A MULTI million pound scheme to encourage Welsh speakers to return or stay in their north and west Wales communities has been launched at the National Eisteddfod.

The Welsh Government announced the three-year ARFOR programme along with representatives from the four councils that will benefit from the scheme, who are Ceredigion, Gwynedd, Anglesey and Carmarthenshire.

The money will go towards a suite of interventions to support Welsh language communities thrive economically and create jobs to support the language, the Welsh Government says.

ARFOR will focus on opportunities for young people and families, to enable them to stay in or return to their home communities.

Launching the programme, Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said: “ARFOR 2 has the potential to make a significant difference in our Welsh speaking heartlands, by taking forward our ambitions of spreading economic prosperity across Wales.

“By working with our local authority partners, we want to support communities that are the strongholds of the Welsh language to flourish through economic interventions and contribute to increasing opportunities to see and use the Welsh language on a daily basis.”

Cefin Campbell, Plaid Cymru MS for Mid and West Wales, added: “ARFOR is an exciting programme to support and grow the local economy and the Welsh language together. By investing in these areas, we will encourage and enable entrepreneurship and help businesses grow. This will support vibrant, thriving communities.

"It is great to be at the National Eisteddfod to highlight the programmes supported by ARFOR, a key project that has been enabled by the Co-operation Agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government.”

The Minister recently visited Siop Griffiths, a community enterprise in Penygroes, which received funding from ARFOR 1 and has helped create local solutions to the challenges facing the Nantlle Valley and to give young people opportunities to stay and thrive in their community. The enterprise won a St David Award in 2022 for Community Spirit.

"The support from the ARFOR Programme has helped Siop Griffiths create a new job - Services Manager - and is helping us strengthen our services and increase our income," said Ben Gregory, Secretary of Siop Griffiths Cyf.

"In the long term we anticipate increasing the number of jobs and services, all operated through the medium of Welsh and offered to the public bilingually. The ARFOR Programme also helps us connect with like-minded social enterprises, where we can learn collaboratively about how best to support and strengthen the use of the Welsh language."

• Llwyddo’n Lleol 2050 - A scheme for young people and young families under 35 to gain job opportunities and experiences that can encourage people to stay or return to their indigenous communities.

• Cymunedau Mentrus - a fund that offers support to private / Community / social enterprises to develop new services / products within communities with a view to developing the local economy and increasing visibility of the Welsh language.

• Cronfa Her - a package of support for meeting the local and regional challenges of Anglesey, Gwynedd, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire. Individuals with innovative ideas to meet the economic challenges of the ARFOR Region will have the opportunity to apply for financial support. £2.6m will be invested to implement the project which will be delivered by Menter Môn in partnership with Menter and Busnes

• Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning - Wavehill has been appointed to carry out the monitoring and evaluation of the ARFOR Programme to identify what we have learnt from the link between the local economy and the Welsh language.

Dafydd Gruffydd, Managing Director of Menter Môn said: "We are delighted to have the opportunity to continue the management of Llwyddo’n Lleol and to extend that to the rest of the ARFOR Programme counties. Our original messages about work opportunities and quality of life in western counties, are just as relevant if not more so today. We look forward to working with Menter a Busnes and leading new work packages to promote and encourage young people and families to consider a future in their square mile."

Llŷr Roberts is Chief Executive of Menter a Busnes, added: "We know that the loss of young people and young families undermines the credibility of rural communities and has an impact on local services. We are therefore delighted to be able to play a part in tackling this challenge and collaborating with our partners at Menter Môn to develop and pilot ideas that can contribute to attracting and retaining young people in their communities. Great work has already been done – this is an opportunity for us to extend and develop on that in Ceredigion and Sir Gâr."