Evaluation of Welsh Government-funded Women’s Euros 2025 activities: summary

The Welsh Government commissioned Arad Research to undertake an evaluation of its programme of activities to promote Wales as part of the 2025 UEFA European Women’s Championship (Women’s Euros). This report presents the findings of the evaluation.

Evaluation objectives

The main objectives of the evaluation were to:

• assess the alignment of the deliverables with the Welsh Government’s aims for the suite of activity and other strategic policy objectives
• assess the extent to which supported activities were able to achieve their deliverables
• assess, as far as possible, the contribution of the delivered activity towards the Welsh Government’s overall objectives for the Women’s Euros 2025
• provide recommendations and lessons learnt for opportunities that may arise in the future

Background to the funded activities

Following the qualification of the Cymru women’s football team to the UEFA European Women’s Championship in Switzerland, the Welsh Government sought to maximise the opportunities and benefits arising through the team’s participation. The profile of the event represented a significant marketing and sports diplomacy opportunity for the Welsh Government.

The Welsh Government’s objectives for its programme of activities relating to the Women’s Euros were:

• promoting Wales to a global audience
• projecting Wales’s values, particularly around equality and inclusion
• promoting women’s sport and encouraging increased participation and securing a legacy from the competition

Activity that was funded

A £1m Partner Support Fund (PSF) made available to sport, culture, creative and education organisations to deliver activities to celebrate Wales in the Euros. Partners applied for support through a grant application process. 16 partners successfully gained funding. One of the purposes of the grant was to deliver a legacy from the Euros that would inspire the next generation of boys and girls and encourage an increase in sports participation to support the health and wellbeing of the nation.

A marketing campaign of £300,000, led by Cymru Wales Brand to showcase the nation on the global stage. This was used for a focused digital, social and out-of-home marketing campaign in key markets (mainly in France, Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany) and a targeted media engagement activation on the ground using Lleisiau Cymru.

A programme of activities around ministerial engagement at the tournament that maximised diplomatic engagement, as well as opportunities to develop economic, sporting and cultural links. This programme of activities cost around £35,000.

Methodology

The methodology for the evaluation involved a combination of qualitative interviews and desk-based research. This included:

• development of an evaluation framework, which mapped the key themes of the research and the evidence sources and tools required for data collection
• interviews with 20 stakeholders including Welsh Government officials, representatives of the British Embassy in Switzerland, Lleisiau Cymru Ambassadors, the Football Association of Wales (FAW), Sport Wales and PSF partners
• a documentation and data review including:
  • PSF monitoring data and project completion reports
  • data collected against the Welsh Government marketing measurement framework

It is important to acknowledge some of the limitations of the evaluation methodology. The research gathered evidence from individuals and organisations involved in the planning and delivery of activities. It was not feasible to gather evidence from those who attended events or took part in activities because the evaluation took place nine months after the activities were delivered. This limitation was mitigated by asking partners to reflect on the wider programme of events and activities that other partners had delivered, as well as views on their own activities. It was not feasible to interview all of the PSF partners during the evaluation because of timing and budget; this was mitigated by reviewing evidence from all monitoring data and project completion reports. These limitations are not considered to have had a significant impact on the evaluation.

Design and delivery of the Women’s Euros activities

The Welsh Government built on the ‘Tîm Cymru’ approach, developed for the Welsh Government-funded activities delivered around the 2022 Men’s World Cup in Qatar, to design and deliver activities relating to the Women’s Euros. This approach, bringing together partners from across the sport, media and culture sectors, was welcomed by all stakeholders as an effective approach to support the overall aims of the activities. 

Stakeholders felt that the strategic aims and values of the Welsh Government-funded activities aligned well with the ethos of the Women’s Euros, particularly the focus on inclusivity, diversity and promoting women’s participation in sport. 

Stakeholders acknowledged the short timescales between the Cymru women’s team qualifying for the tournament and the beginning of the competition. While stakeholders would have liked more time to plan and deliver activities, they felt that the Welsh Government had been responsive within a challenging timeframe and that appropriate partners had been involved in the process. 

Stakeholders expressed positive views on the range of projects funded through the PSF and highlighted that many of the project leads were women. While partners felt that the time pressures limited the amount of operational planning that could be done during initial PSF workshops, they welcomed the opportunities to meet, present their initial plans, avoid duplication and identify collaboration opportunities through Welsh Government-organised workshops. 

All PSF partners and stakeholders welcomed the creation of a Stakeholder Steering Group as part of the overall design and delivery of the Women’s Euros activities. Some stakeholders and PSF partners nonetheless considered that more central coordination of collaborative opportunities through this group would have supported a more consistent and creative approach to design and delivery across the PSF.

The Welsh Government’s shared calendar of activities was distributed to all partners prior to the tournament. However, a few did not recall seeing this central resource and some others considered that not all PSF partners had worked collaboratively to promote each other’s work on social media.

