The Rowan Organisation provides disabled and older people with access to information, services and resources in order to increase their opportunity for self determination by enabling them to make informed choices about their future.

We strive to be an Equal Opportunities Organisation and are committed to the development of equality of opportunity in all aspects of our work.

Our mission statement is:

“The Rowan Organisation exists to provide disabled and older people with access to information and support in order that they can make informed choices and be in control of their lives”.

Our Vision Statement is:

“A society that is fully inclusive in which the barriers, whether environmental, attitudinal or institutional, that prevent disabled people from having equality of opportunity have been removed”.

The Rowan Organisation provides information and support in a number of counties throughout England and Wales and specifically, it is the Direct Payments Support Service appointed under contract by the local authority concerned. The local authority provides all funding for the services we deliver under contract. In delivering its services, the Rowan Organisation provides information, advice and support to disabled and older people via local teams of Independent Living Advisers who work from home and an Information Service and a Payroll Service, based at Head Office in England.

The Rowan Organisation already provides considerable information and resources in bilingual format and can also meet requests from individuals for translation of specific documents into Welsh on request. The organisation also has a dedicated Freephone Number managed by a Welsh speaking member of staff.

1.2 The Welsh Language Scheme

The latest information (2007) provided by the Welsh Language Board indicates that the capacity to speak, read, write and understand Welsh continues to increase.

	%
Understand spoken Welsh only	24
Speaks but does not read or write Welsh	21
Speaks and reads but does not write Welsh	20
Speaks, reads and writes Welsh	16

The Welsh Language Act 1993 does not necessarily place a direct legal obligation on voluntary organisations to offer services in Welsh. However, as the Rowan Organisation works under contract with a number of Welsh local authorities to provide its services to members of the public, it is fully committed to implementing the Scheme in support of the Act and the individual local authority Schemes.

This Scheme has been prepared in accordance with the Welsh Language Board guidelines using the good practice guidance made available through the Wales Council for Voluntary Action.

In implementing this Scheme, the Rowan Organisations’ services will become more accessible and inclusive; a principle to which we are fully committed.

As a service-user led organisation, this Scheme will be subject to consultation and review with our service users.

Development of this Scheme will help to underpin our commitment to ensuring equal opportunities for all. Part of this involves seeking to ensure that people who use our services have the right to choose to access it using either Welsh or English.

2. Policy and Principles

2.1 Policy statement

The Rowan Organisation is committed to providing an equally high standard of service in Welsh and English. The Rowan Organisation will also ensure that new policies and initiatives are consistent with the Welsh Language Scheme, through its regular management and Board meetings and quality monitoring and review process.

2.2 General Principles

In delivering support for Direct Payments Schemes in Wales:

2.2.1 The Rowan Organisation believes that it is fair and reasonable for an individual to expect to receive an equally comprehensive service in either English or Welsh. Although the Rowan Organisation can already offer considerable information and services in Welsh, it recognises that further development is required to fully support the principles laid down in this Welsh Language Scheme and aims to work towards being able to offer as comprehensive, effective and high quality a service through the medium of Welsh as it currently provides in English, so far as is appropriate in the circumstances and reasonably practicable.

2.2.2 Printed information, presentation, audio and display material will be presented in bilingual format wherever practical, or otherwise separately in Welsh and English, as highlighted in the implementation plan (Section 7).

2.2.3 Information as described above will be presented in the same format and to the same professional standard, whether in Welsh or English, as highlighted in the implementation plan (Section 7).

2.2.4 All translated material will be proof-read by a third party or a member of staff with the appropriate skills before publishing.

2.2.5 In delivering local support services, verbal communication in Welsh will be further developed, as highlighted in the implementation plan (Section 7).

2.2.6 Services provided by the Rowan Organisation are under the overall management of its Board of Management and the Chief Executive. Developing and maintaining the delivery of services bilingually is the responsibility of management.

2.2.7 The Scheme will be subject to on-going review and its implementation will be monitored to ensure that high quality is sustained.

2.2.8 Awareness of this Scheme and its requirements will be sustained through awareness and training of staff at all levels throughout the organisation.

