2025 ‘Young Peacemakers’ Awarded at Llangollen International Eisteddfod
On 10 July, Wales’ 2025 Young Peacemakers Awards took to the main stage of the Llangollen International Eisteddfod – an opportunity to celebrate what children and young people from across Wales have done to create kinder, safer and more inclusive communities locally, nationally and internationally.
It is often said that peace starts with ourselves. This is certainly true for children and young people, who have a keen understanding of elements in society such as discrimination, inequality and injustice which undermine peaceful communities. Many young people also feel led to address these ills and to work for positive change.
The annual Young Peacemakers Awards, organised by the Peace Education team at the Welsh Centre for International Affairs (WCIA), taps into this desire to create a more cohesive, peaceful society by celebrating achievements of children and young people from across Wales. These can take the form of works of art, creative writing or projects which foster understanding, enhance wellbeing and address issues such as bullying and racism.
This year we celebrated the 9th Young Peacemakers Awards at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod on Thursday, 10th July
“Today we celebrate the extraordinary achievements of these young individuals who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to peace, justice, and understanding in our communities here in Wales and beyond. Their passion, creativity, and resilience serve as a spark of hope for a brighter future. Let us take this opportunity to recognise their outstanding contributions and to draw inspiration from their amazing dedication to building a more peaceful and equitable world for future generations.”
Jane Harries, WCIA Peace Schools Coordinator
Young Community Peacebuilder
1st – Urdd Gobaith Cymru
The Urdd’s Message of Peace and Goodwill was intended to unite children throughout the world and support them to call for a fairer, more equal and more peaceful world. This year, the theme ‘poverty’ was chosen for the message by students from Coleg y Cymoedd and other young people (members of the Urdd), responding to the poverty crisis by giving voice to current children who can be seen in Wales and across the world. The young people show courage and leadership by sharing their personal experiences, and gives young people a strong voice to call for justice and equality in their communities and globally. The group (which also included the Save the Children charity, the poet Katie Hall, the designer Steffan Dafydd, and the facilitator Elan Evans) has worked hard to spread the message widely – it has reached 25 countries, inspired hundreds of schools and organizations in Wales, the group has done television and radio interviews, and two of the young people have written a blog containing personal, powerful experiences.
2nd Prize: Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bryn Tawe
2 videos were prepared by Year 7-13 pupils to promote peace in their school community and more widely. The enthusiasm of the pupils is evident from the videos and their messages are powerful. They convey an understanding of the effects of a lack of social justice on young people in Wales, and advocate for young people who suffer from a lack of peace in other countries. They connect Wales’ peace heritage with the call to action for peace today. The pupils’ efforts to share the importance of peace for Wales and the world, in their local community and beyond, deserve this award.
Young Wellbeing Advocates
1st – Holly Abbott
Holly created a not-for-profit organisation ‘Cardsofcalm’ which focuses on creating cards with messages of support, wellbeing packages and links to local helplines. Holly has shown young leader entrepreneurial spirit to support others. Her kindness and thoughtfulness to remind hundreds of others that they are not alone qualifies her as a winner!
2nd – Nathan Robertshaw
Nathan found his own wellbeing hobby by taking part in his local park run. This improved his confidence and helped him feel less isolated away from home. He developed his volunteering skills, helped out training others, started learning Welsh and became first aid trained to help others through running in his community!
Commendation – Freya Rees
Having spent periods in hospital herself, Freya has used her experiences and her skills to create works of art that bring brightness and nope to others. Her beautiful acrylic painting ‘Flourish’ is now on display at CAMHS and the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Rhyl. ‘My aim’, she says, ‘was to reinforce the message that they are not alone and to bring some vibrancy and colour to mental health, helping to normalize it as a common experience shared by many people in my generation.’
Young Peacemaker
Award sponsored by Academi Heddwch Cymru
Joe Wright Roberts of Connah’s Quay High School
Joe has shown passion, leadership, commitment and innovation in his work to promote and develop anti-racism in his school. He has taken his message to school governors and encouraged Senior Management to sign anti-racist pledges and act as role models themselves. His ambition to develop the scheme by involving cluster primary schools is admirable, as is the desire to demonstrate inclusive behaviours in his own community by celebrating different languages and cultures.
