Gwynedd could receive over £3 million from the Welsh Government to support the growth of the Welsh language.

To mark St David’s Day, education and welsh language minister Jeremy Miles has announced 11 new projects across Wales, and two of those are in Gwynedd.

£1.1875 million has been earmarked to increase Welsh-medium school capacity in the county.

The increase will “support Welsh-medium communities of linguistic significance to thrive”, the Welsh Government said.

Communities of linguistic significance are classed as communities with over 70 per cent of Welsh speakers.

The project is looking to extend capacity in three schools within areas of linguistic significance, namely Llanllechid, Penygroes and Chwilog

£1.15 million has also been earmarked to fund phase two of a language centre project in Gwynedd.

The money will be used “to increase the capacity and relocate the Llangybi and Dolgellau Language Centres to strategic locations of linguistic significance, and increase the capacity of the Maesincla Language Centre in Caernarfon,” a Welsh Government spokesperson explained.

“Llangybi Language Centre will relocate to Ysgol Cymerau, Pwllheli and Dolgellau Language Centre will relocate to Ysgol Bro Idris, Dolgellau which is a larger site.”

The naming of the projects follows a bidding process which will now see them proceed to the next stage of the business case process and apply for funding from the Welsh-medium Capital Grant, totalling over £30 million, following the announcement of the funding last year.

The funding is aimed at increasing capacity in Welsh-medium schools, establishing new Welsh-medium provision and supporting early language immersion as well as helping learners of all ages improve their skills and confidence in Welsh.

The projects will be within nine local authority areas across Wales:

An additional £1.2m will also be provided to the Urdd for the new financial year, to support the youth organisation to continue its activities, which have been disrupted by Covid-19.

The funding will support a network of Urdd development officers across Wales, as well as provide new support for Welsh-medium apprenticeships within Wales’ most deprived communities. The funding is in addition to the Welsh Government’s funding to provide free entry to the Eisteddfod in Denbighshire this summer.

Jeremy Miles said: “Widening opportunities to access Welsh-medium education is absolutely central to growing our language and using Welsh more in our day-to-day lives.

“This investment will help meet the demand for Welsh-medium education by increasing capacity in schools and supporting the increase in Welsh-language immersion. The investment will complement our plans to increase the number of Welsh-medium teachers and develop the Welsh language skills of staff in English-medium schools.

“Creating opportunities to use Welsh outside the classroom is also important, whether competitively in the arts or sports, or just visiting the Eisteddfod. I’m therefore pleased to support the Urdd next year with continuing its fantastic work in opening up a wide range of opportunities for young people.

“All of these activities will help us achieve our goal of a million Welsh speakers and doubling the daily use of Welsh by 2050.”