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National Young Ambassador Panel 2024/25 Selection
After a busy summer sifting through applications and conducting interviews, we have now selected 19 Young Ambassadors to join our National Young Ambassador Panel for 2024/25. Congratulations to:

  • Macey Hardwicke (Bridgend)
  • Madison Rees (Bridgend)
  • Seren Brandon-Wilsher (Monmouthshire)
  • Sophie Regan (Carmarthenshire)
  • Evie Beggs (Carmarthenshire)
  • Georgia Callan (Rhondda Cynon Taff)
  • Lowri Bayliss (Powys)
  • Florence Kuipers (Powys)
  • Violet Cassley-Doak (Caerphilly)
  • Maddie Lewis (Pembrokeshire)
  • Cian Gordon-Clark (Anglesey)
  • Grey Bygrave (Wrexham)
  • Anna Norris (Cardiff)
  • Emily Thompson (Cardiff)
  • Lottie Powell (Swansea)
  • Junia Thomas (Merthyr)
  • Ruby Ellis (Flintshire)
  • Pippa Ellis (Flintshire)
  • Cai Garland (Conwy)

We will be sharing further updates about the panel over the next few months, with one of their first tasks being to lead their regional conference.

Gold and Platinum Regional Young Ambassador Conferences 2024/25
We are delighted to announce that this year's regional conferences will take place in November at:

  • South Central/East Wales Regional Conference: The College Merthyr Tydfil
  • North Wales Regional Conference: Coleg Menai
  • South West/ Mid Wales Regional Conference: Coleg Sir Gar

Keep an eye on our social media @yacymru to find out more!

YA Video
During the summer holidays, we captured a video of Flintshire's Young Ambassadors in action. They were delivering a range of multi-sport activities as part of Aura Leisure & Libraries 'Fit, Fed, and Read' programme. You can check out the video here.

School Spotlight: Lliswerry Primary School for National School Sports Week 2024

On Tuesday 18 June, the Youth Sport Trust (YST) alongside Newport Live delivered a National School Sports Week event at Lliswerry Primary School. On the day, Year 5 and 6 took part in multisport activities and a football tournament promoting ‘Monster Kickabout’ and Mo’s Misson. The pupils then got to hear from National YA Panel Members, Ethan Benningwood, Thomas Bimson, Rhiannon Osborne, Layla Toms Irving and YA Alumni Casey-Lee Blewit who shared their experience in sport and their YA journeys. YST Athlete Mentor and Olympic Swimmer, Tom Haffeild, also shared what it takes to be an Olympic athlete and encouraged all the pupils to be active and find a sport they love. To finish the day the pupils wrote pledges for Mo’s Mission and got to hold an Olympic torch. Thank you LLiswerry Primary school for hosting the event and encouraging your pupils to be active 60 minutes a day through sport, physical activity and play!

Wales Young Ambassador Evaluation Report 2023/24

Over the last few of months the Youth Sport Trust’s Research and Insight Team we have been collecting data to create a report on the Young Ambassador Programme in Wales. It is based on data collected through an online survey that was completed in July 2024 by 17 Local Authority leads, who are responsible for delivering the YA Programme in their area. Some key findings of the report are:

  • 109,261 young people have participated in activities delivered by Young Ambassadors
  • 2,566 Young Ambassadors Trained in 2023/24
  • 713 Schools are delivering the Young Ambassador Programme in Wales
  • 29% of Young Ambassadors have delivered activities in Welsh
  • On average, Young Ambassadors spend 8.2 hours a month volunteering.

If you would like to learn more about the findings from the report, contact [email protected].

Summer Term Young Ambassador Spotlight – Rhiannon Osbourne

This term our YA Spotlight is Rhiannon Osbourne. Lauren Bourne, Community Sport & Physical Activity Development Officer in Newport Shared:

"Rhiannon is an asset to the YA programme as she has so much passion and enthusiasm for what she does. She truly wants to inspire the young people she coaches and works with, not just being a role model, but a motivator. She is their biggest supporter. Always a positive attitude and the smile to match, she is truly valued! She has dedicated so much of her time to the programme and bettering herself, and is ready to help shape the next generation of young ambassadors."

Thank you Rhiannon for all your hard wok and dedication to the programme.

Alumni Success - Jasmine Callen and Jacob Martin at School Games National Finals 2024

From 28 August to 2 September the National School Games Final was hosted at Loughborough University by the Youth Sport Trust. It was brilliant to see two of our alumni, Jasmine and Jacob supporting the event and in particular the young volunteers programme which was run within the event. Jasmine carried out the role of a team leader and supported the young volunteers throughout the weekend to make sure they had a positive experience. Jacob’s role was to lead the young volunteer media training and share his expertise with them, in the hope of inspiring more young people to think about it as a career.

National Lottery 30th Birthday
We will be joining celebrations of the National Lottery’s 30th Anniversary on Tuesday 19 November. The theme of this year’s anniversary campaign is 'Game Changers', which offers a great opportunity to showcase the incredible impact of our Young Ambassadors across Wales. A toolkit to support you join in the celebrations can be found here. Please also tag us on socials @YACymru if you plan or deliver any activities around this.

Monster Kickabout

Monster Kickabout, a nationwide school football initiative from Sports Direct and Nike to encourage more kids to take up football, is back! The campaign will run from 4-15 November, where schools can access free resources and football equipment by registering here. 

Free Resources!
Now that we are back in school, you might be looking for some inspiration ahead of restarting your activities to help get even more young people healthy and active. To support you in your role, check out the following resources:

Diary Dates
Below is a list of national events and initiatives that Young Ambassadors can use to influence, lead and inspire others to take an active part in this academic year:

  • 3-20 October, Cricket - Women's T20 World Cup, United Arab Emirates
  • 14 October, National Lottery Game Changers campaign - Sport Week
  • 17-20 October, Triathlon - World Championship
  • 19 November, National Lottery 30th birthday
  • 21 November, Urdd National Netball, Cardiff
  • 24 November, Karate- Welsh Open Karate Championships 2024
  • 26-30 November, Badminton Wales - Welsh International Open, Cardiff
  • 8 December, Athletics - European Cross Country Championships, Antalya, Turkey

If you or your organisation plan and deliver any YA-led projects or activities around these or other initiatives, then please tag your stories, pictures and/or videos to our social media pages using #YACymru.

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