Innovate Trust recognises the public in Wales has a right, collectively and individually, to receive a bilingual service from the public institutions and organisations that work in Wales. We are currently engaging with the Welsh Language Commissioner to make steps towards becoming an inclusive organisation in terms of our use of the Welsh Language. Cynnig Cymraeg is recognition by the Welsh Language Commissioner given to organisations with a strong Welsh Language Development Plan. The Scheme intends to provide our organisation with a clear plan to follow, maintain, and develop our Welsh language services over time. As a Welsh organisation, we believe that the English and Welsh languages should be treated on the basis of equality. We believe that offering services, activities, and resources which respect an individual’s choice of language can make a significant difference, which also includes BSL and Makaton. In recognition of this legal right, and of other related rights such as Human Rights, we acknowledge the need to provide choice of language for people we support and their families. Furthermore, and in keeping with Welsh Government Policy, we want to foster bilingualism in Wales, and extend positive choices and opportunities for employees, agencies in the field, and for the general public. We believe that by developing our own Welsh Language Scheme it will help to provide a first-class service to our clients and stakeholders, help to recognise the bilingual nature of Wales, it will raise the organisation’s appeal in the wider sector, it will demonstrate goodwill and it will encourage and help attract Welsh speaking employees and volunteers. It will also send a message of good practice to others in the third sector whilst adhering to our own Equality, Diversity & Policy.  At Innovate Trust, we are committed to ensuring both languages are given equal consideration in our activities, and we want to reflect the linguistic pattern of the communities we operate in. We will encourage amongst our employees a positive awareness of, and understanding about, the Welsh language and bilingualism as a valued aspect of human diversity and modern Wales. Although there is no statutory requirement for Innovate Trust to prepare a Welsh Language Scheme under the Welsh Language Act 1993, we feel strongly that bilingual services should be provided to the communities and people we engage with. We plan to review our Welsh Language Development plan on an annual basis, along with our Welsh Language Policy. By considering the Welsh language and the needs of individuals when developing new and revised policies and initiatives, Innovate Trust can make strides towards achieving the objectives of the Welsh Language Scheme. Planning and delivering services We aim to work towards the provision of a service of the same high standard in English and Welsh by: ensuring that all employees and volunteers know how to refer individuals to our Welsh speaking employees providing training opportunities and guidance for employees to facilitate the implementation of the Scheme working with reliable translation services of a high standard to ensure that all relevant material is translated quickly and reliably providing employees with resources such as frequently used jargon and terminology, bilingual design, and bilingual document templates.   Communicating with the Welsh-speaking public Innovate Trust welcomes English and Welsh correspondence and undertakes the following: Any correspondence in Welsh will receive a reply in Welsh, where possible. If a Welsh speaking member of the team is not available to answer correspondence in Welsh, for non-urgent matters, we are able to respond in Welsh in a timely manner We will work towards ensuring all standard letters will be bilingual Welsh-speaking employees have the option to indicate in their email signatures that correspondence in English and Welsh is welcome   Corporate Image The public image and corporate identity of Innovate Trust, including our address, visual identity, and any other standard information will be bilingual. We are currently in the process of rebranding, and therefore aim to have all headed paper, compliment slips, fax sheets, publications, and signage bilingual by the end of 2022. Both languages will be equal terms of size, format, quality, clarity, and prominence. Publications Innovate Trust aims to publish all our relevant material bilingually in separate documents, where possible. Eventually we will be taking steps to publish bilingual text in one document. Press releases generated for press and media will be issued bilingually. It is understood that occasionally, in an emergency, it will be necessary to issue press releases in English only, but in all other circumstances the translation process will be incorporated into the planning timescales. Innovate Trust will identify suitable Welsh speakers who will be able to represent Innovate Trust within the boundaries of their knowledge. Websites and Information Technology We have recently engaged with a translation service to begin translating the content of our website, and our app, Insight. Before April 2022, English pages will have a corresponding page in Welsh. Implementation and Monitoring Innovate Trust recognises that the ability to speak Welsh is a valuable and relevant skills. Whenever a new post is established, or an existing post becomes vacant, an objective assessment will be made to establish whether there is a particular Welsh language skill needed for the post, such as conversational Welsh with people we support and the public, or writing emails in Welsh, and whether there may be addition support options available that would encourage applications from Welsh speakers. All posts, which are not designated Welsh essential, will have ‘Welsh skills’ as a desirable attribute. Employee recruitment for Welsh essential posts will be advertised in Welsh, accompanied by a brief explanation in English, or bilingually. We encourage and support employees who wish to learn or improve their Welsh and encourage Welsh speakers to use the language wherever practical. We recognise that we have scope to explain the support that we currently offer and aim to review this before the end of 2022. Advertising the Scheme and Raising Public Awareness We are in the process of achieving targets that we want to meet in our Welsh Language Development Plan before receiving our Cynnig Cymraeg recognition. We aim to refer to the Scheme in our annual reports, business plan, and relevant material. The Scheme will be available on our website by April 2022