CACEN Meetup South East England

Welsh Meetups/Events
#101

Diolch Dee.

Hylo Pawb

The next meetup dates have been planned as follows:

July 15 venue to be confirmed shortly - Brighton or East Grinstead
August - holiday time, no meetup
23 September - Seaford
14 October , Brighton for our Eisteddfod

Time: 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

July’s theme is: If I wrote a novel, it would be about…’

Looking forward to seeing as many as can.

Meanwhile, Sally C is planning a (approx) 5 mile circular wild flower walk somewhere near Lewes which may involve a pub, on Saturday 1st July. Further details soon.

If you would like to come to one or more of our meetups, please PM me for the location and you will be welcome whatever your level of learning

Don’t forget ur weekly meetup at a pub in Brighton on Monday evenings from 8:00 pm
Hwyl fawr
Mark

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#102

Shwmae @markwatkinprice! I hope your Eisteddfod went well on Saturday.

Do you have a date and location for the November meetup?

Diolch, Dee

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#103

Diolch Dee

Hylo Pawb

Sorry it’s been a long time, but we think we’re now back on track.

Great to see those who came to the Eisteddfod last Sunday. Sally C has been awarded the David March Lovespoon for Welsh Language Achievement for the last year. Llongyfarchiadau, Sally. Pictures at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006602778703

Meanwhile, a major policy decision has taken place. Rather than the random dates we have set which have been at the convenience of the majority of arrivees at each monthly event, we have decided to set the Meetup date to the second Saturday each month starting January.

The next events are
Sunday November 19 Brighton
Saturday December 9 Brighton

Thenceforth, second Saturday
Saturday 13 January Lewes

Saturday February 10 Uckfield
Saturday March 10 Chichester
Saturday April 14 Albourne

PM me for the address for each.

We usually have a theme to think about beforehand so we can have something specific to talk about. For the next session it will be ‘My favourite Welsh Song’ - why do I like it so much? Explain as much as possible in your own Welsh, reverting to Saes if need be. Don’t worry, no-one will be forced to sing!

Times will be 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm except for the following-

I have a copy of the Hedd Wyn film and we thought it could be good to have a Welsh film evening. The logical time for this would be April 14 following our meetup. For convenience, I suggest we start the meetup at 2:00, have a latish lunch and stop 5:00 ish, break for some more food - likely to be a whip-round Chinese or similar, start the film afterwards and generally lounge around with good company and maybe a glass of something for a while afterwards. Partners who don’t come to Cacen may want to join us for the film, food and fun. Unless you don’t want to invite them :). Either way, an opportunity to socialise.

For the first time, I have attempted an event on Facebook. Whilst I realise not everyone is on FB, maybe it will get Cacen a bit more exposure. Let your friends know, and any feedback welcome.

Don’t forget the weekly Brighton meetup at a tafarn in, erm, Brighton.

Hwyl fawr

Mark

2 Likes
#104

Hi Mark. I started SSiW last year and then stopped for a year so have forgotten everything :joy:I’m over in Battle and with another bash at starting again, once I’ve got a few phrases under my belt, hello, goodbye (!, ), I MIGHT find some courage to come along​:roll_eyes:So if you do start a FB group please include me. Kind regards, Alison Carragher

#105

That’s what people usually expect - but this course doesn’t work that way - I’ve just taken a 16 month break between learning Manx, and refreshed about 95% of what I’d learnt previously in just the first hour or two.

How far did you get with SSiW last year? I’d recommend that you start with the next new lesson - you might surprise yourself… :slight_smile:

#106

Hi Alison, Great to hear from you. You can always find out where we are from the excellent email put out by Dee. But if you would like to be added to our group mailing list, please private message me with your email address and I’ll add you. That way you will always be in the loop. You could also go to Facebook and look for Cacen Cymraeg.

I understand the nervousness you feel. it happens to all of us. Our group is a complete mixture learners through to fully fluent, but the focus is on fun and enjoyment with as much Saes as Cymraeg on occasion.

Just come along and don’t feel you have to contribute anything. Everyone is very friendly and welcoming. We look forward to seeing you in the hopefully not too distant future.

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#107

Now we are six! :birthday: Our first meeting took place six years ago today. Six of us met in an adult education centre in Burgess Hill and over tea and bara brith decided that the SE England SSIW group would meet every month and in different locations.

Since then, the group has grown in number and in scope (there are, for example, also weekly meetups in a Brighton pub and we’re presently planning our second group weekend to Cardiff).

In June 2014, we became CACEN (Cylch Alltud Cymraeg Enfys yn Ne Loegr). Very many thanks to Mark for setting the whole thing up and continuing to co-ordinate, and to Aran, Catrin, Iestyn, Cat and the SSIW community for your ongoing encouragement! And, of course, thank you, Dee, for publicising our meetups through the weekly mailing. If anyone in the area is at all interested in coming along to this very friendly group, please get in touch!

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#108

Llongyfarchiadau a phenblwydd hapus! Congratulations and happy birthday! :tropical_drink:

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#109

Which has always been the best name of any SSiW group… :star: :star2:

Llongyfarchiadau mawr - a phenblwydd hapus iawn i chi! :sunny:

#110

Diolch yn fawr iawn, Dee ac Aran! :relaxed:

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#111

Great bit of detective work, Rhiannon, and of course, I echo your thanks to everyone at SSIW who has made it continuingly (is there such a word?) possible.

