Kernow & Brittany - Celtic Solidarity !

A show of true Celtic solidarity !

Support given for Breton Language Schools

I wish to thank all from Cornwall who sponsored the recent relay race (Ar Redadeg) round Brittany in aid of the Diwan (Breton speaking) schools. There were six hundred laps from Nantes to Carhaix, and every runner was sponsored for about £75. Sponsors included many councils and businesses, the Diwan schools, some European minority groups like the Basques, some Celtic Groups like the Breton/Welsh Group but also Cornwall. Two runners were sponsored with Cornish money, Riwana and Talwyn Trevenen Baudu who are half Breton and half Cornish. They ran wearing Cornish T shirts and carrying Cornish flags. It was moving to see Breton and Cornish flags together when the race crossed over the bridge at Plougastel.

A large amount of money was raised in Cornwall so the surplus was given to Lise Diwan at Carhaix. This is the only post-15 lycee for Breton-speaking students. The balance was presented at a public concert in Le Relecq Kerhuon, Brest, by myself, to one of the teachers in the lycee, with a Cornish greeting, translated into Breton by my grand-daughter. The total raised altogether was 1050 euros, a staggering amount.

Thank you to all who contributed, whether family, friends, bards or organisations, and in particular, Gorseth Kernow, the Celtic League and the Cornish branch of the Celtic Congress. The donations provided strong evidence of Celtic solidarity and support for another Celtic culture and language. It has made Cornwall many friends.

I hope that when the standard written form of Cornish is fully implemented, something as inspiring as this race over a long distance could be emulated by us in Cornwall to raise funds for the Cornish language. The organisation was huge but the goodwill towards the Breton language was evident among the whole population. Well done Kernow for supporting so generously such an imaginative enterprise. Thank you.

Ann Trevenen Jenkin, Past Grand Bard, Life President of the Celtic Congress. Fundraiser in Kernow.

( Ann Trevenen Jenkin, An Gernyk, Fordh an Chapel, Leedstown, Hayle TR27 6BA. tel: 01736-850332.for further information or interviews, photographs etc.)

If you look a the website for Ar redadeg you can find hundreds of photos of the race. Go onto the site and choose fotoiou at the top. Talwyn and Riwana were running on the Daoulas-Montroulez bit, and there are lots of photos.Talwyn's are numbers 0263, 0264 and 0267; Riwana's are on page 4. 0287, 0288, 0289 and 0291. There are a few others where you can see the big Cornish flag. I also have some photos myself.)