English: As a voluntary council operating in the Gwynedd area, it is quite a large geographical area, but it's also a very rural area. And very often in rural areas, the challenges are very different to what our sister organisations have experienced in more urban areas across Wales. Therefore, for us in Gwynedd, we had strong links with communities, and relatively strong links with partners in the public sector too, and that has been a very important foundation for us to build upon in order to contribute everything that was possible during this COVID period. You will see from the paper provided that volunteering has been a part of our communities here in Gwynedd during this time, and one of the first things we did as a voluntary council was to establish a COVID volunteering bank, and it just demonstrates how eager the community was to contribute and to assist during the pandemic. We registered over 600 new volunteers in the period of a fortnight, and that was quite a task in terms of co-ordination, but the good news is that more than 50 per cent of those new volunteers had been placed to assist individuals and communities within the first fortnight, if truth be told. And those volunteers were crucially important. I always refer to these volunteers as the glue that holds our communities together, and their contribution has been crucially important during this time. In the paper, you will see that I have provided a number of examples in terms of case studies from volunteers. It's worthwhile looking at those links because those are personal experiences provided by some people who have volunteered for the very first time. But it's also true to say that one of the very interesting new partnerships that we created during this time was with the Adra housing association, and that is a social housing organisation. They have almost 15,000 tenants and 6,000 homes, and they were facing huge problems in terms of how they were going to support the vulnerable tenants during COVID. By creating a partnership with Adra, and by collaborating with them, we were able to provide almost 100 volunteers to serve tenants, and I believe that these new partnerships are centrally important as we move forward for the future. Those are partnerships that we need to build upon, they are examples of good practice, and they are examples of how volunteers have supported the most vulnerable people in our communities. It is true to say, as Amanda mentioned earlier, that none of this would have been possible without Welsh Government support, and certainly for us, the voluntary services emergency fund was crucially important in delivering this work. There are a number of examples of new ways of working that have emerged. Working virtually as we are doing today is new to many of us, but it is true to say that it has worked exceptionally well. So, all the third sector networks within Gwynedd are now virtual networks. That, of course, has positive aspects for the environment, it means that people can contribute to different ways, but it's also meant that we've been able to support individuals and organisations in very different ways. I have provided in the paper some feedback from the sector in terms of how different organisations have responded to this, how volunteers feel about this, and we are starting now to draw a picture and a vision as we move forward and build on this good work. Just to conclude, I think it is very important to note that measuring the value of voluntary activity and community activity is exceptionally important. It's important that we do measure social value in very formal ways, and it's important that we can identify the value of those things that make such a difference to individuals in communities. We, as Mantell Gwynedd, have been measuring social value for some years now, through using the social return on investment formula. This is very important for us as we move to post-COVID period, so that we can ensure that we invest our resources in those things that make the biggest difference. You will see that I have drawn some conclusions from this period at the end of the paper that I have provided. So, partnership working is clearly important on a national, regional and county level. The new partnerships established have been crucially important and will be as we move forward. The funding provided by the Government has been centrally important in identifying what we can deliver working together, and measuring social value is exceptionally important too as we move forward. The details are all contained in the paper, Chair, but those are some of the highlights that I wanted to draw your attention to. Thank you.
