New Funding for Welsh Kids’ Content

The Welsh government has unveiled a new funding scheme to bolster the availability of bilingual content for young audiences.

Eight projects will receive a combined £352,545 ($420,690) in funding from Creative Wales’ Young Content Fund, intended to support the development of bilingual animated and live-action projects. The fund is part of a co-operation agreement between the Welsh government and the political party Plaid Cymru.

Dawn Bowden, Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, noted, “We have a vibrant and well-established creative sector in Wales, which has an excellent track record of producing world-class and award-winning content for young audiences. Some of the most iconic animations such as SuperTed and Fireman Sam were born in Wales and went on to make a lasting impression on a whole generation of children and young people.”

Funded projects include Cloth Cat’s Familiars, inspired by modern Wales and Celtic mythology and targeted at the 7 to 11 set; and Cwmni Da’s Act your Age, a sitcom for kids 6 to 11 and families.

“I’m delighted we’re able to support the development of more original content which will support Welsh creative businesses and be about Wales—and from Wales,” Bowden added. “This will engage our young people in our history and culture as well as being a way of hearing and then using the Welsh language in a way that’s relevant and interesting to them.

“I’m confident this investment will boost to our efforts to reach one million Welsh speakers by 2050.”

Designated Member, Cefin Campbell, noted: “Ensuring that children and young people across Wales have access to fun, engaging content is vital and a vibrant creative sector has a crucial role to play in this. We are supporting our creative businesses to create stories, images and content made in Wales, about Wales and in Welsh for the benefit of all.”