On Cariad@Urdd day (25 January 2022) over 95,000 joined the Urdd’s virtual birthday party via Zoom. With the help of our supporters, the Urdd broke two world records by uploading the most number of videos of people singing ‘Hei Mistar Urdd’ to Twitter and Facebook.

On the eve of International Women’s Day, the first ever female youth sports conference was held in Wales to inspire and support more women between the ages of 16 and 25 to get involved in sport. The conference was packed, and we are very grateful to Dawn Bowden, Deputy Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism for her continued support to the #FelMerch project and to the Welsh Government for funding the event.

Our centenary Peace Message, ‘The Climate Crisis’ was launched on 18 May at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo, Norway, at a special event with the First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford. The centenary Peace Message was created with the help of students from Aberystwyth University. The Message reached all over the world, from Peru to Zimbabwe, Vietnam to New Zealand and Moldova, and was translated into 101 languages (more than ever before), including British Sign Language (BSL).

Following a request from the Welsh Government, one of Urdd’s residential centres was turned into a Welcome Centre for 5 months over the summer, for over 60 families from Ukraine who were fleeing the war. It was our privilege to extend a hand of friendship and support to the families. The Urdd would like to thank our members and the schools for their understanding and support during this period, which allowed the Organisation to offer shelter to these refugees.

A total of 118,000 – the highest ever number of people – were welcomed through the gates of the Urdd Eisteddfod in Denbighshire. Thanks to additional support from the Welsh Government entry to the 2022 was free and thousands of competitors stepped onto the three pavilion stages as the Urdd offered a ‘Stage for All’ to competitors for the first time. The week came to an end with the Triban Festival, the biggest reunion of the century and the largest national arts event for young people in Wales since the start of the pandemic.

The Mistar Urdd selfie bench travelled to various locations and events across Wales in 2022. The unique bench was launched on Yr Wyddfa and then travelled to Aberystwyth, the National Eisteddfod, Carmarthen, Newport and even visited the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham during the centenary year.

World Champions from sports including BMX, Skateboarding, Wheelchair Basketball, Scootering and Breakin’ all came to Cardiff in June to compete at Wales’s first Urban Games competition. The event took place at Roald Dahl Plass during 17-18 June, giving children and young people the opportunity to compete, watch and take part in the sports alongside world champions.

The Urdd’s International projects went from strength to strength in 2022 with members traveling to Alabama, Ireland, Philadelphia, Qatar, Dubai and New Zealand during the centenary year.

Over Easter, the Urdd’s choir travelled to Alabama, USA to perform, continuing our partnership with the city of Birmingham, Alabama. Urdd members collaborated on the third Welsh/Irish project with TG Lurgan youth from Ireland. In August, four ambassadors went to Philadelphia to perform at the North American Wales Festival; and to end the year the Urdd’s girl’s rugby team competed in the World School Sevens tournament in New Zealand – the first time for a team from Wales to compete in the competition.

Thanks to a £1 million investment (over a period of 5 years) from the Welsh Government, the Urdd Youth Theatre Company was relaunched in October 2022, led by Branwen Davies.

The Urdd supported the national football team with the Team Wales 2022 campaign during the World Cup. Football and cultural sessions were organised at 23 of the Wales squad’s former primary schools in England and Wales as part of the tour. A team of staff and ambassadors travelled to Doha and Dubai to give sports and cultural sessions at some of the schools, and the Urdd’s choir and other artists performed to international audiences, sharing our language and culture at events and various locations in Doha.

In November, almost a quarter of a million children from across Wales came together on Zoom to sing along and show their support to the Welsh football team at the World Cup Jambori. The highlight of the event was singing Yma o Hyd live with Dafydd Iwan. The event was organised by the Urdd in partnership with Stwnsh Sadwrn, BBC Cymru, S4C, the FAW and the Welsh Government.

It was a privilege for the Organisation to receive various national awards in 2022. The Urdd received a special award from the First Minister at the St David’s Awards, Silver and Gold Quality Marks for our Youth Work in Wales from the GCA and the Welsh Government, as well as winning the title Organisation of the Year Award from the WCVA.
It was also an honour to be the first third sector organisation in Wales to receive the InSport Disability Cymru Gold Standard Award.

A new role was created to help reach and engage with diverse communities who are underrepresented in the Cardiff area. Nooh Ibrahim, a former Fitzalan school pupil was appointed the organizations first Diverse Communities Sports Development Officer. The role will help the Urdd extend the Organisation’s reach, supporting our aim of reaching children and young people from all communities.