Patagonia Update - 16th August 2015
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Welsh settlers arriving in Patagonia, Velindre have organised a trek through Patagonia to help to raise much needed funds for their cancer charity. Joyce Gervis, Managing Director of Ty-Mawr feels hugely privileged to be joining a group of 50 individuals, including some Welsh celebrities namely the Manic Street Preachers, Rhod Gilbert, Sian Lloyd, and Derek Brockway, on this 11 day physically demanding, but scenically beautiful trek through that the mountains and valleys where the Welsh community settled 150 years ago.
Each participant needs to raise a minimum of £6,000 for the charity. Velindre is a charity that Joyce has come to know and admire through her involvement with Welsh Women Walking.
Patagonia Fest Velindre Cancer Centre provides specialist cancer services to people in South East Wales and beyond. Patients referred to Velindre Cancer Centre come under the care of Clinical and Medical Oncologists, who specialise in the non-surgical treatment of cancer. Fundraising allows the centre to enhance the service provided to patients. For example it provides free Wi-Fi and tablet computers for use during their stay. The charity has launched a children's book “Caring for my Family with Cancer”, to help explain what it means to the younger members of families. It also supports patients by supplying scalp cooling equipment to reduce hair loss during chemotherapy, and where required enhanced wigs and scarfs, Provision of clinical nurse specialists, complimentary therapies for patients, and also support for clinical trials.
On the 11th & 12th July, Nigel and Joyce hosted a Patagonia Themed festival at TyMawr to raise funds for Velindre and to help celebrate this historic event. See pictures and read more about the event in the centre pages.
It was an enormous effort by a huge number of volunteers (see over) which raised £3,540 - all profits when added to other generous on-line donations, takings at other events and the selling of Patagonia themed goodies etc. amounts to £4176, so over 2/3rds of the way there!
£6000 £4176 £3000 £0
The Patagonia 150 celebration In 1865, 162 intrepid Welsh men, women and children set sail from Liverpool, UK, aboard the Mimosa. Their aim was to establish a settlement in the Chubut Valley in Southern Argentina – 8000 miles across the Atlantic. Like many emigrants before them, they wished to find a new home in a new country where they could protect their language and culture. Over the following fifty years, hundreds of Welsh people emigrated there, establishing towns and thriving Welsh communities, in which the Welsh language was prominent. The settlement became known as Y Wladfa (pronounced - oo lad va)
Y Wladfa today Today the Welsh-Argentinian population is centred on the Chubut Valley and the Andean Region. The population of Trelew, the largest town in the Chubut Valley, is more than 120,000, and that of the province of Chubut around 500,000. There remains a strong sense of having Welsh roots. There is a Welsh-Spanish bilingual school in Trelew and some Welsh nursery schools. The Eisteddfod y Wladfa, which is held every October, and the youth Eisteddfod held in September, are stronger than ever.