What Makes You Welsh?
What does being Welsh mean to you? Can you feel both Welsh and British - and how are they different?
In August, BBC Radio 4 will be taking a group of 17-19 year-olds from across Wales to the Edinburgh Festival, where they’ll present a pop-up - a one-off stall or presentation - reflecting what Welshness means to them.
We want them to create something really exciting - it might involve music, food, video, interactivity - the sky’s the limit!
To help create their pop-up, we’ll be teaming up our participants with a mentor, who’ll help them develop their ideas into something brilliant and unique. We’ll be recording the journey to Edinburgh for a three-part series on Radio 4, to air in October.
If you’d like to get involved, we want to hear from you! This is a fantastic opportunity to tell an audience of millions about your life, your world and your nation.
We’re looking for people who are interesting, fun and have something to say. You don’t have to be political (at all!) or come from any particular background. And if you’re thinking 'I don’t really know what Welshness really means… but I’d like to find out' - we’re just as keen to hear from you!
To get in touch with us, please fill in this mini-questionnaire and email it to steven.rajam@bbc.co.uk. All applications will be considered equally. The deadline is Friday 19th July 2013.
Finally (and this is very important): under-18s must have permission from a parent or guardian before sending us the questionnaire, and their parent/guardian must also confirm they have read the schedule and terms and conditions on the questionnaire.
We’ll be selecting our group during July, with our mentor workshop in early August, and the festival towards the end of August. If you haven’t heard from us by August 1st, that means you haven’t been successful. We’re really sorry but we can’t contact everyone individually.
Good luck!
CLIC ACU on Preparing to Present Radio Broadcasting (PDF download)
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8 Comments – Post a comment
RED KITE
Commented 34 months ago - 9th July 2013 - 13:50pm
I AM PROUD TO BE WELSH WITH BOTH SCOTTISH AND IRISH! PROUD TO BE CONNECTED WITH WALES, SCOTLAND AND IRELAND AND A CELT!
End0fDarkness
Commented 34 months ago - 10th July 2013 - 13:22pm
I'm too old to apply for this, but in terms of nationality, I personally don't like to label myself as anything. To me, labels create divides which can lead to racism and dehumanisation. Some people like to piggy back on the accomplishments of others, saying things like 'we have a good sports team', we have good actors', 'we invented this', when in reality, the person saying those things did nothing significant that contributed to that achievement, but hold onto the group label so they feel like they did.
I'd rather just be called human.
Pasternak
Commented 34 months ago - 11th July 2013 - 13:11pm
@End0fDarkness
Agreed. Whenever a job application asks for my race I tick 'Other' and write 'Human'.
I don't regard myself as Welsh, and certainly not proud to be so. I'd be terrible at this because there is nothing that 'makes me Welsh'. Wales just happened to be the country my mother was in when she gave birth to me, I don't think that makes me special or should define me in any way.
769
Commented 34 months ago - 11th July 2013 - 15:37pm
this sounds like a great opportunity to show case the all the positive things in wales...
@Pasternak you are miserable sometimes...
Tyvott Yb Knivvott
Commented 34 months ago - 12th July 2013 - 13:28pm
@EndOfDarkness and Pasternak
Being Welsh has nothing about divide, being Welsh is a mere way to tell us where you live/come from.
Saying that it creates divides that lead to racism and such doesn't make sense to me. It's the same as saying you're a football player, christian, jew, muslim, gamer, writer, designer, animator, musician and the like. It's the point where people use these facts (and much more) about you and turn them against you is the problem, not the fact itself.
There's nothing wrong saying you're Welsh. You're not saying "I made this country what it is today" or "I'm saving the language" or anything of the sort. It's a mere statement of who you are, like that you're human, have a certain colour hair/eyes/skin and everything else you didn't decide before your birth
If you can call yourself human, an artist, a man, woman, bisexual, transgender, gay, lesbian, gamer, writer, poet - any of these things, I don't understand how stating your nationality is any different.
As for me, I am Welsh. A Welsh-speaking Welsh and that. I'm happy to be so, but not proud. There's a difference between being happy and to be proud to be a certain nationality.
End0fDarkness
Commented 34 months ago - 15th July 2013 - 00:07am
@Tyvott Yb Knivvott
In terms of what technically makes me Welsh, I compeletly agree that being born in this part of the world does make me Welsh and there isn't anything wrong with saying it in that way, it would be just the same as saying 'I was born on Longtitude X and Latitude Y.
I personally find that naming your nationality is different to saying you're an artist or writer as they describe some of activities you partake in, which suggests other things about you (like creativity), whereas your nationality does not (and those that do believe so are often seen as racists). However, the title of 'artist', 'writer' or 'gamer' is also very subjective. If a person plays a games just on their mobile phone, are they a gamer? If a person just draws simplistic cartoons, are they an artist? This isn't really comparable to nationality, but just shows my dislike of labels in general.
The issue I have is what the question of the title of this article is implying, that they're asking more than just the co-ordinates of our birth and that being Welsh is somehow more than just being born in the country. To me, this type of question can very easily turn into stereotypes or arguments. For example, if someone innocently said that they are Welsh because they love Welsh cakes, does that mean that then mean that in their eyes, if someone does not like Welsh cakes they should not be called Welsh? That's kind of an extreme or harsh example but to me, it shows how subjective it all is and that yeah, the only sound answer to what makes you 'Welsh' is that you were born in the country. To me, even speaking the language doesn't really count as there are many British people who speak French, Spanish or Italian.
In terms of the racism stuff, I think you put it more eloquently than me when you said the difference in being 'happy' and 'proud'. Pride often suggests that you are happy with something because it is better than other things, which suggests racism when it comes to a country.
Unfortunately, there are those who do think that they are somehow entitled to things or are better at things or are part of a winning group (not only with being Welsh), although they don't contribute to the group themselves, all because of where they were born. The amount of times I heard 'Wales is better than England' when I was growing up (and not in a banterous kind of way) was uncountable. Although Welsh myself, it wasn't aimed at me, but was still not nice.
As Pasternak mentioned about forms and surveys. Many will give the option of 'Welsh' or 'British' where a Welsh person could tick either. If they were asking simply where you were born, then why have the two options? Many who are patriots choose Welsh, whereas those who believe more in unity often pick British. Myself, when it comes to people asking me what I consider myself as in terms of nationality, I prefer not to think of myself as one and simply human (picking the 'larger Britain').
StevenBBCR4
Commented 34 months ago - 15th July 2013 - 13:27pm
Hi guys, really fascinating debate - glad it's got discussion going!
Please note OUR DEADLINE IS THIS FRIDAY 19TH for applications - please do get them in as soon as possible...and you might be going to Edinburgh...
Cheers, all best,
Steven
(BBC Radio 4)
destiny x bounce
Commented 32 months ago - 26th September 2013 - 17:26pm
Hi guys i am welsh because i was born in wales so that's how i'm welsh and i am proud because this is a great website thx guys your all great loving the comments if u want to be in destiny like this boys +girls i am the owner of destiny we have 2 people see if we can smash it to 200 it would be great so hit that like button with your forehead (not really dont be serious but likes would be nice thx bros)
see u guys great websit bye
destiny x bounce