ENFYS Winter 2012/ Gaeaf 2012
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Inside this issue Meet some of our new starters—Under the Spotlight An Introduction to Work Shadowing An American Tale with Emma Pugh
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HIGHLIGHTS
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Under the Spotlight—Meet some of our new starters
An American Tale with Emma Pugh
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An Introduction to Work shadowing
It’s Christmas!!
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EDITOR’S WELCOME
Welcome to the Winter Edition of Enfys. Croeso I rifyn gaeaf Enfys. I cannot believe we are at that time of year again already!! Inside this issue you will find the regular office and team updates as well as some fun facts and recipes to enjoy this Christmas season. You will also find a fantastic feature tracking Emma’s travels in America and an introduction to a few of our new starters in ‘Under the Spotlight’ As ever a huge thanks goes out to everyone that has contributed content. We have a fantastic edition this Winter and couldn’t have made it happen without you. Happy reading !
The Enfys Team
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WHAT’S OCCURRING?
The latest news from our regional offices Anchor Court
We have waved goodbye to Katy with a lovely leaving do in Copa. We all enjoyed a glass of wine or two and a few of us even went on to have a little boogie.
On a similar theme, some us also enjoyed a wonderful meal at Bellinni’s to help Debs celebrate her birthday.
We were so impressed with the food we have decided to return to Bellinni’s to celebrate Christmas on the 14th December, closely followed by our annual (and usually epic) Christmas buffet the following week! (Pictures to follow in the next issue)
That only leaves us to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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WHAT’S OCCURRING?
NORTH WALES It can’t possibly be time for the Christmas is- sue of Enfys but that is scarily confirmed by the radio’s constant reminder of ‘only 4 weeks to Christmas’ and the Christmas films appearing on our TVs. We welcome Carl as our stand-in Regional Manager while Amy is on Maternity leave. We had wonderful news from Amy with the birth of beautiful Rosie who is tiny but perfect and of course received many cuddles when she came in to visit us. Both Siân and Delyth have settled in well and it is good to have Welsh speaking team members with the ability to deliver our courses bilingually. Several of our participants on courses in the Caernarfon area, although they haven’t requested a total Welsh delivery of the course, have benefited from Siân’s ability to explain some of the content in Welsh. Delyth has been able to approach many more companies in areas where their main language is Welsh and are more likely to accept approaches from Welsh speakers. We have been busy with delivery of the Level 2 courses and the additional modules and it’s been nice to see Elin here in North Wales for the delivery of the Level 3 course. We also had the ‘Dress to Progress’ campaign which found us on a Llandudno street chasing the Chwarae Teg sign which had been whipped by gale-force wind and sprawled across the pavement (another fine summer day in Llandudno). Although it was a quiet day we received a lovely welcome from the ladies in the Tenovus shop. Dewi continues to attend his gigs and run some events but is currently in training for a full marathon in Rome next March so we wish him well. Jane has been asked to sing in several concerts and will be singing in a few more over the Christmas period. We are sure they are the first of many. Susie had an exciting day in London having lunch with Desmond Tutu and after an enlightening talk she even managed to shake his hand. As Monday 3rd December is Quita’s last day before she goes in to hospital for an operation, we thought it unfair for her to miss out on all the celebrations so we are having an early Christmas celebration just for her. Obviously we will partake in the mince pies and all the other Christmas fare well it would be rude not to. I am sure you will all wish her all the best and hope she will soon be back in work and feeling fine. Happy Christmas to you all !
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WHAT’S OCCURRING? SOUTH E AST WALES
Since the last Enfys we have had some exciting news that Jessica got engaged, he proposed very romantically (and bravely) in front of her friends and family at her 30th Birthday party meal. We are all really happy for Jess. Andrew has been busy and making us all feel lazy by doing the Cardiff Half Marathon in a tweed suit, climbing Snowdon and impressively coming 15th in the tour of Britain Cycle sportif.
