The National Lottery Community Fund is the UK’s largest community funder, and it’s therefore vital we offer a bilingual service to our customers and staff. Since 2017 we have welcomed the opportunity to work with the Welsh Language Commissioner to facilitate and promote the language at the Fund. Our Annual Report sets out our compliance with the Welsh Language Standards and gives us the opportunity to reflect on our successes during the year 2023-2024 and look forward to the year ahead. 

In 2011, the Welsh Language Measure came into force which established the principle that Welsh should be treated no less favourably than English in Wales and that people in Wales should be able to live their lives through the medium of Welsh if they wish to do so. The Measure also established the office of the Welsh Language Commissioner, which facilitates the use of the Welsh language through regulation and promotion work. 

We are proud to operate as a bilingual organisation and we are committed to providing a high quality, bilingual service to the Welsh public, as well as promoting the use of Welsh internally with our colleagues. We ensure that we support projects that promote the use of Welsh in communities through our grants. Between September 2023 and August 2024, over 950 grants have been awarded in Wales worth £38.6 million.

We operate under four categories of standards, including Service Delivery, Policy Making, Operational, and Record Keeping. A full list of the Welsh Language Standards that apply to The National Lottery Community Fund can be found in our Compliance Notice. Our compliance is regularly monitored by the Commissioner’s staff and we are pleased to note a high level of compliance in all categories this year. 

Some of our successes this year include:

• We have made all materials for new and updated funding programmes available in Welsh. In March, a new stream of the Climate Action Fund was launched and in July, the UK Fund webpage was updated.
• We explored ways to reach a more diverse audience in Wales by providing a series of Impact Reports in a Welsh audio format.
• We have maintained our social media channels bilingually and launched a new LinkedIn page in Wales.
• Welsh content in our monthly bilingual newsletter is sent to almost 1,500 of our grantholders in Wales.
• We continue to test materials with Welsh customers. This year we tested materials for our refreshed People and Places programme and Sustainable Steps Wales: Green Careers.
• We developed an Equity Impact Assessment tool to aid colleagues in assessing EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) implications, including consideration of the Welsh language. 
• We continue to support colleagues to learn and improve their Welsh by offering Learn Welsh courses and holding informal conversations between our learners, the Welsh Language Officer and our translator. Eleven members of staff are currently learning Welsh and we appointed four Welsh speakers this year. 51% of the workforce in Wales speaks Welsh or is learning Welsh, which is an increase on last year’s percentage.
• We held internal Welsh language awareness training for two teams outside Wales.
• We continue to support grantholders to promote the Welsh language through their grants. We built on our advice to projects on managing their projects bilingually by publishing more detailed guidance. Our grants have supported the work of organisations promoting the language in Wales, including Mudiad Meithrin and the Mentrau Iaith (Welsh Language initiatives).
• We have promoted Welsh culture internally and externally by celebrating Welsh days and festivals such as The Royal Welsh Show, the Urdd Eisteddfod and the National Eisteddfod.

The Welsh Language Commissioner Efa Gruffudd Jones said: “Given that the work of the Community Fund reaches all corners of our society here in Wales, it is vital that their services are offered in their customers’ preferred language. It is great to see that the Fund is constantly seeking to expand its bilingual provision, both internally and externally, and I congratulate them on their efforts and wish them well for the future.”  

Ruth Bates, Head of Communications and Engagement at the Fund said: “We pride ourselves on our bilingual service to our customers and staff. As the largest community funder in the UK, it is vital that we offer this service in Wales. We are pleased to work with the Welsh Language Commissioner to facilitate and promote the language at the Fund, and our Annual Report sets out our progress and successes over the year.”

Our full annual report is available to read here.

For more information about our bilingual provision at the Fund, please visit our website.

If you have any queries about the report or our bilingual services, please email welshlanguage.advice@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk