Urdd to mark centenary with world record bids
HUGE PARTY ALSO ON CARDS AS YOUTH FESTIVAL TURNS 100 NEXT YEAR
WALES’S largest national youth movement, Urdd Gobaith Cymru, will celebrate its centenary next year and is planning a huge birthday party and two world record attempts.
Since 1922, the Urdd has provided opportunities for more than four million children and young people in Wales to enjoy sporting, cultural, residential, humanitarian and volunteering experiences through the medium of Welsh.
The celebrations for the year will begin on January 25.
The Urdd will attempt two Guinness World Record titles by singing together and uploading videos of the iconic song, Hei Mistar Urdd, on to Twitter and Facebook.
A party, Cariad@Urdd, will be held for schools in Wales in the company of the Stwnsh Sadwrn presenters and broadcast live on BBC Radio Cymru and Radio Wales.
Sian Lewis, the Urdd’s Chief Executive, said: “As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, we had to close our camps and our regular community, sporting and cultural activities had to stop.
“However, we are rebuilding, and the year of our centenary will be one to remember, with the plans of every department reflecting our spirit and ambition.
“We are also making a significant investment in our camps and there will be three exciting openings in 2022 – the opening of the first environmental camp of its kind in Wales at Pentre Ifan, Pembrokeshire; the opening of the Heart of the Centre in Llangrannog; and the opening of the new Water Centre at Glan-llyn.”
Other highlights include international trips for young people to America, Ireland and Norway; which include plans for the centenary’s Message of Peace and Goodwill.
The Sports Department will lead with the Welsh Urban Games festival in Cardiff Bay.
A concert featuring the BBC National Orchestra of Wales will be held to celebrate the centenary and S4C has commissioned a series that looks back at the Llangrannog centre through the decades.
The In Character theatre production, Canrif Syr Ifan, will tour schools in Wales.
Ms Lewis called on members, schools, clubs, volunteers, businesses and organisations to register and join the celebrations.
To coincide with the centenary, the National Library of Wales invited Mistar Urdd to visit the Urdd’s archive where a complete record of its history and activities is kept.
Pedr ap Llwyd, Chief Executive and Librarian at the National Library, said: “The Urdd continues to be an indispensable national movement that continues to enrich the lives of children and young people while promoting the Welsh language at the same time, a hundred years on from its establishment.
“The extent of the organisation’s contribution to our national life is immeasurable and we’re proud to say that much of the organisation’s work is recorded here in the library’s collections, in archival collections, books, sound and moving images.
“It is all a testament to the activity of an organisation of which we should all be proud.
“It is a great privilege to be part of the Urdd’s centenary celebrations and to meet Mistar Urdd himself, one of my heroes!”
Established in 1922 by Sir Ifan ab Owen Edwards, the Urdd now has more than 55,000 members and organises sporting, cultural and humanitarian activities for young people aged five to 25.
It also manages various volunteering projects and has four residential centres. The biggest annual event
the Urdd National is
Eisteddfod which is staged at the end of May after district and county events are held to determine who can take part in the various competitions.
Next year’s Urdd National Eisteddfod will be staged in Denbigh.
More anniversary events will be announced in the next few weeks.
To attend the Urdd’s Birthday Party and to join the two Guinness World Records title attempts, register on the Urdd website.