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2012 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 2012 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

Events

January

February

  • 9 February – All Wales Ethnic Minority Association—a Swansea-based charity whose role was to distribute funds to ethnic minority projects across Wales—loses all National Assembly funding after a damning report identified "fundamental failures in the control and governance" within the charity.
  • 29 February – Plaid Cymru MP Elfyn Llwyd calls for England to pay a financial charge for receiving water from Wales.

March

April

May

June

  • 2 / 5 June – The homecoming parade of the 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards in Cardiff begins celebrations of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Many Welsh towns and cities hold street parties to celebrate the Jubilee, though there is a protest from an anti-monarchist group in Cardiff.
  • 9 June – An evacuation exercise gets under way at Aberystwyth after holidaymakers are trapped in a flooded caravan park. Several people are airlifted to safety by the Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service and Royal Air Force Sea King helicopters.
  • 19 June – Betws Primary School in Bridgend is seriously damaged by a fire that breaks out in the computer block during the school day; 219 pupils are safely evacuated.
  • 23 June – Christine James becomes the first woman appointed Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales.

July

  • 1 July – The Warden of historic Llandovery College announces a rescue plan to enable the school to continue to function despite debts of more than £2m.
  • 5 July – The British Government announces plans to disband the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Welsh as part of cuts to the British Army.
  • 16 July – Data from the 2011 Census is released, showing the population of Wales has risen by 5% from 2,903,085 to 3,064,000 since 2001. The Census also shows the population of Cardiff has risen by 12%.
  • 24 July – Cadw acquires an 1854 miner's cottage in Cwmdare near Aberdare. The cottage is the youngest of the 128 buildings under Cadw's care.
  • 25 July – The first events of the 2012 Summer Olympics are held in Cardiff. Two matches in the women's football competition are held at the Millennium Stadium.

August

September

October

November

December

  • 3 December
  • It is announced that Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, is expecting a baby; it will be the Prince of Wales's first grandchild.
  • 11 December – Further data is released from the 2011 Census, it reveals several key facts about Wales:
  • Two thirds of people living in Wales identified themselves as Welsh rather than British or another nationality. The local authority with the highest self-identification as Welsh was Rhondda Cynon Taf (73%).
  • The Census reveals that for every twenty people living in Wales, roughly 15 would have been born in Wales, 4 in neighbouring England and 1 from elsewhere.
  • Those in Wales identifying their religion as Christianity fell to 58% (1.8m) a 14% drop since 2001, a larger decline than any English region.
  • The number of people self-identifying themselves as Welsh speaking has dropped from 21% to 19% in the ten years between the two census, with only Gwynedd and Anglesey recording a Welsh language rate greater than 50%. One theory behind the drop in the statistics suggests that parents misidentify the ability of their children while at school.
  • 13 December – The rights to the 1972 film version of Under Milk Wood, which starred Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, are gifted to Wales by its director, Andrew Sinclair.
  • 14 December – It is announced that Charles, Prince of Wales is to become the patron of the festival to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.
  • 19 December – Cardiff Magistrates’ Court charges rock star Ian Watkins and two other female accomplices with six sexual offences against children, one charge included the conspiracy to rape a one-year-old girl.
  • 23 December – Heavy rain and flooding cause disruption across the country, affecting rail services and main roads.
  • 29 December
  • S4C agree a new broadcasting deal with a breakaway group of more than 300 Welsh musicians and composers. The group, now represented by the Eos agency, left the Performing Rights Society in August after PRS reclassified BBC Radio Cymru as a regional rather than a national radio station.
  • In the 2013 New Year Honours List, Welsh recipients include Dave Brailsford (knighthood), Roger Williams MP (CBE) and Susan Davies, head of Cynffig Comprehensive School (OBE).

Arts and literature

Welsh Awards

Welsh winners of international awards

New books

In the Welsh language

Fiction

Autobiography

In the English language

Fiction

Poetry

Plays

Music

Awards

Classical

Albums

Film

Broadcasting

Welsh-language television

  • Dos i Gwcio (cookery programme)

English-language television

English-language radio

  • Olympic Dragons

Sport

2012 Summer Olympics

2012 Summer Paralympics

Deaths

See also

References