WelsH LanguagE POLICY

Policy Statement

RESOLVEit recognises that the Welsh language has official status in Wales and should be treated no less favourably than the English language. People in Wales should be able to live their lives through the medium of Welsh if they choose to.

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We produce, promote and present work in English and Welsh. We will continue to programme work in the language of choice of the individuals with whom we work, wherever possible.

We are an organisation that supports and encourages accessibility to our programmes and services and this includes providing a consistent service to our Welsh-speaking audiences in a language of their choice.

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We welcome correspondence in both English and Welsh and aim to provide an equal standard of service in both languages whenever practicable.

We see this policy as forming part of a progressive and forward-looking commitment to promote a bilingual Wales.

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Our policy seeks to:

• offer a service of equal standing to Welsh and English speakers.

• understand and acknowledge the bilingual nature of Wales.

• give a wider access to our activities.

• raise our Welsh profile and recognise ownership by Welsh speakers and non-Welsh speakers alike.

• strengthen our appeal both within and outside Wales.

• strengthen our ability to meet the requirements of funders and other partners.

• ensure conformity to the linguistic and cultural specifications in legislation and best practice guidance as approved by the Welsh Language Commissioner.

External Communications

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Corporate Identity

The word RESOLVEit, when used to indicate our name, will always be used in English only, including the use of strap lines, letterheads, business cards, compliment slips and other stationery, signs, vehicles, ticket stock, cheque books, invoices and all other business documentation.

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Corporate and Marketing Literature

All printed corporate publications will be in English; our Annual Reports, Access Guides and any document intended for general external communication.

Any print that is intended for distribution in Wales will be bilingual whenever possible. This includes all art form and general literature including flyers, posters, programmes, visitor guides etc.

Exceptions to this general principle may be advertising or publicity campaigns aimed at a particular target audience outside Wales.

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Marketing literature received from incoming companies will be accepted in English.

All external displays, public information stands and exhibitions within Wales will treat the two languages on a basis of equality, except where the organisers of the event rule that one of the two languages must be predominant.

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We will capture language preference information from our customers whenever possible and use this data to communicate through their method and language of choice.

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Questionnaires and Focus Groups

Any in-coming companies or marketing organisations who wish to distribute surveys and questionnaires to RESOLVEit audiences will be required to get prior authorisation from us.

We will make decisions whether or not to allow the distribution of questionnaires without translation on a case-by-case basis.

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When the resources are available, at least one group in any qualitative research programme will be moderated through the medium of Welsh.

Front of House

We aim to ensure that a proportion of our customer-facing staff can communicate bilingually. At the moment, we do not have any fluent Welsh speakers on the team but we do have Welsh language learners.

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As the RESOLVEit team grows, we are committed to ensuring that we have Welsh-speaking staff available.

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Written correspondence

RESOLVEit welcomes written correspondence in Welsh and English and will reply in the original language of communication wherever possible.

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Telephone communications

An initial response will be made bilingually or in English. If the member of staff on duty does not speak Welsh, we will give the customer the option of being referred to a Welsh speaker where possible but recognise on many occasions this might not be possible.

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Digital and social marketing and information technology

Our website is in the process of being translated into Welsh so site visitors will have the choice of browsing the website in either language.

Where content is included from outside sources including customers, other cultural organisations, our creative community etc content will be accepted in Welsh or English only. Blog/news/campaign posts are accepted in English or Welsh and aren’t translated.

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All staff whose work includes written communications through the medium of Welsh will be supplied with any necessary software, including Welsh fonts, Welsh spell-checker etc.

E-flyers will be sent out in the language of preference wherever possible.

Our social media presence will include a mix of English, bilingual communications plus original content produced in Welsh.

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Media Relations

Media releases will be issued according to the language preference of the recipient media organisation, journalist or publication.

Launches, organised public meetings and conferences

We will strive to provide simultaneous translation facilities to enable participants to use either language.

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Recruitment

All external recruitment advertising will be bilingual except for posts where Welsh is an essential requirement. These will be advertised in Welsh with an English summary.

We will identify posts where the ability to speak Welsh is essential and those where it is desirable, to identify the level of proficiency expected in each case and to formulate job descriptions and personnel specifications as appropriate.

Managers responsible for recruiting staff will assess our needs for Welsh-speaking staff when making appointments and will keep this aspect of recruitment under constant review.

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Translation Services

We use the Welsh Government Helo Blod service for general translation purposes.

We will use Welsh Language Commissioner-approved translators or translators who have a specialist understanding of a specific topic.

Basic in-house translation will be provided by the marketing department where appropriate.

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Internal Communications

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Documents, contracts and other communications

All internal documents, contracts and other communications shall be produced in Welsh and/or English at our discretion unless they are addressed to an individual and that individual has expressed a preference for one language over another.

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Board meetings

Agendas and minutes of full Board of Trustee meetings shall be produced in English unless otherwise requested.

Welsh-speaking staff

We respect the fact that a number of our staff are Welsh speakers and encourage staff to communicate in the language of their choice within the workplace.

We will not expect Welsh-speaking staff to act as translators for written or spoken communications unless this forms a part of their job description and they have the necessary skills to enable them to deliver this service to a high standard.

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Informing staff

This policy is incorporated into the Company’s policies and procedures and communicated to all staff via the staff handbook and shall be made available to all potential staff as part of their application pack for employment.

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Review of Policy

This policy and its implementation will be reviewed at Board level on an annual basis and improvements made where possible.

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Complaints and suggestions for improvement

Complaints related to this policy, or suggestions for improvement, should be directed to: The Director/Managing Director

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Operational compliance

The policy and operational compliance are the responsibility of the Managing Director.

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Policy Review

This policy will be reviewed at regular intervals to ensure it remains in line with legislation and The Service's organisational principles.

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REVIEWED & SIGNED BY: Eira Culverwell Managing Director

Review date 01/08/2021

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EIRA CULVERWELL