2nd – Mili Davies, Ysgol David Hughes
We received two pieces of art from Mili – both extremely impressive. The first is a jigsaw which delivers a clear anti-racist message – the pieces represent different skin colors and emphasize the fact that everyone is unique, different and deserves respect.
The title of the second piece of work is ‘Album Heddwch’ featuring a series of quotes and photos after she meets a student protesting against the situation in Gaza, and realizes the further significance of the demonstration. The album is basically a personal journey, but created in a subtle and elaborate way. The album is effective because it takes us on a journey with the illustrator.
2nd – School Council, Ysgol David Hughes, Menai Bridge Anglesey
An impressive application containing a description and evidence of the way the School Council at Ysgol David Hughes has tackled the problem of bullying in their school community.
The judges liked the way the Council has involved pupils and staff in their work, acted as a team and ensured that policies and activities were developed in a sensitive way which is based on the pupil’s voice and respects confidentiality where this is possible. The Council has tackled the problem on several levels – developing awareness and understanding of the nature of the problem, and developing a number of ways of responding, using technology (QR codes and the website) to ensure confidentiality.
It is good to see that the holistic campaign has created an atmosphere where pupils feel more confident to talk about bullying – also understand the importance of treating each other with respect.
Young Environmental Champion
Award aponsored by Environmental Platform Wales
Youth Climate Ambassadors
The ‘Youth Climate Ambassadors’ have presented their work on reducing the social and environmental impact of fast fashion. This has involved researching the negative impacts of Fast Fashion, publishing a blog article on ‘The True Cost of Fast Fashion: Why It’s Time to Break The Buy-and-Bin Cycle’ and organising a Sustainable Fashion Show And Clothes Swap in 2024 to spread the word, they will continue to raise awareness of peace, justice and sustainability.
Future Generations Champions
Award sponsored by Future Generations Commissioner for Wales
Ysgol David Hughes, Menai Bridge, Anglesey
They have held a wide range of activities to promote Welsh language and culture, from music concerts, a Cymraeg themed Bake Off, Eisteddfodau etc. They show how Cymraeg is fun and the advantages of being bilingual. They bring Cymraeg to life and celebrate it in all its cultural forms.
Young Peacemakers Workshop
The awards ceremony was followed by a creative workshop on the Eisteddfod Maes, in which young people created crafts based on peace themes.
Case Study of Youth Peacemakers in Action: The Urdd’s Nomination
Since 1922, the Urdd has produced a message of Peace and Goodwill conveyed initially through Morse code, then by the BBC World Service, and more recently through digital media, with the aim of uniting children around the world, and supporting them to call for a fairer, more equal and more peaceful world. 2025’s Message theme is Poverty. With the current child poverty crisis visible in Wales and across the world, the Urdd and the young people of Wales have chosen to focus on this crucial issue. With 1 in every 3 children and young people in Wales living in poverty, the Peace Message 2025 clearly states the need for change.
The content and direction of this year’s message was decided by Coleg y Cymoedd students and Urdd Members. The workshop was held at YMa, Pontypridd at the end of January. Elusen Achub y Plant presented the message to the participants, working together with Elan Evans (Facilitator), Steffan Dafydd (Designer) and the poet Katie Hall. It was a successful workshop which encouraged the young people to share their experiences and feelings about the situation of child poverty in Wales. Following the workshop, Katie set about creating a powerful Message giving the young people a strong voice and identifying the main themes of the day:
• Giving young people a voice
• Breaking down stigma
• The importance of community
• No child should live in poverty.
The message is available on the Urdd website in over 50 languages, including BSL.
For creating the 2025 message, 14 young people who are Coleg y Cymoedd students and Urdd Members were chosen to be part of the project after an open call process asking people to join. They were very willing to share experiences and feelings about poverty, and gave the poet Katie a lot of inspiration with their words following the workshop in January. A short film was created from the young people’s words, and their voices are heard reading the words out. They were very willing to be part of the work of promoting the Message, speaking on radio and television giving the theme an important platform.
The Message reached over 25 countries around the world, with hundreds of schools and organizations throughout Wales celebrating and raising awareness of the important Message. 2 young members who were part of the project have written a small blog about why they feel it is important that they took part.