Laura is expecting her first Baby which is due in May. Congratulations! Ben our Business Apprentice has now completed and handed in the work for his Level 1 Award NVQ and is awaiting the results. We hope that we are able to work with him on his full Level 1 NVQ, but this will depend on the funding available so fingers crossed. We have all been very busy with the start of term courses and these are now drawing to a close so we are working on filling the January courses before we break up for Christmas. We would also all like to say a big farewell to our Manager Natalie. She has been a great manager and colleague and has been a huge support to us and our many challenges! We wish her the best of luck in her new role as Training and Quality Manager, we are very glad that she is staying in Chwarae Teg. And on that note we look forward to meeting our new Manager Allison Hanbury, who will be starting Part time on Monday 3rd December. So all change again at Treforest – nothing stays the same.
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GOWS Project Update Following the successful launch of the Get On With Science (GOWS) project in North East Wales earlier this year, the project has now expanded its activity into Anglesey and Powys, with the potential to roll out to the whole of Wales in 2013. Delivered in partnership with Chwarae Teg and ContinYou Cymru, the project aims to improve the confidence of primary school teachers who may not have a background in science, to ensure science lessons are equally engaging to girls and boys, and to provide transition activities for pupils moving from primary school into secondary school. Two training days for teachers were held in Anglesey and Wrexham in October and another in Powys on 8 November. These successful days included demonstrations of exciting new science resources by Sarn Associates and the award-winning Science Made Simple. Teachers had the opportunity to meet and work with GOWS science champions, including a forensic scientist, and astrophysicist and the current UK Young Engineer of the Year. For further information on GOWS, please contact Chwarae Teg’s members of the GOWS team: Bev, Lucy, Dawn and Natasha. Insight into Industry Visits As part of the joint Get On With Science (GOWS) project between Chwarae Teg and ContinYou Cymru, two ‘Insight Into Industry’ teacher visits were arranged for November 2012. Dawn Colyer, GOWS Project Liaison Officer, set up the visits to forge links between the teachers involved in the project and local industry, and to dispel myths surrounding what it is like to work in a factory. On the morning of Friday 16th November, Dawn visited the Toyota UK engine manufacturing plant in Flintshire with three local primary school teachers. The teachers were happier to be wearing the fluorescent jackets, hard hats and ear plugs, than the PJs they would be donning back in their classrooms in the afternoon for Children in Need! Everyone was impressed at the cleanliness and efficiency of the factory, and all realised how females would be just as capable as males in the jobs highlighted. The teachers noted the many company policies that were similar to what happens in schools, from small group work and self-evaluation, to creative thinking and eco-initiatives. The session improved the teachers’ own perceptions of industry and they left with many ideas ready to pass on to their schools. Thursday afternoon, 22nd November, saw Dawn at Organic Energy, Welshpool, with four primary school teachers and a CFS Development Officer from Powys. Organic Energy specialises in wood pellet boiler heating systems and the afternoon was spent enjoyably debating the positives of such systems and finding out how they work in the training facilities. Much science was learnt and the teachers all expressed a greater understanding of sustainable energy, which would positively influence their teaching. All eight participants over the two sessions rated their visit 5 out of 5, a great outcome for the Get On With Science project. Thanks go to the staff at Toyota UK and Organic Energy for their time and hospitality during the ‘Insight into Industry’ sessions and for considering how they can help teachers show their pupils, especially the girls, the exciting science related careers available to them. 7
Business Development Update
Chwarae Teg Regional Employer Work-life Balance Network Why flexible working? During October 2012 we held Work-life Balance Network events in South East and South West Wales and discussed whether the business case of flexible working still stacks up today. The network events provided an opportunity to discuss the business benefits of flexible working and raised awareness of best practice, as well as providing network members with an opportunity to learn from each other. Judith Norris-Jones, Head of HR at Wales and West Housing Association (WWHA) came along to the Network events to share the success of WWHA at the Working Families Awards 2012. For more info please visit www.chwaraeteg.com/work-life-balance/
