A new Welsh-medium shop which has opened its doors in Caerphilly Indoor Market may seem fairly run-of-the-mill from the outside, but offers much more than just trinkets and translations.
Caerphilly’s first bilingual book shop, Llyfrau’r Enfys (Rainbow Books), is owned by local mother-of-three Vikki Alexander, and opened its doors at the end of August.
A former language and development officer for Mudiad Meithrin, an organisation which provides Welsh-medium care and education to young children, Ms Alexander saw an opportunity to combine her passion with a gap in the market.
She said: “I’ve always loved books and stories, but it wasn’t until around five years ago that I started actually being involved with [Welsh medium publishers] Rily.
“I was taking their books around to various toddler groups and just thought I could put the two things together and offer something that is lacking.
“There is nothing in Caerphilly that just offers beautiful books and other wonderful things for people to take home that are in Welsh.”
Vikki, 38, stocks a large variety of books, cards, magazines, and DVDs at the shop, but wants to encourage people to use it as a hub of Welsh-language activity. Planned for the near future are after-school homework clubs, parent reading sessions and coffee mornings where learners of the language can practise their skills.
She added: “I can put all my learnt skills and experience from over the years into my own little creation that will be for the benefit of toddlers and learners, while supporting parents whose kids are in Welsh schools, but who themselves feel a bit overwhelmed with the homework.
“This is not just a one-stop book shop. I understand that Welsh can be daunting, and there’s no support outside of the schools, so I want to take the pressure off parents.
“I have people in here from all walks of life and of all ages. I’ve had people in their 80s who just want something to do, to young mums whose children are learning Welsh.
“It’s been really humbling to see the support and positive reactions from people.”
Adorned with a towering hand-painted sign and copious Welsh flags, Ms Alexander is hoping the shop’s presence will help to spruce up its new home, alongside helping and providing people with the tools to grasp the Welsh language.
She said: “The market has had a bad rap for so long now. We’ve got plans to make it look a bit nicer, but it takes time. It’s all about overcoming a bad stigma.
“We all work for each other here, and buying from a shop here is going towards local business.
“I’m planning on having a little garden out the front, with tables and chairs for children to sit on and read, so hopefully it’ll look a bit nicer on the eye.”
On Sunday October 30, the Indoor Market will be hosting a Halloween disco between 5pm and 8pm, with prizes for both adults and children.
Tickets and more information available from facebook.com/llyfrauenfys.
A quick company check on Caerphilly Indoor Market Ltd shows there is a proposal to wind up the company in progress. Either the owners have proposed to dissolve the company, or because they haven’t filed accounts for three and a half years Companies House is going to close the company down. Doesn’t seem much of a thriving market movement in this case.
The market will never make any money because no one goes in there anymore. The only constant is change and the entire building needs a revamp and a completely new business model.
I have no suggestions as to what would work but I know the current model isn’t working.