5 June2013
Awards ceremony is highlight of Volunteers’Week in Wales
Some of Wales’ most selfless peopleare aboutto receive recognition for the work they do to make their communities better places to live in at the country’s leading volunteer awards.
The 2013 Wales Volunteer of the Year Awards is the highlight ofVolunteers’ Week, which takes place from 1-7 June and celebrates the outstanding contribution made by millions across the UK.
Among this year’swinners are a 79-year-old Newport woman who has been volunteering since World War II, a 20-year-old former drug addict bravely using her experience to deter others, and a woman who looks after street homeless people throughout the night.
The presentation of the awards run by Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) will take place on Thursday, 6 June,at The Undercroft, Cardiff Castle.
A total of 17 winners inthe five nomination categories of adults, young people (under 25 years), groups, ‘green’ volunteers and trustees will be presented with their awardsby BBCpersonality Frank Hennessyat the ceremony.
‘We are proud to have in Wales a wealth of dedicated volunteers who give selflessly of their spare time to making a huge difference in the communities in which they live,’ said Graham Benfield OBE, Chief Executive of WCVA.
‘The Wales Volunteer of the Year Awardsis the opportunity for us to repay their efforts by saying thank you on a national stage.’
Wales Volunteer of the Year Awards 2013
Young person category – Crystal Matthews, Abercynon
The support of Abercynon teenager Crystal Matthews has had a massive impact on the lives of a group of girls at the local youth club where she volunteers.
The 17-year-old Rhondda Cynon Taf ‘Youth Inspector’ taught the girls to learn new skills in dance, resulting in improvements to their confidence and self esteem and helping them overcome personal barriers that had prevented them from participating.
After voluntarily completing a number of training courses, including drug and alcohol prevention, withRCT Services for Young People, she secured a casual administrative post with the service and works three days a week. She also recently become one of RCT’s first Youth Inspectors for the National Youth Information Standards, but spends all her spare time as a full-time volunteer with the service.
‘Crystal is a champion for nervous, shy and vulnerable young people andis very perceptive to their needs, making sure she is always supportive and encouraging, but also challenging negative behaviour and attitudes such as bullying,’ said nominatorLaura Morgan, Special Projects Manager/Volunteer Co-ordinator.
Young person category – Aaron Evans, Rhyl
British and Welshjunior football international and Everton juniors captain Aaron Evans has managed to find the time on top of his own personal achievements tohelp hundreds of Denbighshire youngsters to get involved in sport.
As well as working with a disability programme in primary schools, Aaron referees for five-a-side football leagues which regularly have over 100 participants each week, coaches and is involved with Denbighshire County Councilleisure programmes such as Dragon Sport, 5X60 and disability sport.
Although he has Cerebral Palsy, which affects his eyesight, hearing and much of his mobility, at just 24, Aaron has played for the Great British junior football team and Everton Football Club, as well as representing Wales.
‘Aaron has made a massive difference to people’s lives in Denbighshire, whether in inspiring other young athletes, volunteers or coaches, selflessly giving his time to offer advice or guidance to anyone who asks or simply listening to local youths as part of his refereeing,’ said nominatorMatt Hilliker, Sport Development Officerof Denbighshire CountyCouncil.
‘He is a role model for other people with disabilities, or in fact anyone that has a dream of achieving and faces challenges.’
Young person category – Rachel Wood,Caerwent
A former drug user, RachelWood is bravelyusing her personal story to try to deter other young people from doing the same.
The20-year-old started using ketamine when she was 14 after a traumatic childhood during which she suffered abuse. Through WCVA’s volunteering project with the Kaleidoscopeinitiative, she was recruited to volunteer at its substance misuse service in Newport.
Rachel’s duties help the service assess and offer treatment to people suffering from addiction. She operates the single point of contact phone line, where she takes referrals into treatment and offers advice to people who call about their loved ones’ drugs or alcohol use.
As well as volunteering five days a week, Rachel also delivers public workshops raising awareness of the dangers of ketamine to young people, providing an ‘essential, valuable and effective service’ to communities across the Gwent area.
‘Rachel fills up all of her time with helping other people through her wide range of volunteering activities,’ said nominatorRondine Molinaro, Initiatives Co-ordinator withKaleidoscope. ‘She insists on volunteering for seven hours a day, five days a week – and has even come in to man the reception desk on Saturdays!’
Young person category – Daniel Walsh
A ‘champion for the youth of Merthyr’, Daniel Walsh has both inspired his peers and helpedallay the fear of crime among older members of the community.
The 20-year-old Youth Mayor of the town not only puts in long hours of volunteering and representing young people at high profile meetings and focus groups, but also works part-time, studies and still cares for his parents.