Chwarae Teg Personal and Corporate Membership Emma Pugh and Jane Nyhan will be taking to the road this Winter to visit the Chwarae Teg offices and update staff on the Chwarae Teg membership scheme. Membership help Chwarae Teg to directly support women and organisations across Wales in furthering careers, developing skills and developing progressive, balanced and effective work places. We are talking to staff about the membership process and how beneficial it is to encourage people ‌ both businesses and individuals ‌ to join as members. If you would like any further info please get in touch with:Emma Pugh emma.pugh@chwaraeteg.com or Jane Nyhan jane.nyhan@chwaraeteg.com
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Under the Spotlight
Matthew Bolger—Senior Project Officer, Llanelli Brief background of yourself Been in finance and recruitment since 18. Worked for employers such as LloydsTSB, NPT Council, Admiral, DWP, deVere and Pertemps Favourite food Curry Favourite film The Untouchables Hobbies Snowboarding, Surfing, Travelling, Eating and Cooking An interesting fact I’ve lived in 4 Countries in the last 4 years Emma Thomas—Project Training Officer, Llanelli I am ‘very happy’ to be working for Chwarae Teg as a Project Training Officer. I have previously worked in both Learning and Development and Human Resource Management gaining a diverse range of skills enhanced by working in private, public and third sector organisations. I am now looking forward to using the skills and knowledge gained through my management experience, higher education, training delivery and working with people to deliver effective training for women on the Chwarae Teg ILM courses and of course other modules such as Equality and Diversity and Work-life balance. I am an active person and love the outdoors and activities of any kind. In my spare time I am a hands-on mum to my son Sam who is eight and spend most of my time with my family. Sophie Woodbridge—Regional Project Administrator, Llanelli Brief background of yourself Worked for Mid & West Wales Fire & Rescue Service answering emergency calls, also worked with the elderly suffering from mental health issues. Favourite food Strawberries! Favourite film Some Kind of Wonderful Hobbies Baking, music, travel & reading An interesting fact I play the drums, harp and Piano!! 9
Under the Spotlight Delyth Phillipps - Senior Project Officer
How long have you worked at Chwarae Teg? Evolve programme. I also attend a lot of netSince May 2012 working events and do a bit of cold calling at business parks. My current role I am one of three Senior Project Officers based What excites me most about the work that I at the Colwyn Bay Office in the North Wales Re- do gion. The programme participants; whether they are for Ascent or Evolve. There is always plenty of A bit about my background variety and something new to learn every day I started my working life working for the National which makes life interesting and keeps me on Westminster Bank progressing from a clerical my toes! role to a peripatetic trainer covering the whole of mainland Britain. I then decided to do a degree Favourite Food in Biology as a mature student and have since I love food! Anything that is colhad a variety of roles ranging from working as ourful and full of flavour so I supan environmental scientist to a television repose my favourite type would be searcher and more recently a community supMiddle Eastern Cuisine. port officer. I have worked on a number of European funded and Welsh Government funded Favourite film projects over the past 10 years and the main I love watching films especially on the big skills and experience I am drawing on for this screen with surround sound - but definitely not post are researching, networking, presenting, horror! I really enjoyed The Best Exotic Maritraining, report writing, advice and guidance. gold Hotel and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. What I like most about working for Chwarae Teg The most important thing for me is to strike a balance between being a mum and working fulltime. Working for Chwarae Teg allows me to have a rewarding and interesting job without missing out on important things in life such as spending time with my son when he comes home from school. I am also surrounded by supportive colleagues who make work an enjoyable place to be.
Hobbies I enjoy performing; singing, dancing, acting but not on my own I hasten to add. I also enjoy listening to live music and going for long walks in the beautiful Welsh countryside. Interesting facts I used to be a bird ringer and have swum with a wild dolphin in the North Sea.