Welsh: Fel cyngor gwirfoddol, wrth gwrs, yn gweithredu yn ardal Gwynedd, mae'n ardal ddaearyddol reit fawr, ond mae'n ardal wledig iawn hefyd. Ac yn aml iawn mewn ardaloedd gwledig, mae'r her yn wahanol iawn i beth, efallai, mae ein chwaer fudiadau ni wedi'i phrofi mewn ardaloedd mwy trefol ar draws Cymru. Felly, i ni yng Ngwynedd, mi oedd gennym ni gysylltiadau cryf iawn efo cymunedau, a chysylltiadau eithaf cryf efo'n partneriaid yn y sector cyhoeddus hefyd, ac mae hwnnw wedi bod yn sylfaen bwysig iawn i ni fedru adeiladu arno fo, er mwyn llwyddo i gyfrannu popeth oedd yn bosibl i ni fedru cyfrannu yn ystod y cyfnod COVID yma. Mi welwch chi o'r papur dwi wedi'i ddarparu bod gwirfoddoli wedi bod yn greiddiol i'n cymunedau ni yng Ngwynedd yn ystod y cyfnod yma, ac un o'r pethau cyntaf wnaethom ni fel cyngor gwirfoddol oedd sefydlu banc COVID gwirfoddoli, banc COVID-19, ac mi oedd yn dangos i chi gymaint oedd y gymuned yn awyddus i helpu ac i gyfrannu yn y pandemig. Mi wnaethon ni gofrestru dros 600 o wirfoddolwyr o'r newydd mewn cyfnod o bythefnos, ac mi roedd hwnna'n dipyn o dasg i'w gydlynu, ond y newyddion da ydy bod hanner - dros 50 y cant - o'r recruits gwirfoddoli newydd yna wedi cael eu lleoli i helpu unigolion a chymunedau o fewn y pythefnos cyntaf, i ddweud y gwir. Ac mi fuodd y gwirfoddolwyr yna yn greiddiol wedyn. Dwi wastad yn cyfeirio at y gwirfoddolwyr yma; maen nhw fel y gliw sy'n dal ein cymunedau ni at ei gilydd, ac mae eu cyfraniad nhw wedi bod yn allweddol bwysig yn ystod y cyfnod yma. Yn y papur, mi welwch chi fy mod i wedi rhoi sawl enghraifft o stori gwirfoddolwyr i chi. Mae'n werth ichi glicio ar y lincs - mae rheini'n brofiadau personol iawn rhai pobl sydd wedi gwirfoddoli am y tro cyntaf un. Ond mae o'n wir dweud mai un o'r partneriaethau hynod o ddiddorol a newydd y gwnaethom ni greu yn ystod y cyfnod yma oedd efo cymdeithas dai Adra, ac mae honno'n gymdeithas dai cymdeithasol. Mae ganddyn nhw bron 15,000 o denantiaid, mae ganddyn nhw dros 6,000 o gartrefi, ac mi roedden nhw'n wynebu problem enfawr: sut roedden nhw'n mynd i gefnogi tenantiaid bregus yn ystod y cyfnod COVID. Trwy greu partneriaeth efo Adra, a thrwy gydweithio, mi wnaethon ni fedru darparu yn agos i 100 o wirfoddolwyr ar gyfer tenantiaid, a dwi'n credu bod partneriaethau newydd fel yna yn greiddiol ar gyfer symud ymlaen yn y dyfodol. Mae'r rheini yn bartneriaethau rydyn ni angen adeiladu arnyn nhw, maen nhw'n enghreifftiau o ymarfer da, ac maen nhw'n enghreifftiau o sut mae gwirfoddolwyr wedi cefnogi'r bobl mwyaf bregus yn ein cymunedau ni. Mae o'n wir, fel gwnaeth Amanda gyfeirio ato fo yn gynharach, na fuasai dim o hyn wedi bod yn bosib heb gefnogaeth Llywodraeth Cymru, ac yn sicr i ni, mi roedd y gronfa argyfwng sector gwirfoddol yn greiddiol bwysig i fedru cyflawni'r gwaith yma. Mae yna sawl enghraifft o ffordd newydd o weithio wedi dod i'r fei. Mae gweithio yn rhithiol fel hyn yn newydd i lawer ohonom ni, ond mae'n wir dweud ei fod o wedi gweithio yn eithriadol o lwyddiannus. Felly, mae'r holl rwydweithiau trydydd sector oedd gennym ni yng Ngwynedd bellach yn rhwydweithiau rhithiol. Mae hynny, wrth gwrs, yn dda i'r amgylchedd, mae o'n golygu bod pobl yn gallu cyfrannu mewn ffyrdd gwahanol, ond mae o hefyd wedi golygu cefnogi unigolion a mudiadau mewn ffordd wahanol iawn. Dwi wedi darparu yn y papur i chi rywfaint o adborth gan y sector, sut mae mudiadau wedi teimlo am y cyfnod yma, sut mae gwirfoddolwyr wedi teimlo, ac rydyn ni'n dechrau creu darlun rŵan o'r weledigaeth wrth inni symud ymlaen ac adeiladu ar y gwaith da yma. Jest i gloi, dwi'n meddwl ei fod o'n bwysig iawn i nodi bod mesur gwerth cyfraniadau gwirfoddolwyr a mesur gwerth gweithgaredd cymunedol yn eithriadol o bwysig. Mae'n bwysig ein bod ni'n mesur gwerth cymdeithasol mewn dulliau ffurfiol iawn, ac mae'n bwysig ein bod ni'n medru rhoi gwerth ar y pethau sy'n gwneud gwahaniaeth i unigolion ac i gymunedau. Mi ydym ni, fel Mantell Gwynedd, wedi bod yn mesur gwerth cymdeithasol ers rhai blynyddoedd bellach, drwy ddefnyddio'r fformiwla social return on investment. Mae hwn yn bwysig iawn i ni wrth symud ymlaen i'r cyfnod ar ôl COVID, fel ein bod ni'n gallu sicrhau ein bod ni'n buddsoddi ein hadnoddau yn y pethau sy'n gwneud y gwahaniaeth mwyaf. Mi welwch chi fy mod i wedi tynnu rhywfaint o ganfyddiadau'r cyfnod yma at ei gilydd ar ddiwedd y papur dwi wedi ei baratoi. Felly, mae gwaith partneriaethol yn bwysig, yn genedlaethol, yn rhanbarthol, ac ar lefel sirol. Mae'r partneriaethau newydd sydd wedi eu sefydlu yn hollbwysig wrth i ni symud ymlaen. Mae'r cyllid sydd wedi cael ei ddarparu gan y Llywodraeth wedi bod yn greiddiol bwysig i ddangos beth fedrwn ni ei wneud drwy gydweithio, ac mae mesur gwerth cymdeithasol yn eithriadol o bwysig wrth i ni symud ymlaen. Mae yna fanylion yn y papur, Gadeirydd, ond rheini ydy rhai o'r uchafbwyntiau roeddwn i'n awyddus i dynnu sylw atyn nhw. Diolch.