Bringing together a community of Welsh Americans: The Madog Centre for Welsh Studies � Ohio, USA

We’re thrilled to reveal the five treasure organisations that will be receiving funding through our first ever Global Giving Circle. These five treasures show the fantastic range of Welsh culture and heritage being celebrated across the world.

The Madog Centre for Welsh Studies is based at the University of Rio Grande and Rio Grande Community College in Ohio, a vital space in North America’s Welsh language scene. The Madog Centre fosters understanding and appreciation for Welsh heritage and contemporary Welsh culture.

Many towns in the region carry relics of a fascinating Welsh influence, through place names, architecture and language. The on-site library houses a variety of Welsh fiction, and also books on Welsh music and films, local Welsh immigration and history, family histories and Welsh church information.

The activities and programs of the Madog Centre help to support the preservation of the Welsh language, culture and the arts, and provide a space for academics to further investigate the Welsh-American connection, and promote local Welsh-American activities.

The museum that forms part of the centre sits along the Welsh Scenic Byway, which was set up to mark the key historical sites of Welsh-American exchange. Money raised through the Global Giving Circle will be put towards more bilingual material that will provide further historical information for visitors to the Centre. An ambition of the Madog Centre is to build greater interest in the Welsh history of the region by installing bilingual street signs in the nearby town of Oak Hill.

The Global Giving Circle is a new way of giving back to Wales uniting a worldwide network of donors in showing their love for Wales.

Donate today by visiting the Global Giving Circle JustGiving page and support these ‘Welsh Treasure’ organisations working in communities around the world.

All donations received up to our first £5,000 target will be matched pound for pound, and split equally between the five treasures, thanks to the Pears Foundation. Once this target has been reached, all additional donations will go to our Fund for Wales endowment to support local communities across Wales, and will also be matched thanks to our Fund for Wales Big Lottery Match Challenge.