Education
Wales has an extremely rich heritage, and a great deal of effort has gone into providing schoolchildren and students with a comprehensive, high-level education. Education in Wales is compulsory from age 5 to 16. For the past ten years or so, many state schools have been teaching in Welsh only; students can then choose whether to take their final exams(A-levels) in Welsh or English. Some 127,000 young people study in the country's higher education system.
There are eight universities in Wales, and a hundred or so courses offered in different hubs throughout the country: Cardiff University, Swansea University, Bangor University, Aberystwyth University, etc. You'll find that many of the university courses specialize in archaeology, Celtic history or the study of Celtic languages.
Typical Welsh first names and surnames
Traditional first names are coming back into fashion, like Cai or Llyr (inspired by the Mabinogion), Llywelyn and Owain like the great Welsh princes, major heroes in the collective imagination. Welsh surnames such as Jones, Davies, Williams and Thomas are also widespread. The final "s" indicates that they are descendants of servants (in the English language, the "s" denotes belonging).
LGTB Rights
It wasn't until 1967 that Wales decriminalized sex between men over the age of 21. Then, in 2001, the age of consent for homosexual relations was lowered to 16, as for heterosexual relations.
Alan Turing, born in London in 1912, was a famous mathematician and computer pioneer. An open homosexual, he was convicted in 1952 of "manifest indecency and sexual perversion". His trial condemned him to chemical castration. Destroyed by the side effects, he committed suicide two years later. To learn more about his work, Morten Tyldum's film The Imitation Game was inspired by his life.
In 2011, homosexuals were granted the right to donate blood. In 2014, same-sex marriage came into effect.
In 2013, Alan Turing received a posthumous pardon. Then in 2016, Turing's law granted a posthumous pardon to deceased men who had been convicted of homosexual relations.
In June 2019, it was voted that Alan Turing would be the new face of £50 bills from 2021, becoming the first LGBT person to appear on a banknote.
Drug problems
Unfortunately, overdoses are steadily on the rise. The increase in fatal overdoses over the last decade is estimated at 84%. And in 2017, Swansea had the highest number of fatal opioid overdoses.
Mr. Jones, a former police officer, is calling for the opening of shooting galleries. Among other things, he is calling for "a new, pragmatic, common-sense approach that treats problematic drug use as a medical problem, not a criminal one."
Gender equality
Since 2015, an annual "Sex and power" report has been published, detailing the percentage of men and women in different areas: parliament, politics, local representatives, legal, health, education, arts, sport, history... In 2018, out of 47 areas, women have a percentage above 45% in (only!) 3 areas: in politics, the "Shadow cabinet", public appointments in public offices and in the media as magazine editors.
Living together & renewing social ties
Wales may still have work to do in some areas, but the Welsh are also full of good ideas and initiatives, and this is - without a doubt - a great country to live in! Here are just a few examples of how the Welsh Welfare Act is being supported by local initiatives.
Coaltown Coffee is a café that roasts its own beverage, based in Ammanford. Since 2003, with the closure of the last mine, this former mining town has experienced a kind of industrial abandonment, and for young people, it's a "forced exile". The aim of Scott James, the owner of the café, is to "restore the town's image", train local people and develop employment prospects. Today, he is considered one of the best roasters in the UK!
A number of projects have been set up to help elderly, lonely or isolated people, and help create social links. The "My Friend" project, "Ffrind i Mi" in Welsh, in the Gwent region, helps people break the isolation in which they find themselves. In the Brecon region, local schools and care homes work together to bring generations together through gardening activities.
On the artistic front, a number of initiatives have been put in place to encourage new foreign talent to attend the Cardiff Conservatoire. In particular, this involves putting students in touch with other students, a sort of "Find a Friend" project, to develop solidarity and avoid isolation. And it's working: the conservatory is spreading its wings, and out of 850 students, around 180 come from abroad, representing some fifty nations.
The Clink restaurants, for example, work with inmates from the surrounding prisons. The aim is to give them a second chance, a chance to learn and reintegrate, by providing them with new skills and knowledge in horticulture to look after the garden, and in catering to look after the kitchen. There are around 84,000 prisoners in Great Britain: 80,000 men and 4,000 women. Unfortunately, the recidivism rate is around 66% if the sentence is less than 12 months. In total, Britain's various The Clink restaurants have trained over 300 prisoners. In April 2018, a study showed that the recidivism rate among prisoners trained at The Clink restaurant had fallen by around 50%.
Sport & advertising
In terms of Welsh social habits, it's hard to ignore their love of sport! In fact, according to a Sport Wales survey, while in 2011, 27% of children took part in sport at least three times a week, by 2015 this had risen to 48%! And 80% of Welsh children are members of a sports club.
As for adults, many make it a ritual to go and support their favorite team in their favorite pub. And during international rugby tournaments, when Wales is playing, the pubs are often full and the atmosphere is very festive. Not to be missed!