Daniel began his volunteering with the 3Gs Forsythia Youth Project more than four years ago and still finds the time to help out with tree planting events and litter picks, despite his very demanding and challenging role as Youth Mayor.
‘Daniel is a fantastic role model for all young people, volunteering for over 20 hours each week and portraying an extremely positive image of young people in an area too often associated with negative stereotypical images of them,’ said nominator Geraldine Maddison, 3Gs Principal Youth Worker.
‘He has inspired many young people to emulate him by showing that volunteering pays dividends and opens up doors .’
Adult category – Joan Davies, Newport
‘Pillar of the community’of Maesglas in Newport, 79-year-old Joan Davies has voluntarily managedthe local community centre for 29 years. She runs its bingo group, for which she often drives to collect pensioners, sets out all the tables and chairs and even calls the numbers.
She has carried out voluntary work all her life.After leaving school she volunteered at St Woolos Hospital and St John’s Ambulance, where she taught first aid – all while working as a hospital care assistant and raising her son. She also helped set up clinics to prepare for emergencies as a result of the bomb alerts from World War II.
She raises around £300 to £500 for charity every month, bakes cakes for the Salvation Army and provides buffets for service users in the community centre. She runs the local credit union anddelivers food hampers from fruit and vegetable co-operatives.
‘In 2012 Joan received a Lifetime Achiever Award at the Maesglas Community Network Volunteer Awards,’ said nominatorCarolyn Beddis. ‘She received this for her contribution to the community over the decades and as a thank you for all the work she tirelessly does.’
Adult category – Mandy Powell, Cardiff
CardiffCityTemple responded to a call for local churches to set up a night shelter project, opening up its doors in the winter months to give much needed food and warm beds to sleep in.
When the night shelter project ended in 2012, Mandy,51, of Canton became a leader for the Temple’s Street Homeless Project Impact Outreach Team. Visiting people sleeping rough between the hours of 10pm and 3am, she and a fellow volunteer began by distributing food and soup, and soon built up a special relationship with them.
‘We became aware at Taff Housing that Mandy was an exceptionally dedicated and passionate volunteer,’ said nominator Steve Dixon, Community Development Officer.‘She offers much of her spare time and energy to help homeless people on the streets of Cardiff.’
Mandy has also become involved in the Taff Housing Community Allotment Project, taking on a plot of ground to grow food for the Saturday night homeless meal project, with up to 70 homeless and hungry people to feed.
Adult category – Ruth Walters, Newport
Ruth became a resident at Newport’sSolas Cymru hostel after having been made street homeless following serious family issues. ‘Without instruction or need’, she took on the role of 'buddy' to other particularly vulnerable peoplethere, helping them understand the negative impact of alcohol or substance misuse and making a real difference to their outlook on life.
Now aged 29, she works with the ‘Mega Team’ volunteers, cleaning up and refurbishing gardens and grounds across South Wales for people who cannot do it themselves or afford to do it - having‘a profound impact’ on the communities.
She volunteers with Communities First, carrying out research for a survey looking at fuel poverty issues around Pill, and also volunteers for a social enterprise shop, designing and producing customised etched glass and slate, selling them at markets and stalls to support the enterprise and boost its sales and profile.
‘Ruth has been nothing if not dedicated to making a real difference to the lives of people and communities,’ said nominatorBenedicte Lepine, Volunteer Coordinator. ‘She has volunteered in so many different capacities and in so many different projects with a real commitment to wanting to give something back to her community.’
Group category – Teen Spirit, Cardiff
In under a year since it was established, Teen Spirit – a group of volunteers which carries out fundraising events and activities - has raised over £15,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust Unit at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff.
The unit allows patients to be treated closer to home and school/college/university or work and is entirely funded by donations, receiving no government or statutory support. As well as hosting events, Teen Spirit has also begun to branch out to local schools and organisations such as Round Table, rotary clubs, rugby clubsand local schools, to raise awareness of teenage cancer and highlight the work of the unit.
A number of group members are in full-time education preparing for GCSEs while others are in employment, but they still managed to establish themselves and raise the money.
‘A number have personal experiences of cancer and have found the group to be a brilliant avenue of support, as well as the opportunity to give something back,’ said nominatorDr Mike Armitage. ‘All members know someone who has fought cancer, or have lost their battle with cancer, and relish the opportunity to work positively to raise awareness of cancer in teenagers and young adults.’
Group category – Chooselife Wales Volunteers, Llanelli
A ‘fabulous’ group of people,the Chooselife Wales Volunteers ensure the smooth running of the Llanelli drug and alcohol intervention service, the only one of its kind in Carmarthenshire.