A typical day I am involved mainly with the Evolve programme although I also do signs ups and reviews with Ascent participants from time to time, which I find very enjoyable. My days vary quite considerably but usually involve doing a lot of phoning and sending letters and emails to eligible companies to introduce myself and the
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An Introduction to Work Shadowing The ILM Level 3 course that we run on the Ascent Project describes work shadowing as ‘sitting alongside a more experienced individual for a period of time studying how they work and having the opportunity to learn by questioning and observation.’ Whether you are looking at gaps in your skill set for your current post, wanting to find out more about other aspects of your team role or looking towards your future development, work shadowing is a great way to do this. As we are all aware at Chwarae Teg we do not have an endless pot of training funds and we are encouraged to be creative about their own personal development. Therefore Work Shadowing can be a great way to develop your skills. Work shadowing as a new starter It can be useful to visit other offices to see how your counterpart organises themselves and their workload and to get a chance to ask questions about the role when you first start. This really helps when you have questions in the future as you have already started to build up a relationship with that colleague. This is something I think we are very good at. I have not done this in previous organisations but it is something I will definitely be taking forward into future jobs/ roles. Work shadowing as an established team member This work shadowing is not confined to new starters or certain roles; there is a place for most people to find opportunities to work shadow. Clare Harries and I have been supporting the senior project officers by meeting participants and undertaking the enrolment and Getting To Know You meetings (GTKY). We shadowed a couple of these meetings and went through the paperwork with our manager and then booked our meetings. Not only is it nice to be able to help out, it adds capacity at busy times and we really enjoy having a different aspect to our role. It is an extra item to add to our CV’s and has given us an appreciation of the role of the senior project officers. Andrea Garrett has recently been undertaking the Ascent Participants review meetings. Andrea shadowed these as part of her induction and as we needed to increase our project officer capacity she has now been able to step in to run these. This offers a number of benefits by providing some variety to Andrea’s role and a deeper understanding of the project officer role. It also allows Andrea to catch up with some participants after training to see how the Ascent course has made a difference to them and what they would like to access in the future. With the wide variety of positions within Chwarae Teg I am sure that there are many aspects of colleague’s roles that you may be interested in shadowing and would find useful to take back into your ‘day job’. As you can see from above this offers benefits to your own professional development as well as adding capacity to your team and the support that you can offer colleagues. If you are interested in doing some work shadowing have a chat with your line manager to identify what areas interest you. Or why not sit down with someone who has benefitted from work shadowing to find out a little bit more about what’s involved.
Laura McKeown
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FEATURE STORY An American Tale With Emma Pugh In September 2012 I embarked on a fantastic 2 week adventure to the West Coast of America with my better half John. First up Las Vegas, Nevada. After exploring the many casinos of Sin City and witnessing the beautiful Bellagio fountains we finished our stay with a sunset helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon, Arizona. Our pilot took us over Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam before landing in the Grand Canyon, where we were greeted with a champagne picnic. Amazing!
The second leg of the holiday took us on a de tour through Death Valley National Park to visit the salt planes of Badwater Basin. This is the lowest point in North America, some 282 feet below sea level and probably the hottest place I have ever been to, 48ºC! From the desert onto Hollywood, we soaked up the sun in L.A, lunched in Beverly Hills and window shopped on Rodeo Drive. Whilst we didn't see any celebrities we did walk over a few of them at the Hollywood Walk of Fame!
We left L.A for the beautiful coastal city of Santa Barbara, California which has now made it on to my top 3 list of places to retire. Only another 37 years left in work! Up next, Route 1 - the pacific coast highway. Driving through the breath-taking scenery of the Big Sur we saw colonies of elephant seals before arriving in Monterey. During our stay we cycled around the famous 17 Mile Drive at Pebble Beach and drank beer at Clint Eastwood’s bar ’Hog’s Breath Inn’ in Carmel.
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FEATURE STORY An American Tale ...Continued Our American adventure came to an end in fantastic city of San Francisco, California. Our first night took us to Candlestick Park to watch the San Francisco 49ers beat the Detroit Lions. One of the highlights of San Fran has to be the sea lions down on Pier 39. For the last 22 years colonies of sea lions have been migrating at the pier and they really are a joy to watch. Arf Arf Arf Arf!
