Thousands of kids join jamboree for Wales
AN army of 230,000 kids joined a jamboree singing the Wales World Cup anthem to celebrate the nation’s first appearance in the tournament since 1958.
More than 1,000 schools joined the event organised by Welsh youth movement Urdd Gobaith Cymru.
Yma o Hyd, originally a protest song by Dafydd Iwan, has been adopted by Wales football fans and is the official tune for the team as it heads to Qatar.
Welsh actor Michael Sheen told the Daily Mirror: “Yma o Hyd means we are still here, we have survived and shown that strength over centuries and centuries.
“It is great when you have the opportunity to give voice to that. At times,
that just comes through.”
A total of 230,372 children sang from 1,071 English and Welsh language schools.
Michael Downey from Caernarfon, who teaches at Griffin Primary school in Battersea, South West London, was keen for his pupils to learn the song as they joined the effort.
He said: “The first session was very difficult so I wrote the words out phonetically for them and by the second and third session, they were rehearsing Yma o Hyd quite easily.
“They had good fun with it. I was surprised how Welsh they sounded!”
The children received video messages from members of the Wales football team, as well as from First Minister Mark Drakeford, to thank them for their support.