Charity supporting deaf youngsters gets Loteri Cymru funding boost

A Welsh charity providing invaluable support to young people in Wales has received a £4,000 boost thanks to Loteri Cymru, the all-Wales lottery which creates winners across Wales and raises vital funds for Welsh charities.

Loteri Cymru has made the donation to Youth Cymru to enable the charity, which supports young people, youth workers, and youth facing organisations in Wales, to widen access to its Youth Achievement Awards (YAA) amongst the deaf community in Wales.

The YAA is a national personal development qualification, accredited by Agored Cymru, which stimulates and recognises young people’s learning.

The money will be used to develop new resources to allow young deaf people in Wales to access and utilise this qualification.

For just £1 a week, Loteri Cymru players can help raise vital funds for charities such as this, as well as try their luck at scooping the £25,000 weekly jackpot cash prize.

Youth Cymru is one of five charities that Loteri Cymru is supporting this year alongside LATCH – the Welsh Children’s Cancer Charity, Welsh Hearts, The Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales, and North Clwyd Animal Rescue (NCAR).

This year it has donated an unprecedented £40,000 to good causes, which have struggled to generate revenue and survive financially following the coronavirus pandemic.

Phil Gerrish, marketing manager for Loteri Cymru, said: “Youth Cymru is such a fantastic and inspirational organisation, which truly makes a difference to the lives of young people in Wales.

“The YAA Qualification which they are supporting, will enable young people in this often-marginalised group to achieve highly and reach their potential, while expanding their skills, confidence, and knowledge.

“We are delighted to be able to support this inspirational charity, and we hope that our funding will enable them to successfully promote and support this qualification scheme and make it a huge success.”

Julia Griffiths of Youth Cymru, said: “We’re truly thankful to Loteri Cymru players who have made this donation possible allowing deaf young people across Wales to access and use our qualification, ensuring equality of opportunities for this marginalised group. We are currently working with a motivated and enthusiastic young deaf person who is currently undertaking his gold level award and wants to focus on developing resources for his peers. We will work with him and others to develop visual and written online resources to not only enable his achievements, but to support his peers nationally in the future. We’re looking forward to widening access to our YAA thanks to this donation.”