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#112

Hylo Pawb a Flwyddyn Newydd Hapus i chi i gyd

We made a decision that from now on, meetups would always be on the second monthly Saturday yr Ail-Sadwrn. So the first is the 13th January at Lewes, east Sussex. Please PM me if you woul dlike venue details.

I couldn’t remember whether we settled on a theme this time so unless anyone says anything to the contrary, we’ll do something different. Instead of reading a prepared piece, using no notes except perhaps a list of the words we want to use that we can quickly refer to on the hoof, just using the words we individually know, tell in as many or as few words as we need/can in turn

a) why I want to speak Cymraeg

b) what it is about Cymru that hits the button

and c) if we make it that far - the thing that made me smile most this Christmas

The point of this is not to use translation media or try and use impressive but out-of-our range vocabulary, but to use what we know and to articulate it in real-time. Sorry that was all a bit garbled.

So, no need to be apprehensive - we’re all in the same boat and the emphasis is on relaxation and fun not intellectual stimulus (as such)

That’s after a quick news-round and if we get time, a story.

Looking forward to seeing as many as can on the 13th 1:00-4:00 pm.

As always, please bring a small plate of food for a shared lunch.

Meanwhile, normal service will be resumed at the former Black Lion now Miller and Carter Patcham next Monday and weekly thereafter from 8:00 pm. Just look out for the gigglers in the corner.

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#113

I still have pictures (and a small video!) from that first meeting - I’ll share on here when I work out the best way. You could always pm me to email them if you like.
Penblwydd Hapus, CACEN!
‘Chydig hwyr, ond ‘di dweud yn frwdfrydig!

1 Like
#114

Thank you Gary. Yes please - you know my email address. Hope to see you soon.

Meanwhile, many will know Cacen had a weekend in Cardiff. In case you’re not plugged into that forum stream, the following has just been added:
Hylo Pawb

A huge thank you to those who came and joined us on our tour. Fantastic to see you and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Some photos at :slight_smile:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006602778703

An addition to the agenda was the Pont Hafren protest Saturday afternoon which added a certain je ne sai quuoi/dw i ddim yn gwybod beth to the events.

All in all a culinary stomach-fest but hugely uplifted by two items fo news:

  1. The Mochyn Du - although it has changed hands and had its name changed, one of the new owning partners is a Cardiff lad and has pledged to keep its Welshness going https://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/brewhouse--kitchen-retain-welsh-14264415
  2. I chatted to a couple of waiter staff at Bill’s restaurant in the Bay. https://bills-website.co.uk/restaurants/cardiff-bay/
    Both said they wanted to start learning Welsh - guess where I pointed them? Bill’s started in Lewes, East Sussex so is close to where Cacen is based. The most interesting bit, though, was one of the waiters said Bill’s has made it company policy that for their Welsh sites (so far two, both in Cardiff) they intend recruiting Welsh speakers and are about to print all their literature for their Welsh bwytau in Welsh as well as English. Forward thinking, I think.

I promised that in return they would earn many Brownie points for this and generate added support for their business. So get to it, folks - go and eat there and tell them you agree with their strategy and that it will result in more support from the welsh community because they are making the effort.

Hwyl am y tro

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#115

I’ve got the next meetup as Saturday 12 May (i.e. second Saturday) but do you have a venue yet?

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#116

Hylo Dee

Yes, that’s correct. Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

We’ll be in Uckfield, Sussex on May 12th and Mark can be PM’d for location details. We’ll be looking at the poem by TH Parry-Williams, ‘Hon’, discussing the translation and talking about what it means to us personally. Something a little different but we’re looking forward to the challenge! As ever, anyone who’s local or visiting the area, is more than welcome.

Diolch a hywl am nawr

Rhiannon

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#117

Cacen Meetup 9 June Start later than usual at 2:00 pm Brighton

A variation on our usual meetups - the afternoon session until about 5, bring a small plate of food for a (late) shared lunch, the the theme will be by popular request “a(nother) Welsh song that I like.” Bring along a CD or use Youtube/spotify as you prefer and be ready to say why the song means something to you. Yng Nghymraeg of course, and the point is, it doesn’t matter how much we falter, just get those words out and you’ll surprise yourself. The emphasis is on fun.

We’ll also have our regular ‘my month’s news’ and maybe some sort of game - language based of course.

After the finish around 5:00, we will be having a ‘whipround Chinese takeaway’. Partners and/or friends welcome. The lovely Val is opening her house above and beyond the call of duty and hosting a TV screening of the Hedd Wyn film. We have no idea what time we will eventually finish but it promises to be a great meetup.

Please PM me for location details and I will be pleased to provide them. And if you’ve never been before, give it a go. We now have a really vibrant Sussex/Surrey/Hampshire community - it’s the next best thing to family.

Dee - really sorry I’ve been a bit remiss in the last couple of months in keeping you informed. I hope to be back on track now :slight_smile:

And don’t forget to book for the SSIW Birthday Party - bookings close I think tomorrow. See you there!

Hwyl am y tro

Mark

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#118

If you can put @dee when you post, that sends me an email so it helps. Diolch :slight_smile:

1 Like
#119

I hope the June meetup went well. Will you be meeting over the summer?

#120

Meetings over the summer are going to be a bit less regular… The next meeting will be in Portsmouth on Saturday 11th August (my place). Please PM me for the address if required. Most of the group will be at the Eisteddfod Genedlaethol, so here’s wishing you all a wonderful visit!
If you’d like to come next Saturday, please let me know somehow; this thread; PM; e-mail; carrier pigeon; Yellow Submarine; however you like really :blush: