by Hamas in the 7 October 2023 attack, as well as football's Community Shield match, with that and the start of football's lower divisions this weekend further requiring police public order resources. Metropolitan police deputy assistant commissioner Ade Adelekan, who will lead the policing operation, warned people who want to protest against the banning of Palestine Action that they should expect a terrorism charge: 'What sets this protest apart from others is participants are coming out not just to express a view, but with the aim of being arrested in very large numbers to place a strain on the police and the wider criminal justice system. 'We will have the resources and processes in place to respond to any eventuality. 'Anyone showing support for Palestine Action can expect to be arrested. I would once again urge people to consider the seriousness of that outcome. An arrest under the Terrorism Act can have very real long-term implications – from travel, to employment, to finances. Also, as we have seen this week, it is very likely an arrest in these circumstances will lead to a charge.' There was some unease in Nuneaton on Friday afternoon, before what is expected to be a big turnout at a protest outside the council building on Saturday. The Warwickshire town has become a target for far-right activists in recent days, after two Afghan men were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and raping a 12-year-old girl. They have now been charged in relation to the alleged incident. The Reform UK council leader, 19-year-old George Finch, accused the police of covering up the claim that the men, Ahmad Mulakhil and Mohammad Kabir, are asylum seekers. On social media, local people and far-right agitators expressed anger that the town was a home for asylum seekers, with Facebook groups popping up including 'Nuneaton says No!', which was created by Tom Huburn-King, a founding member and regional organiser for the far-right Homeland party. A group of retired women sitting outside a cafe said they supported the protest. 'I think it's good … They're only protecting the children. That's all they're doing,' said one woman, who had lived in Nuneaton all her life and would not give her name because 'you can't have an opinion because you'll get locked up'. She said: 'I don't really take a lot of notice but when the children start getting raped, there's a limit.' Warwickshire's police chief constable, Alex Franklin-Smith, took the unusual step of publishing a letter to Finch on Wednesday, writing that the police had asked the Home Office to confirm the immigration status of the two men accused in connection with the alleged rape, and 'did not and will not cover up such criminality'. Care workers Chijioke 'CJ' Ani and Musa Samson, both originally from Nigeria, had also heard about the protest. Were they concerned about it? 'Of course I am, because you don't know what will come out of it,' Ani said, adding that he would go to work and go home and not stay in the town on Saturday. He said he had seen a lot of anti-immigration sentiment on social media. 'Some of them are misinformed or acting out of impulse,' he said. 'It makes me feel like someone will attack me some day, if I'm walking down the road. It's definitely getting worse because the far right are getting stronger.' While the men, originally from Nigeria, had found Nuneaton to be a friendly town, they had initially been worried about their safety, arriving from London to a whiter area, 'but I'm used to it now', Ani said. Samson said he had experienced some racism, with men making noises at him as he approached a local bar. 'It's one of those things,' he said. Most people the Guardian spoke to in Nuneaton said they would be avoiding the town centre, with many saying they did not agree with the protesters, though they thought people should be able to protest. Lawrence McIntyre was serving teas and coffees from The Kiosk in the centre of the town. He was worried nobody would go into the town centre on Saturday and that he would have no customers. 'I do feel sorry if it does put people off coming down shopping. The market traders and the small businesses, they rely on [customers].' He said there had been plenty of diversity in the town for a long time and it had not been a problem until now. 'There's good and bad everywhere, not just in Nuneaton, wherever you are.'