3. Public image

3.1 Policy statement

The Rowan Organisation’s public image when delivering its services in Wales will be bilingual. This includes (but is not exclusive to), corporate strap-lines, headed stationery, business cards and ID badges, compliments slips, e-mail signatures.

3.2 Signage

The Rowan Organisation does not currently have offices in Wales and all members of staff that deliver services locally, work from home. Therefore, at this stage, bilingual signage is not applicable until such time as any such office(s) is established.

3.3 Published materials

3.3.1 The size, font format, quality and prominence of the two languages on all corporate materials used or made available in Wales, will be the same.

3.3.2 In respect of the above, such materials include (but are not exclusive to) annual reports and accounts, brochures and leaflets, factsheets, public notices, invitations and marketing material.

3.3.3 A feasibility plan of delivering the quarterly Newsletter/Bulletin as a bilingual document will be part of the Scheme’s implementation plan.

3.3.4 A feasibility plan of developing and maintaining a Welsh language section on the existing web site will be part of the Scheme’s implementation plan.

3.4 Press and Media

3.4.1 All notices and statements made by the Rowan Organisation to the press and media in Wales will be bilingual, unless they are made to a Welsh language media, where statements will be made in Welsh only.

3.4.2 The Rowan Organisation will ensure that a bilingual spokesperson is available for media interviews.

3.5 Publicity, advertising and marketing

3.5.1 All publicity, advertising, marketing and exhibition material, whether in written or verbal format, produced by or for the Rowan Organisation in Wales, will be bilingual. Such material will adhere to the commitments outlined in this scheme regarding published or printed material.

3.5.2 The above arrangements include (but are not exclusive to) brochures, leaflets, posters, audio visual material, display material associated with exhibitions and conferences, the press, questionnaires and quality reviews.

3.5.3 Staff members and those involved in planning, designing and conducting advertising, publicity or market research exercises will be made aware of the requirements of the scheme and will be issued with written guidelines.

3.6 Staff recruitment

3.6.1 The organisation recognises the need and benefits of placing bilingual adverts in both Welsh and English language publications if it is to encourage Welsh speaking staff and volunteers to join the organisation. Welsh only adverts will be placed in Welsh medium publications, and English only adverts in UK wide publications.

3.6.2 When preparing and publishing advertisements for staff recruitment, the Rowan Organisation will follow the guidelines outlined in section 5.3 of this scheme.

4. Delivery of services to the Welsh-speaking public

4.1 Written communication

4.1.1 All written correspondence received in Welsh (whether by post, fax or email), will be replied to in Welsh.

4.1.2 Welsh correspondence will receive a reply in the same time scale as English correspondence

4.1.3 Rowan Organisation staff will always seek to establish the preferred language of written communication when initiating written correspondence.

4.1.4 Records will be kept on local and central databases indicating a service user’s preferred language of both written and verbal communication.

4.1.5 When sending information to a number of people in Wales, e.g. invitations, quality reviews, all information will be sent in bilingual format.

4.1.6 Where Welsh language correspondence is received by a member of staff who is unable to understand the content, a bilingual colleague will be asked to translate the correspondence. Where this is not possible, the correspondence will be translated using an external agency.

4.1.7 In house translation may be provided by Welsh speaking members of staff on a voluntary basis. For large, more complex pieces of work, an outside translation service will be used.

4.1.8 Guidelines will be issued to staff and members concerning how to deal with the above issues.

4.2 Electronic communication

4.2.1 A dedicated general enquiries email address will be available for people who wish to communicate with the organisation in Welsh.

4.2.2 All staff that deliver local services in Wales will have bilingual email signatures.

4.2.3 The Welsh section of the web site, when developed, will allow for communication in Welsh via the Feedback Form, which will link to the dedicated Welsh email address. Development of this service and the requirement for obtaining external funding will be addressed in this Scheme’s implementation phase.

4.3 Telephone communication

4.3.1 All incoming calls to the Freephone number dedicated for Welsh speakers will be answered bilingually and the caller will be offered the choice of proceeding in Welsh or English.