Ranging from past service users who have successfully recovered from drug and alcohol abuse to college students who lend support during their free days and nurses who give up their days off, ‘all of them are people with massive hearts who give of their time tirelessly,’ said nominator Pastor IvanParker.
The group provide a daily lunch for service users, regularly cooking for an average of 30 people a day, help clean the centre on a daily basis,and assist with sessions including counselling, arts and crafts, baking, cycling, going to the gym, gardening and outdoor pursuits.
‘The volunteers are all truly an inspiration to others for their sheer commitment and support they bring to them and the wider community of Chooselife Wales.’
Group category – Cardigan Castle Volunteers (Gwirfoddolwyr Castell Aberteifi)
The fortunes of a West Wales community have been turned around by a group of local residents who have made their ruined eyesore of a castle in a major tourist attraction, set to bring ‘far-reaching cultural and economic benefits’ to the region.
Cardigan Castle Volunteers managed to secure £10million in funding to realise their vision of unveiling to the world the 12th-century castle's cultural and historical relevance and importance. They have worked for many years to make the derelict, overgrown castle site into a major visitor attraction.
After fully restoring two 300-year old cottages at the entrance to the castle, the volunteer group set their sights on restoring the two-acre site to its former glory. ‘Over the last few years, 179 people have volunteered, giving a total of 8,141 hours of work to this all important project - a very special achievement,’ said nominator Lindsay Sheen.
The castle is on course to open its doors in the spring of 2014 for community, recreational and educational uses. It will be a centre for learning the Welsh language, culture and crafts, as well as for environmental and horticulture studies. There will be a heritage centre with educational facilities, rooms to hire for training and educational purposes, an Eisteddfod garden with a wet-weather dome, an open-air concert area, a restaurant, and self-catering luxury accommodation.
Green category –Alice Midmore, Pwllheli
Skilled woodworkerAlice Midmore has been ‘integral to the success’ of Menter y Felin Uchaf,a Pwllhelieducation centre promoting sustainable development by providing training and volunteeringopportunities for the local community.
Alice, 28, isresponsible for training volunteers in oak timber framing, giving them unique experiences in traditional building techniques, using locally sourced timber. In the two years since joining the centre, she has helped around 60 local, national and international students and volunteers to obtain practical skills training and work experience.
‘Alice has selflessly and tirelessly given us her time every working day - sometimes through freezing temperatures,’ said Menter y Felin Uchaf Project Manager Dafydd Davies Hughes.
‘She has even rented a caravan nearby so that she can easily come to the centre. The centre's aims are to provide apprentice style skills training and work experience opportunities for young people and disadvantaged groups in the community. Alice's expertise as a trainer has been vital to our project and she is an invaluable member of our team.’
Green category – Sam Holt, Cardiff
‘What Mozart is to notes and music, Sam Holt is to spuds, salads, strawberries and a sustainable city,’ is the way in which nominator Isla Horton, Community Outreach Worker, of Cardiff’s Riverside Community Garden Project described the 31-year-old Project Manager and Volunteer Co-ordinator.
Without Sam taking the helm, the garden would most likely have had to close its gates by now. Instead, under his care, it had flourished, with more than 140 volunteers collectively clocking up 4,500 hours of time on the garden in just the past six months.
‘He deftly juggles the needs of the garden and the volunteers who come from all walks of life- some with mental health issues, some very shy and isolated, some in recovery from addiction, some with learning disabilities and home education families,’ said Isla.
As well as expertly managing the fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, polytunnel salads and pond, Sam has also garnered the volunteers’ enthusiasm for creating and building projects, overseeing the re-covering of an old polytunnel and creating a shelter for volunteers out of recycled pallets.
‘Under Sam's leadership, RiversideCommunityGarden has become a place of inspiration and people visit from across South Wales- even around the world.’
Green category – James Wilkes, Bargoed
James Wilkes is ‘a great example of just how vital young people can be in terms of caring for their communities’, according to his nominator,,Development Officer Louise Mumford.
The 18-year-old volunteers with QWEST, an employability and training project led by the University of South Wales, which helps the unemployed and economically inactive up-skill and prepare to go back to work.
James has completed numerous tasks with the Groundworks project, include working at a local primary school to make an outdoor classroom using recycled logs, providing designs and layout for the allotments and joining Healthy Villages on walks to support and encourage people with special needs or disabilities.
‘Whether it is by landscaping a local venue, helping to grow local produce or through keeping ancient customs - such as dry stone walling - alive, he is able to ensure that the communities he serves are sustainable and able to develop and enjoy their natural resources,’ Louise added.
‘Without volunteers like James, local communities would loose a vital resource in terms of the practical and ecological skills they can offer. At the age of just 18, he has shown how committed young people can be when it comes to accessing volunteering and training.’