GREAT NEWS...WE HAVE NOW GOT 5, 369 SIGNATURES ON THE PETITION TO SAVE COLEG HARLECH BUT...READ ON.

GREAT NEWS! We have now passed the 5000 Signatures 'initially' requested by the Petition Committee if the 'request for purchasing' was going to be considered for discussion in the Senedd Chamber but,  as you are all aware by now, the Welsh Government moved the goal posts in regards to petitions  and we are now aiming to fulfill the new quota of signatures stipulated, which is 10,000 - and we need to reach this new goal by this Sunday night, the 14th feb which is when the petition closes.

CAN WE DO IT? The number of signatures on the petition at this precise moment is 5,349 and Padi Phillips, who is an ex Coleg Harlech student has, this morning, put his weight behind the campaign to get the remaining signatures needed with the his launching of a great appeal to the 20,000 Yes Cymru members to support and sign the petition so, if Padi's appeal is heeded and answered, reaching the ultimate goal of 10,000 signatures is very achievable.   Support has been fantastic to reach the 5,000 mark considering that Westminster petitions only stipulates a need for 10,000 signatures and England has a population of 56million to source their quota from. 

I'm confident that we all want to save this unique college from being lost to our nation and we desperately need all available   ammunition to take this issue further so, if you have not as yet signed, please do so and get as many others to do likewise by whatever means possible such as all other forms of social media. I cannot stress enough that if we win this one,  we will have illustrated to one and all that if we feel strong enough about such Injustices and that if we unite in strong enough opposition, we WILL win! So, please, one and all, let's bend over backwards and let us think, think, think, who else we can get to sign, ANYWHERE ON THIS PLANET, that we haven't asked to sign yet.

NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL ACTIVISTS OF ALL GROUPS AND PERSUATIONS TO UNITE IN ACTION TO GET  SIGNATURES ON THIS PETITION. IF WE CANNOT DO THIS NOW, OUR PRECIOUS AND VALUABLE ASSETS WILL CONTINUE TO BE STIPPED FROM UNDER OUR FEET! 

Following is Padi Phillip's  appeal, please read, please sign the petition and then please pass both Padi's appeal on far and wide. Diolch.

Siân Ifan

"One last call. We've seen a massive response to the petition to save our National Library, which the Welsh Labour government tried to wriggle out of with their claims of mismanagement - this might have been the case, but if so, why didn't the Welsh government address those management issues instead of merely washing their hands of such a vital national institution? It's not as if we have a huge number of them in the first place!

Something similar could be said about the former college at Harlech, Coleg Harlech, which for 90 years between 1927 and 2017 provided a second chance for those of us who might have messed up our first chance. Coleg Harlech was in its own way just as important to Harlech as the National Library is to Aberystwyth, and maybe in some ways even more important. Coleg Harlech was also the site of Theatr Ardudwy, which for many decades from 1973 onwards provided a venue for local people to get involved with drama, to see the latest blockbuster films, watch Welsh National Opera performances and other events that couldn't be staged anywhere else locally.

As important as the loss of a gem in the crown of Welsh education, and education internationally, (Coleg Harlech always had a few students from outside the UK) was the loss of an important provider of all year round permanent full-time jobs with decent pay. In the mid 1980s the college was directly responsible for contributing one and a half million pounds a year, with what students spent on top of that. The college kept the town going when the holidaymakers weren't around.

I feel very privileged to have been a student at Coleg Harlech, and have been part of a campaign to get the Welsh government to consider a role for the site of the former college that will bring maximum benefit to the local community. There are other organisations willing to consider alternative uses, such as using part of the college site and that of the next door St David's Hotel site for badly needed social housing, and there is local interest in reopening Theatr Ardudwy, but it needs the Welsh government to be on board.

We also need to remember Coleg Harlech and what it contributed to Wales. To know this would take having been a student there, but all I can say as a former student is that it is a tragedy that the devolved Welsh government allowed the college to close, and that what Wales needs is more institutions like Coleg Harlech.

However, now that the college is closed, and has been since 2017, we are now hoping that we can persuade the Welsh government to discuss future uses for the Coleg Harlech site that bring maximum benefit to the people of Harlech.

The petition closes in a couple of days, and instead of the 5000 signatures needed when the petition was started, the Welsh government retroactively applied the new rules to the petition,and so it now needs 10,000 signatures. Until a few days ago the numbers stood at just over 2000, but in the past couple of days, more and more people have signed and the petition has almost reached its original target. Can we now hope to reach the new target of 10,000? With your help we can. There are getting on for 20,000 YesCymru members, most of us recently members who have become so because we care about our country. There are more than enough of us to make a difference, particularly in things like this, which is defending Wales in every way possible.

It's too late to save Coleg Harlech, but it's not too late to create some kind of memorial to the college and also to reclaim something of lasting value from the wreckage that is of continuing benefit to the community. 

Notwithstanding Coleg Harlech, or indeed the National Library of Wales we need to consider what we are about and what makes up Wales. With this in mind I think we need to be ready to defend all that we are, to question any attempt to reduce our institutions, no matter how small, obscure or insignificant they may appear to us - they often have huge value to many, and though they might represent a fringe interest, do we need reminding that we are a fringe interest to some, which is why all of us are members of YesCymru.

So, come along, all we need are just over 5000 more signatures to ensure that the future use of the Coleg Harlech site is discussed in the Senedd.

As our patron saint is alleged to have said, "Gnewch y pethau bychain" Do the small things, like adding your name to the petition below. You know that you, and Wales, are worth it!" 

LET'S DO IT... FOR COLEG HARLECH AND FOR CYMRU!

Here's a link to the petition:    

https://petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/200218

Siân Ifan