4.3.2 Following a Welsh language telephone conversation, all subsequent correspondence, either written or spoken, will be in Welsh, if it is the caller’s preference.

4.3.3 The recorded message on the dedicated Freephone answer-phone machine will be bilingual. Callers will be welcome to leave messages in either Welsh or English. Any messages left on the answer-phone will be replied to in the language used by the caller.

4.3.4 If the dedicated Freephone number is not staffed for any reason, the answer-phone machine bilingual messages will signpost the caller to another number which will be answered bilingually.

4.3.5 Calls made to the Head Office number (England) will be received by a member of staff who is unable to speak or understand Welsh. The member of staff will explain to the caller that s/he is unable to communicate sufficiently in Welsh and will offer the caller the choice of dialling the Welsh Freephone number or offer to take down the caller’s details and arrange for a Welsh speaking colleague to return the call as soon as possible.

4.3.6 Written guidelines will be issued to staff regarding Welsh speaking telephone callers.

4.4 Face to face contact

4.4.1 Home-visits may be carried out using Welsh or English. Where a Welsh speaking member of staff is not available and a referral or request for a home-visit is received through Welsh, arrangements will be made for a bilingual staff member from a different geographical area to contact and visit the individual.

4.5 Public meetings, presentation and open day events

4.5.1 Where staff from the Rowan Organisation organise local, publicly-advertised meetings, arrangements will be made for a bilingual member of staff to be present and this will be made clear on bilingual publicity, invitations or booking forms.

4.5.2 Where staff from the Rowan Organisation are invited to attend open days arranged by other local groups or organisations, arrangements will be made for a bilingual member of staff to be present if required.

4.5.3 Where members of staff from the Rowan Organisation are invited to attend specific or ‘closed’ group meetings, the requirement for a bilingual member of staff to be present will be ascertained beforehand.

5. Implementation and monitoring of the scheme

5.1 Policy statement

5.1.1 The Rowan Organisation is committed to ensuring that this Scheme is implemented (subject to any identified cost considerations), monitored, reviewed and updated when required.

5.1.2 The Rowan Organisation will ensure that this Scheme is represented through the organisation’s Equal Opportunities Policy. The Chief Executive will ensure that this Scheme is accepted as an integral component of the Rowan Organisation’s corporate policies.

5.2 Staffing

5.2.1 All new and existing posts which fall vacant in those Welsh counties where we deliver services will be subject to the commitments laid down in this scheme.

5.2.2 The Rowan Organisation will maintain a database of those staff that have sufficient skills to deal with the public through the medium of Welsh.

5.2.3 Staff will not be expected to undertake any work they are not prepared for or able to undertake in relation to the Welsh language. Translation, in particular, is a specialist skill and will not be expected of any member of staff, unless employed to do so.

5.2.4 Existing and new staff in the Welsh counties will be encouraged by the Rowan Organisation to develop and improve their Welsh language skills, by offering and supporting learning opportunities. However, this is not compulsory and staff members and volunteers will not be pressurised to take part in any training against their will. Non-Welsh speaking staff will not feel pressurised or disadvantaged because of their linguistic ability.

5.2.5 Training opportunities and provision will be continuously monitored.

5.3 Recruitment

5.3.1 In order to sustain a bilingual workforce in Wales, the Rowan Organisation will identify those posts and locations where the ability to speak Welsh is essential or desirable and will formulate job descriptions and person specifications accordingly.

5.3.2 If it proves difficult to appoint a suitable bilingual person to a post where the ability to speak Welsh is considered essential, the post will be offered on the basis that a non-Welsh speaker shows a commitment to learning Welsh to a level appropriate to the responsibilities of the job. The Rowan Organisation will provide the support and time necessary for the individual to meet this condition.

5.3.4 Where, for cost reasons, the advertisement cannot be presented bilingually, a statement will appear in Welsh which signposts the Welsh speaker to the Rowan Organisation’s website (Vacancies section), where the advertisement will appear in both Welsh and English. All advertisements will indicate whether the ability to speak Welsh is essentia