2024’s Peace and Goodwill Message

This Peace and Goodwill Message celebrated the centenary of the Welsh Women’s Peace Petition 1923-24, highlighting the need to advocate for peace a hundred years on.

On the 19th of February 1924, the Welsh Women’s Peace Petition chest was opened with its 390, 296 signatures inside in front of 600 US women at the Baltimore Hotel, New York.

The petition was an act of hope for world peace, and its story has inspired the Urdd to encourage a group of young women to come together to create this year’s Peace and Goodwill Message.

The message emphasized the importance of taking action and persistently advocating for peace. It asserted that atrocities, wars, and violence must be stopped, and that cooperation, passion, and hope are the driving forces that can lead the towards a better future.

To create the message, the Urdd held a workshop at the Urdd’s Residential Centre in Cardiff in January. Staff members, apprentices and volunteers of the Urdd, and students of the ESOL course (learning English as a second language) of Cardiff and Vale Collage all came together for the workshop. All the attendees were women, to reflect the message of the Welsh women’s petition 1923-1924.

Elan Evans and the poet and singer, Casi Wyn, led an engaging workshop where participants delved into discussions about peace and the historical significance of the petition. Over the course of two days, a safe and relaxing atmosphere was created, which led to important conversations shared amongst the young women which shaped the direction of the message.

Special guests were invited to enhance the workshop experience. Mererid Hopwood, Ffion Fielding from WCIA, Zoey Allen, and Mah Kakar delivered powerful talks. Thank you very much to all four for inspiring the young women further.

Casi Wyn transformed the ideas and important contributions by the young women down on paper to create the 2024 message, and Efa Blosse-Mason created the animation for the film.