With the National Lottery nearing its thirtieth birthday, we’re proud to look back at some of the projects that we’ve supported over the years.

One project that was successful in gaining a small grant of £900 from the National Lottery Community Fund, and also broke a world record back in 2017, was Mudiad Meithrin.

Over 8,000 children aged between 2-4 from across Wales celebrated the 45^th birthday of Mudiad Meithrin back in May 2017, smashing the previous world record of 2,040!

“Everyone has pyjamas” said Iola Jones, Mudiad Meithrin’s Head of Communications and Partnerships. “We wanted to plan something that wouldn’t cost parents/guardians too much. We wanted to keep it simple.”

Successful in their application for funding from the National Lottery’s special programme on the theme of ‘Celebration’, tying in with the National Lottery’s celebration, the £900 grant enabled the organization to design and produce pamphlets to distribute to promote the pyjama party!

The main aim and objective of Mudiad Meithrin is to give every child in Wales the opportunity to play, learn and grow through the medium of Welsh, believing that every child in Wales has the right to do so.

Ruth Bates, Head of Communications at the National Lottery Community Fund Wales said: “The National Lottery Community Fund is proud to support Welsh medium communities and projects, and proud to promote the use of the Welsh language and offer a completely bilingual service to our customers. From the very start of the grant application to our assessment and management of the grant, our funding officers can support you at every step of the way through the medium of Welsh.”

She added “We have been working closely with the Welsh Language Commissioner to meet the Welsh Language Standards since 2017. Projects funded by us in Wales have a duty to deliver their activities bilingually. Our grants therefore support people to come together and use their Welsh in their communities every day, and as a public body, the Fund has a responsibility to contribute to the Welsh Government’s target of 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050.”

There was another aim to the celebrations, in encouraging the children to come in their pyjamas, it was showing the importance of a daily routine;

Play. Read. Sleep.

According to Iola: “Play that is well planned helps children to think and make sense of the world around them, and reading regularly makes a huge difference. And lastly, sleep! Research shows that sleeping during the night is just as important as exercise and eating healthily to a child’s development.”

“Of course, the highlight of the event was beating the world record with over 8,000 children dressed in their pyjamas and taking part, a unique way of promoting the Cylchoedd and the Welsh language to families across Wales.”

Between 2016-2024 Mudiad Meithrin have received 7 grants worth £543,713 from the National Lottery through our Awards for All and People and Places grants.

For the past 30 years, The National Lottery Community Fund has supported good causes as a way to bring positive change to communities across the UK. We’ve awarded over £18 billion to over 290,000 charities and community groups.

The National Lottery Community Fund is the largest community funder in the UK. Our funding strengthens society and improves lives. From now to 2030, our strategy, It starts with community, will focus on our four community-led missions and guide how we’ll support projects in every part of the UK by adopting an equity-based approach to address inequality.

For more information on the funding available from the National Lottery Community fund go to https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/wales