Gwynedd Youth Service Well-being Festival Empowers Young People to Prioritise Mental Health and Well-being

Hundreds of young people from Gwynedd participated in this year's Gwynedd Youth Service Well-being Festival. The festival, which took place recently across the county over the course of five days, aims to promote good mental health and well-being among young people.

Last year's Wellbeing Festival was a tremendous success, positively impacting the lives of the county's young people. The festival's success was recognised at the 2022 Youth Work Excellence Awards ceremony, where it won the award for ‘Demonstrating excellence in partnership planning and delivery at a local level.’

This year's festival was equally successful, with over a hundred sessions being held throughout the county. The festival was inclusive, fun, and informative, offering a range of activities for young people which included a trip to Alton Towers, a bowling trip, an ice-skating trip and washing cars in Porthmadog for a good cause. Many well-being sessions were also held in schools, which included sewing, Lego, dealing with stress and much more.

Additionally, a competition was held across Gwynedd, with prizes including a one-year National Trust family membership, one-year Byw’n Iach memberships and shopping vouchers.

Tasks for the competition included designing a mascot for the festival, creating a positivity poster, creating a short healthy eating video, creating poetry about keeping healthy and taking a photo that showed the five ways to well-being.

This is what some of the young people who were involved with the preparations had to say about their experience: "A worthwhile experience with many opportunities."; "I have learned about my rights as a young person." ; "Many different experiences and lots of fun."; "It's been great, adventurous, creative and a lot of Fun!"

Councillor Elin Walker Jones, Cyngor Gwynedd Cabinet Member with responsibility for Children and Young People, said:

"I am thrilled to see how successful the Gwynedd Youth Well-being Festival has been in promoting good mental health and well-being among young people in our county. The festival's inclusive and fun nature has allowed for a range of activities and sessions, and I commend Gwynedd Youth, our partners and of course the young people of the county for their hard work and dedication in making this event possible.

“We are proud to support initiatives like this that prioritise the well-being of our community's youth and look forward to seeing the festival continue to grow and thrive in the years to come."

Gwynedd Youth would like to hear your ideas for next year's festival, which can be e-mailed to llais@ieuenctid.llyw.gwynedd