Stakeholders welcomed the marketing and international activities that were planned and delivered alongside the PSF activity, noting that there was coherence between the content of this activity and the activity of partner organisations. 

Outputs, outcomes and impact

Findings suggest that the activities were successful in achieving their intended outcomes, contributing towards the Welsh Government’s strategic objectives. Across all PSF projects, targets were met or exceeded for all 16 key performance indicators (KPIs). PSF partners’ completion reports also showed that they had achieved the vast majority of their individual targets. PSF reports also indicated that partners were continuing to monitor progress against some indicators and anticipated further achievements based on their activities. 

A total of 241 events were held by PSF partners, with 33,993 people participating or in attendance. A total of:

• 6,364 children and young people participated in sporting activities held by PSF partners 
• 136,404 children and young people participated in cultural events
• 1,234 participants were involved in training or coaching activities

PSF activities also produced a variety of videos, articles and media coverage which reached a wide range of audiences and elicited over 3.4 million engagements (for example, likes, responses, re-posts) on social media. 

Television advertising funded through the marketing campaign reached 12.2 million viewers across France and the Netherlands while digital campaigns generated 8 million impressions, 3.5 million video views, and 27,000 website visits, which was higher than the targets set across all markets. 

Further engagement was achieved through PR activity including 26 interviews for Lleisiau Cymru and Welsh Government Ministers. An “out-of-home” and event campaign also involved advertisements being placed on 57 digital screens across Zurich, St Gallen and Lucerne (the cities hosting matches involving the Cymru team), alongside branded activations in fan zones, such as the Cymru Wales Bus, and advertisements in major transport hubs.

The marketing campaign generated significant outcomes which aligned with the Welsh Government’s cultural and international objectives. This contributed to increasing Wales’ international profile, emphasising its identity as an inclusive, creative and values‑driven nation.

Stakeholders considered that the ministerial visits to Switzerland during the tournament supported increased visibility and status for Wales, particularly at a bilateral level, although some expressed disappointment that there was not a ministerial presence at all three matches.

Stakeholders highlighted the importance of these diplomatic activities in promoting Wales and its values at an international level. They also highlighted the opportunities to build on this international engagement through future bids to host the Women’s Champions League Final and Women’s World Cup 2035 (across the UK).

Legacy

Stakeholders believed that the Welsh Government-funded activities had made a positive contribution to increasing participation in women’s sport as well as having a positive - and potentially sustainable - impact on artists and organisations involved.

Many stakeholders referred to the achievement of the FAW’s milestone of 20,000 girls and women being registered to play football in Wales as a positive legacy and felt that the activities, alongside the broader impact of the tournament, had contributed to this. 

The activities also contributed to generating greater awareness and enthusiasm for women’s sports, for example, supporting the formation of new teams and newly qualified female coaches and referees.

Funded activities generated future opportunities for participating artists, such as opportunities for musicians to perform and writers to explore publishing their work. Sustainable partnerships were created between arts, culture and community organisations, which could promote further engagement with the arts and sport in future. Some stakeholders nevertheless noted the importance of ongoing funding to maintain momentum and to create a culture of longer-term investment in sports and the arts.

The partnerships were supplemented by visual and creative outputs such as videos, art, songs and articles which were viewed, distributed and used by a variety of individuals and organisations. Stakeholders considered that these could inspire future participation in sporting and cultural activity.

Some stakeholders considered that participating in the Welsh Government-funded activities had helped build their organisation’s credibility and reputation, which could benefit them when seeking funding for future opportunities. This could create a future legacy for some smaller organisations engaged in reaching under-represented and diverse audiences.

Ministerial representation at Women’s Euros matches and related activities was considered to have supported increased visibility and status for Wales. Welsh Government should therefore consider having ministerial representation at all matches and important events in future.

The PSF programme successfully supported a broad and diverse range of organisations and artists and provided opportunities for greater participation in sport and culture for women, young people and under-represented groups. Welsh Government should consider additional funding opportunities to sustain this legacy and momentum in the run up to Wales jointly hosting the 2028 Men’s Euros.

The marketing activities delivered a range of quality visual and creative outputs. These could be used to inspire future participation in sport and cultural activities as well as for forthcoming events to promote Wales at an international level, for example the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in 2027.

The ‘Tîm Cymru’ approach successfully brought together arts and sports organisations to support domestic and international ambitions. Further scope exists for Welsh Government to develop and embed this approach and link to other priorities such as health and wellbeing and education.

Report author: Martin Jones, Hefin Thomas, Jennifer Lane and Kara Stedman. Arad Research

Views expressed in this report are those of the researchers and not necessarily those of the Welsh Government.

For further information please contact:

Sport Division
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ

Email: SportDivision@gov.wales

Social research number: 72/2026
Digital ISBN: 978-1-83745-663-5