A “life-changing” international learning programme set up in Wales after Brexit is at risk of being closed down.
Taith, which means “journey” in Welsh/Cymraeg, was established by the Senedd in 2022 after the UK pulled out of the Erasmus+ student exchange programme. Its reach is much wider: many participants get involved through schools, youth groups or adult education centres, and nearly half come from underrepresented backgrounds. Data suggests Taith has already funded approximately twice as many projects in Wales as Erasmus+ did, working with less money.
Despite the programme’s successes, however, its future is uncertain. Funding has not been renewed, so Taith is due to be phased out by 2028, and no political party has yet committed to re-funding before the Senedd elections in May.
As a result, the last deadline for Taith applications closed this week, and its supporters fear its fate will now be linked to the UK rejoining Erasmus+ in 2027.
Kirsty Williams, a Taith board member and former Welsh education minister, said: “Sometimes being a small nation brings challenges around capacity and ambition, but in this case we really leveraged it; because we are so close to our stakeholders, we can listen and deliver something special.
“If I had known before what we were capable of, I wouldn’t have lobbied so hard to stay in Erasmus. The schemes can sit beside each other; they don’t need to compete … Taith goes above and beyond what Erasmus currently offers.”
Applicants to Taith make all the decisions about where they want to go, and why: over the past five years, approximately 12,000 people have made Taith-funded trips to nearly 100 countries. Scotland, the mayoralty of London and US groups have all approached Wales with interests in setting up similar projects.
A Welsh government spokesperson said a future Taith programme would be “shaped by the UK’s agreement with the EU to rejoin Erasmus+”, but added: “We remain committed to ensuring continuity of opportunities for learners and will carefully consider the implications as the UK prepares to rejoin.”
For Chris Leslie, the CEO of Inside Out Support Wales, a social enterprise helping people who have been released from prison rebuild their lives, a Taith trip to Costa Rica earlier this year was a “life-changing opportunity”.
As part of the application process, Inside Out researched restorative justice around the world, and decided they wanted to learn more about the Central American country’s pioneering approaches to dealing with crime, criminal justice and recidivism.
Leslie said: “We wanted to bring back new information and stuff we could use. There was less point going to Norway or New Zealand, somewhere that is well studied.”
Taith worked for more than a year with Inside Out in setting up the trip’s itinerary and logistics before a week-long visit to Costa Rica’s capital, San José, took place in January.
The group of 12 participants from Inside Out sat in on reconciliatory and community justice sessions mediated by plainclothes judges, in which chairs were arranged in a circle; attended university classes for training prison system workers; and visited a substance-misuse centre.
Leslie said: “Six of the 12 who went on the trip had never travelled outside the UK before. It was a big challenge and they did really well. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“I learned so much. We get so busy in the day to day, but doing something different and looking at something through a different lens gives you a different outcome.”
Other recent Taith projects include Nyas Cymru, a charity working with young people in the care system, which took children to the UN in Switzerland to explore how care-experienced advocacy works elsewhere in the world, and will also visit the US later this year.
Last June, Canolfan Amanwy, a Carmarthenshire facility for children with severe learning difficulties, took pupils to Paris to experience a new culture, encourage independence and build friendships at a local school.
Applications for Taith funding and projects have more or less doubled since it was set up four years ago, according to Ellie Bevan, the head of its programmes team.
“The applications process gets more competitive every year, and we have to make difficult choices,” she said. “There is a huge demand for what Taith does … We are really proud of what we have achieved.”
