The Society understands that Plaid Cymru led Gwynedd Council have recently put forward proposals to close a number of the county’s Primary Schools.
Among those threatened is the primary school which was once the school of the Liberal Prime Minister, David Lloyd George. A local group, Save Llanystumdwy, has been formed to campaign to keep the school open to serve the local community. An early day motion has been put in by some Liberal Democrat MPs to note their dissatisfaction of closing this historic school. According to the Save Llanystumdwy campaign the school has a good educational record. It is still very much at the heart of the community and is enjoying high pupil numbers as well as delivering top quality education as highlighted in the official Estyn reports.
One of the leading lights of the Save Llanystumdwy campaign, Robat Jones, is a previous employee of the Lloyd George museum in Llanystumdwy. Mr Jones told the Society that The Welsh Wizard’s legacy is very clear in the village and the area in general, and that closing the school would be as devastating as closing the museum, or LG’s boyhood home – Highgate, or the village hall which he funded.
Save Llanystumdwy have developed a website to support their campaign – www.arbedllanystumdwy.com. There is also a link to this website from the Society’s main page.
The campaigners say they fear for the legacy of Lloyd George, for the drastic changes this would have for local children, for the future of the village and the community in general and for the impact on the Welsh language and on small Welsh communities.
They are looking for support from as many sources as possible at this critical time and ask if members of the Lloyd George Society would be willing to sign their on-line petition (http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/arbedllanystumdwy/) to help support the cause of saving the school of David Lloyd George.