During our visit we sailed over to Alcatraz and took a fantastic audio tour narrated by 4 ex prison guards and 4 ex inmates, this gave you a real feel of what life was like on The Rock. We saw the cells of the 3 men who escaped from Alcatraz and the jury are still out on whether they survived or not. With outstanding views of the city I couldn't help but question whether it was really that bad a place to be imprisoned. On our last full day we hired bikes to cycle along the Golden Gate Bridge and ended up in the picturesque waterfront community of Sausalito (now number 1 on the retirement list). We sat reminiscing about the last 2 weeks over an ice cream and agreed - THIS IS THE LIFE!
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Chwarae Teg goes to Europe! Chwarae Teg visits European Employment Forum, Brussels Several members of the Chwarae Teg team – Ann, Bev, Christine, Hayley and Jane - recently returned from the European Employment Forum in Brussels. The team joined hundreds of delegates from across Europe to showcase our Agile Nation project and contribute to discussions. Speakers at the conference ‘Creating Jobs for Growth’ included Commissioner Laszlo Andor, Director General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion; Pervenche Berès, Chair of the Employment & Social Affairs Committee of the European Parliament; and our very own Hayley Dunne. Hayley delivered a fantastic presentation to promote Agile Nation during one of the early conference sessions on the first morning. This session discussed diversity and gender inequality, exploring the barriers to employment for under-represented groups. It was a fantastic opportunity to showcase the project and raise awareness and the profile of Chwarae Teg’s work. We also had a stand in the exhibition hall which gave us a real presence at the event. We were visited by delegates from all over the world from the Czech Republic to South Africa and generated lots of opportunities to develop transnational partnerships for the Agile Nation project. Already we have received correspondence from several partners wanting to work with Chwarae Teg on future projects and campaigns. During the event, we were visited by Jill Evans MEP and colleagues from the Welsh Government Brussels office which provided us with the perfect opportunity to raise awareness amongst key policy makers in Europe. It was fabulous for Chwarae Teg to be part of such an event and we are already looking forward to the next one. Getting set up
Around the Conference
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TASH’S COCKTAIL CORNER
Classic Champagne Cocktail 1 white sugar cube 2 dashes angostura bitters 20ml cognac Champagne Place the sugar cube on a spoon and add the bitters. Drop the soaked cube into a champagne flute and add the cognac. Top up the glass with champagne and serve.
Winter Pimms Punch Jug 500ml Pimms 500ml Brandy 1.5 l apple juice Ice 2 cinnamon sticks Apples, sliced Orange, sliced Combine all of the ingredients In a jug or try it warm and gently heat all the ingredient (minus the ice).
Spiced Ginger Punch 2 oranges Cloves, 1 cm peeled, grated ginger 2 litres ginger beer Cinnamon stick Stud the oranges with cloves and bake on a low heat for 25 mins. When cool slice into wedges and add to saucepan with ginger, ginger beer and cinnamon. Heat until just off the boil, remove the cinnamon stick and serve
PLEASE ENJOY THESE DRINKS RESPONSILBY
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
BIR THD A ANN AND YS IVE RSA RIE
Penblwydd Hapus! Happy Birthday to all those that have celebrated their birthday over the past few months!!
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2013 is set to be a very cute year in the Treforest office, as both Ellie and Laura are expecting their first babies next year. Laura is due in May and Ellie shortly after at the start of June. Both of us are very excited and can’t wait to meet our little ones. Now the worst of the morning sickness is over and done with, we are discovering the joy of growing bumps and thinking up names. We’d especially like to thank colleagues for all their help and kind wishes in recent weeks. It’s lovely to work with such supportive people.
