Coleg y Cymoedd learners work with Urdd Gobaith Cymru to deliver their 2025 Peace and Goodwill Message

A group of Coleg y Cymoedd learners have teamed up with Urdd Gobaith Cymru to deliver the Urdd’s 2025 Peace and Goodwill Message, making a plea for change to tackle poverty in the country.

The Peace and Goodwill Message, now in its 103rd year, is created every year by young people of Wales and shared with an ever-growing number of people around the world; in 2024 it was shared in more than 50 languages and in 47 countries. Its reach on social media alone exceeded 10 million.

Earlier this year, over 15 learners from Coleg y Cymoedd attended an initial workshop with Urdd Gobaith Cymru alongside Katie Hall from the band Chroma, graphic designer Steffan Dafydd and global charity Save the Children to to work on the 2025 Peace and Goodwill message.

The message makes an urgent call for change after recent UK Government statistics confirmed that almost one in three children (31%) in Wales now lives in poverty. “It takes a village to raise a child… Be our village,” the message concludes.

Tia-Louise Griffiths, a Coleg y Cymoedd Health and Social care learner who helped create this year’s Peace and Goodwill Message, said: “We’re all in the same boat. Nobody’s to blame, but we can work towards gaining a better understanding of what small steps we can take to make a difference.’’

Jonathan Morgan, Coleg y Cymoedd Principal and Chief Executive said “We are so proud of the learners who have worked on this project and the key role that they have played.  The message is powerful one, with poverty affecting many in the areas that Coleg y Cymoedd serve and right across Wales”

Siân Lewis, the Urdd’s Chief Executive said: “As this year’s powerful message shows, young people in Wales can articulate perfectly the injustice of poverty, its effects on them and their communities. The recent statistics around child poverty in Wales shame us all, and we sincerely hope this year’s message will inspire meaningful change. The Urdd have made many such commitments, for example our Fund For All. But there is more to do – and today we invite the world to help us share that call to eradicate child poverty.”

Melanie Simmonds, Head of Save the Children Cymru said: “When we speak to children and young people about their experiences of living in poverty, they tell us that families need more money to be able to afford basic necessities and how growing up in areas of high deprivation can affect their mental health and wellbeing. They also mention hope – a hope that their future will be different. This is why we all need to work together to ensure that every child can thrive. We’re delighted to have played a part in sending this powerful message from the youth of Wales to the wider world; we must end child poverty.”   

The short film, in which this year’s message is read by its authors was released on the Urdd’s social media platforms and read live on BBC Radio Wales (by Tia-Louise Griffiths) and BBC Radio Cymru.

The Urdd urges people around the globe to amplify this year’s message by sharing it on social media and using the hashtag #Heddwch2025.

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