A NEWPORT father-of-two is supporting Adult Learners’ Week after learning the Welsh language as an adult helped him reconnect with his roots and secure a promotion at work.

For Damien Downes, the Welsh language has always played an important role in his life.

His father was fluent and often spoke to the 39-year-old and his siblings in Welsh when they were children, so Mr Downes gained a basic understanding of the language from a young age. But opportunities to learn and practice Welsh were limited at his school in Newport and he never had a chance to develop his understanding.

When Mr Downes' eldest son was due to start at a Welsh medium primary school in September 2016, he took up the opportunity to learn Welsh through joining a class at his place of work. His father passed away in the autumn of 2016, and his pride in Mr Downes' decision to learn Welsh has been a driving force in his ambition to become fluent.

Because of this, Mr Downes is supporting Adult Learners’ Week 2018, which takes place from June 18 to the 24, 2018 to highlight opportunities to continue developing and learning new skills as an adult and celebrate the positive impact of adult education on skills and employability.

Mr Downes said: “The Welsh language is a big part of my wife’s identity, her whole family is fluent, so it’s important to our whole family for our children to be brought up bilingually and attend a Welsh medium school. When my oldest son was due to start school, I realised I would need to understand the language if I wanted to be involved in his education and that spurred me on to join a class.

"My father was coming towards the end of his life, and when I told him I was starting to learn the language he was so proud, I’m learning as much for him as I am for me.”

Mr Downes' employer, Natural Resources Wales, has a Welsh language policy. The organisation is fully bilingual in all its communications, and actively encourages its staff to take up the opportunity to learn Welsh.

Adult Learners’ Week 2018 is running from June 18 to the 24 and celebrates lifelong learning, whether work-based, as part of a community education course, at college, university or online. Now in its 27th year, it aims to promote the range of courses available to adult learners, from languages to computing or childcare to finance.

For more information on Adult Learners’ Week, go to www.careerswales.com/skillsgateway or call 0800 028 4844 or follow @skillsgatewaycw.