Congratulations to Emma who got married on October 20th.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS We have welcomed a number of new faces to the Chwarae Teg team recently:
Matthew Bolger—Senior Project Officer, Llanelli
Sophie Woodbridge—Regional Project Administrator, Llanelli
Allison Hanbury—Regional Project Manager, Treforest
In January 2013 we look forward to welcoming:
Joy Kent - Chief Executive
Emma Craig - Senior Project Officer (Llanelli)
Over the past few months we have bid a fond farewell to Cath Bowen, Katy Chamberlain and Simon Jenkins. We wish them all well in their future endeavours.
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It’s Christmas!!!! Mae’n Nadolig!!!
Pineapple Chilli Chutney Ingredients 2 large onions 200g light brown sugar 600g fresh pineapple 2 birdseye chillies 2 teaspoons curry powder 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon salt 250ml white wine vinegar 1)Firstly prepare the ingredients. Peel and chop the onion. Peel and cube the pineapple. Dice the chilli and de-seed 2) Put the onion, sugar, pineapple, chilli, spices and salt into a preserving pan and add the vinegar. Bring to the boil, stirring regularly until all the sugar has dissolved. 3) Cook on a low heat for about 30 minutes until the pineapple is tender and the mixture has thickened. 4) You can test if it is ready by making a channel in the pan with a wooden spoon. If the channel immediately fills with liquid, it is not ready. When the channel does not fill, it is. Simple. 5) Remove from the heat and pour into warm, sterilised jars and seal. Store in a cool dark cupboard from about 1 month before eating, to give the flavour time to mature.
Burning the Yule Log is a scandanavian tradition. The Yule Log was thought to be a source of good luck and its remnants were saved to inspire good fortune throughout the year.
It wa lieve s once bak d that b bee r Eve d on Xm ead wo u as fres l h f o d s t ay reve r!
This chutney is tried and tested by us in AC. It works great with some strong cheese and also makes a fantastic homemade gift!
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2012—A Good Year for Equality London Olympics 2012 This year’s Olympic Games were an international event forever to be known as London 2012. The politicians say it was a boom to Britain’s economy creating jobs for thousands of workers and a sense of community across the country. The Olympic Torch journey created excitement wherever it visited and many of us will always be able to say ‘I touched the 2012 Olympic torch.’ We know all about the 65 medals won by Britain and the highs and lows of each event but there are aspects of the games we may not have heard about which are a very much a part of the principles of us here at Chwarae Teg. In this year’s Olympic Games, apart from the 29 firsts (gold medals) we achieved, including Nicola Adams who become the first ever boxing Gold medallist, there are other firsts achieved which we may not have heard about: Saudi women were allowed to participate for the first time
Nur Suryani Mohammed Taibi from Malasia was the first pregnant woman participant.
Oscar Pistorius was the first amputee to participate
As a result of a design competition a submersible and mobile pool platform called the ‘Poolpod’ was designed so that less mobile people can remain standing as they enter the water, while a submersible wheelchair allows users to transfer from their own wheelchair in the privacy of the changing room. Its design allows it to be used at any pool, thus removing the need for a hoist or a swing. These poolpods are being installed in trial scheme across England. The first to go to Stoke Mandevelle Stadium. A permanent Poolpod will also be fitted in the Aquatics Centre following its transformation after the Games. It seems in a world of crisis our message reaches worldwide!
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 1st December—World AIDS Day 4th December—Santas’ List Day 8th December—Bodhi Day 9th December—International Children’s Day 10th December—Human Rights Day 21st December—Winter Solstice 24th December—Christmas Eve 25th December—Christmas Day 29th December—Festival of Winter Walks 31st December—New Year’s Eve 1st January—New Year’s Day 25th January—Burn’s Night 19
Last but not least‌ A massive thank you to everyone that has contributed content and helped to make such a fantastic edition. Why not let us know what you think of this issue or tell us what you want to see in the next issue. Email enfys@chwaraeteg.com The next issue of Enfys is scheduled for the Spring!! Have a fantastic Christmas and New Year!! Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn newydd dda!!
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