Childcare improvements to help increase the number of Welsh speakers

New Welsh-medium childcare provision will be created in Bettws, Bridgend, Porthcawl and the Ogmore Valley to help increase the number of Welsh speaking families in Bridgend County Borough.

Nationally, the Welsh Government has a target of achieving a million Welsh speakers by 2050. To help support this target, they made £30m available across Wales last year for projects dedicated to supporting and growing the use of the Welsh language in education.

Bridgend County Borough Council successfully bid for £2.6m funding and has now confirmed the locations where new childcare provision will be built.

This funding is a huge boost to our ambitions for increasing the number of Welsh speakers. The opening of the new Ysgol Calon Y Cymoedd in Bettws makes that a key location that would benefit from Welsh-medium childcare provision.

Central Bridgend and Porthcawl have also been identified to help support the transition of young children into Ysgol Bro Ogwr and Ysgol Ferch o’r Sger respectively.

The four projects will each be allocated £650k which can be used for the design and construction of buildings. Funding hasn’t been provided to cover any running costs, so we’ll be working with our partners from Mudiad Meithrin, Bridgend College, Menter Bro Ogwr, BAVO, Urdd and the National Day Nurseries Association to help develop provision which is sustainable from a financial perspective and will benefit local communities in the long run.

Councillor Dhanisha Patel, Bridgend County Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Future Generations