English: Thank you very much to Plaid for putting forward this debate. I think it's given us an opportunity to discuss some of the more subtle challenges of beating this pandemic. It seems to me that our arts and culture are so rich in Wales because so many of us care so much about our history, our storytelling and our music. But I want to start by thanking David Stacey, who has chaired the board of the Sherman Theatre for no less than 35 years, and who only stood down last week. He has been an indefatigable champion of the Sherman Theatre's innovative, challenging and award-winning work. The passion with which he has served the organisation since its inception is exemplary. Even though he is standing down from that role, I'm absolutely confident he will continue to hold people to account for promises made that are currently on hold because of the pandemic. The Sherman's path-breaking work through the Sherman 5 to reach out to communities who do not normally go to the theatre - disabled people, low-income households, ethnic minority communities - is well recognised by the Arts Council of Wales and, I'm sure, the Welsh Government. This has given the Sherman the agility and the imagination to adapt its creative storytelling role, carrying on within the restrictions required to contain the COVID pandemic. The 'Tydfil Tales' is an excellent example of their way of working. Before the pandemic descended, students from Merthyr College had been visiting a local care home to interview residents about their lives as the basis for a new play. When COVID made live performances impossible, they simply adapted their dramatisation of the stories they had gathered into an audio format, so that care home residents have been able to share the 'Tydfil Tales' together. We hope that, in the future, we'll all be able to hear and indeed see the 'Tydfil Tales'. It's typical of how organisations can and must adapt to the current restrictions or risk falling silent forever. Another amazing organisation in my constituency is Rubicon Dance, whose eclectic mix of dance opportunities for people of every age and ability has not ceased during the restrictions imposed by COVID. Many of you will have seen the quality of their work in the Senedd in better times. So, they initially started by making sure that they contacted people at the time when they normally attended classes in order to reach out and befriend people during lockdown, and now, like Mr Motivator or Joe Wicks, their online dance classes continue to offer exercise and creative expression to their students, and have been particularly enthusiastically received by the shyest students, who no longer feel inhibited to give full expression to their feelings, expressed through dance. This doesn't mean that these organisations do not face challenges. The roof still leaks at the Sherman, and they no longer have receipts from ticket sales and cafe takings to pay for that. They have relied on an arts council stabilisation fund grant to invest in the IT infrastructure needed to hold their creative team together, and they managed to furlough 70 per cent of their staff through the coronavirus job retention scheme, which, however, comes to an end at the end of this month. They cannot extend their online performances without upgrading their website, for which they have now applied to the Welsh Government's cultural recovery fund. Rubicon, too, had to suspend its renovation of the Roath library building on Newport Road, which was a community asset transfer from Cardiff Council. The roof leaks there, too, and the boiler is absolutely bust and does not work at all, so it's impossible to reopen it at the moment, but normal fundraising is impossible at the moment and so they've only managed to retain the current level of activity because of the dedication of their creatives and the generosity of some charitable trusts. How long they can go on for without additional funding is something that we all need to worry about. The people I worry most about are the musicians in our communities, because, for them, the coronavirus restrictions have been particularly onerous. I know that Clwb Ifor Bach did attempt to reopen during the summer, when the lockdown was lifted, and were doing a reasonable business just as a bar in the city centre, on Womanby Street, but, when the 10 o'clock restrictions came, they felt they just had to close because 70 per cent of their takings were after 10 o'clock in the evening. So, now it is hard to know what organisations like Clwb Ifor Bach face, who have been so important in ensuring that we have a vibrant music industry in Cardiff and for developing the musical abilities and success of so many of our bands. So, I fear for the future for some of these organisations, particularly our musicians, and, so far, the support that's been available, particularly for freelancers, is insufficient to retain these people in the industries for which they are so well suited. So, we have very varied challenges and very significant challenges ahead, and we are absolutely not out of the woods.
