The origins of the Peace and Goodwill message

The first message

It was sent by Welsh Reverend Gwilym Davies thanks to the radio development as a call for pacifism. Then a new message was diffused each year and answers from all over the world came back. Here is the original message from:

1922

"Bless the effort of the good men and women of every race who are doing their best to settle old quarrels without fighting ? Then there will be no need for any of us, as we grow older, to show our pride for the country we were born by going out to hate and kill one another. "

During the years the message changed several times. The children from wales tried to include the main topics of their time. Here are some beautiful examples from messages:

1928

"Join in our prayer that God will bless the efforts of the good men and women of every race and people who doing their best to settle old Quarrels without fighting? […] Join us in thought, word and deed from now onwards in the building of this finer and better world.”

1934

"We rejoice in the lovely things that are in the world, the beauty of the earth, the sea and the air, the heritage that belongs to us all and in which we are all united. […] Let us then Boys and Girls, so strive that every triumpf over difficulty shall only serve to draw our nations closer together as members of one big family.”

1960

“This year, the nations of the world are making a united effort to help the refugees who have suffered as the result of war…There is a great deal we can do to help. We can write to them, and we can send them gifts of money and clothes. We could also invite some of them to spend a holiday in our homes and make them our friends…Will you, therefore, join with us, as members of one big family, in a special effort to help the refugees this year?”

1990

"[...] We have a lively interest in whatever is particular to each country and together with you we rejoice in the variety which exists throughout the world. [...]”

2017

"We invite young people across the world to join with us in our call for equiality for young peope. We wish to recieve euqality: in our education opportunities, in our freedom to live according to our sexuality [...]. We call for our voice to be heard, we wish that our voice is respected. We call fpr the right to express our opinions and for young people to have a vote. [...]."