Welsh: Diolch yn fawr iawn i Blaid Cymru am gyflwyno'r ddadl hon. Rwy'n credu ei bod wedi rhoi cyfle inni drafod rhai o'r heriau mwy cynnil yn y gwaith o guro'r pandemig hwn. Mae'n ymddangos i mi fod ein celfyddydau a'n diwylliant mor gyfoethog yng Nghymru oherwydd bod cynifer ohonom yn poeni cymaint am ein hanes, ein straeon a'n cerddoriaeth. Ond hoffwn ddechrau drwy ddiolch i David Stacey, sydd wedi cadeirio bwrdd Theatr y Sherman ers 35 mlynedd, ac a orffennodd yn y swydd yr wythnos diwethaf. Mae wedi cefnogi gwaith arloesol, heriol ac arobryn Theatr y Sherman yn ddiflino. Mae angerdd eu wasanaeth i'r sefydliad ers ei sefydlu yn rhagorol. Er ei fod yn camu o'r rôl honno, rwy'n gwbl hyderus y bydd yn parhau i ddwyn pobl i gyfrif am addewidion a wnaed sydd wedi'u gohirio ar hyn o bryd oherwydd y pandemig. Mae gwaith arloesol y Sherman drwy'r Sherman 5 yn estyn allan at gymunedau nad ydynt fel arfer yn mynd i'r theatr - pobl anabl, aelwydydd incwm isel, cymunedau lleiafrifoedd ethnig - yn cael ei gydnabod yn dda gan Gyngor Celfyddydau Cymru a chan Lywodraeth Cymru rwy'n siŵr. Mae hyn wedi rhoi ystwythder a dychymyg i'r Sherman allu addasu ei rôl yn adrodd straeon creadigol, gan barhau o dan y cyfyngiadau sydd eu hangen i gyfyngu ar y pandemig COVID. Mae'r 'Tydful Tales' yn enghraifft wych o'u ffordd o weithio. Cyn y pandemig, ymwelodd myfyrwyr o Goleg Merthyr â chartref gofal lleol i gyfweld preswylwyr am eu bywydau fel sail ar gyfer drama newydd. Pan olygodd COVID nad oedd modd cynnal perfformiadau byw, aethant ati i addasu eu dramateiddiadau o'r straeon a gasglwyd ganddynt mewn fformat sain, fel bod preswylwyr cartrefi gofal wedi gallu rhannu'r 'Tydful Tales' gyda'i gilydd. Yn y dyfodol, rwy'n gobeithio y bydd pawb ohonom yn gallu clywed y 'Tydful Tales', a'u gweld yn wir. Mae'n nodweddiadol o'r modd y gall ac y dylai sefydliadau addasu i'r cyfyngiadau presennol neu wynebu'r risg o fynd yn fud am byth. Sefydliad anhygoel arall yn fy etholaeth i yw Rubicon Dance, nad yw ei gymysgedd eclectig o gyfleoedd dawns i bobl o bob oed a gallu wedi dod i ben yn ystod y cyfyngiadau a osodwyd yn sgil COVID. Bydd llawer ohonoch wedi gweld ansawdd eu gwaith yn y Senedd ar adegau gwell. Felly, fe wnaethant ddechrau drwy sicrhau eu bod yn cysylltu â phobl ar yr adeg pan fyddent fel arfer yn mynychu dosbarthiadau er mwyn estyn allan a chyfeillio â phobl yn ystod y cyfyngiadau, ac yn awr, fel Mr Motivator neu Joe Wicks, mae eu dosbarthiadau dawns ar-lein yn parhau i gynnig ymarfer corff a mynegiant creadigol i'w myfyrwyr, ac wedi cael derbyniad arbennig o frwdfrydig gan y myfyrwyr mwyaf swil nad ydynt bellach yn teimlo'n rhy ddihyder i roi mynegiant llawn i'w teimladau drwy ddawns. Nid yw hyn yn golygu nad yw'r sefydliadau hyn yn wynebu heriau. Mae'r to'n dal i ollwng yn y Sherman, ac nid ydynt yn cael arian o werthu tocynnau a derbyniadau caffi i dalu am hynny mwyach. Maent wedi dibynnu ar grant cronfa sefydlogi cyngor y celfyddydau i fuddsoddi yn y seilwaith TG sydd ei angen i gynnal eu tîm creadigol, a llwyddasant i roi 70 y cant o'u staff ar ffyrlo drwy'r cynllun cadw swyddi drwy gyfnod y coronafeirws, sydd, er hynny, yn dod i ben ddiwedd y mis. Ni allant ymestyn eu perfformiadau ar-lein heb uwchraddio eu gwefan, ac maent bellach wedi gwneud cais ar gyfer gwneud hynny i gronfa adferiad diwylliannol Llywodraeth Cymru. Bu'n rhaid i Rubicon hefyd atal eu gwaith ar adnewyddu adeilad llyfrgell y Rhath ar Heol Casnewydd, a oedd yn drosglwyddiad ased cymunedol oddi wrth Gyngor Caerdydd. Mae'r to'n gollwng yno hefyd, ac mae'r boeler wedi torri ac nid yw'n gweithio o gwbl, felly mae'n amhosibl ei ailagor ar hyn o bryd, ond mae ffyrdd arferol o godi arian yn amhosibl ar hyn o bryd ac felly nid ydynt ond wedi llwyddo i gadw'r lefel bresennol o weithgarwch oherwydd ymroddiad eu pobl greadigol a haelioni ymddiriedolaethau elusennol. Mae am ba hyd y gallant barhau heb gyllid ychwanegol yn rhywbeth y mae angen i bob un ohonom boeni yn ei gylch. Y bobl rwy'n poeni fwyaf amdanynt yw'r cerddorion yn ein cymunedau, oherwydd, iddynt hwy, mae'r cyfyngiadau coronafeirws wedi bod yn arbennig o feichus. Gwn fod Clwb Ifor Bach wedi ceisio ailagor yn ystod yr haf, pan gafodd y cyfyngiadau eu codi, a'i fod yn gwneud busnes rhesymol fel dim ond bar yng nghanol y ddinas, ar Stryd Womanby, ond pan ddaeth y cyfyngiadau 10 o'r gloch, teimlent fod yn rhaid iddynt gau oherwydd eu bod yn gwneud 70 y cant o'u harian ar ôl 10 o'r gloch y nos. Felly, nawr mae'n anodd gwybod beth y mae sefydliadau fel Clwb Ifor Bach yn ei wynebu, sefydliadau sydd wedi bod mor bwysig yn sicrhau bod gennym ddiwydiant cerddoriaeth bywiog yng Nghaerdydd ac yn datblygu galluoedd cerddorol a llwyddiant cynifer o'n bandiau. Felly, mae arnaf ofn sut ddyfodol y mae rhai o'r sefydliadau hyn yn ei wynebu, yn enwedig ein cerddorion, a hyd yma, nid yw'r cymorth sydd wedi bod ar gael, yn enwedig i weithwyr llawrydd, yn ddigon i gadw'r bobl hyn yn y diwydiannau y maent mor addas ar eu cyfer. Felly, mae gennym heriau amrywiol iawn a heriau sylweddol iawn o'n blaenau, ac nid ydym yn agos at ddod allan o hyn.