People “who quietly give so much to their communities” were thanked at the Cwmbran Community Council awards night.
The event was held at Greenmeadow Golf Club on Friday 8 March.
Councillor Leanne Lloyd-Tolman, chair of Cwmbran Community Councils, said: “Tonight is a celebration of what makes Cwmbran great – our Communities, our volunteers and our partners. We are here to celebrate the best of Cwmbran, true Community Heroes. Ordinary people who quietly give so much to their communities – enriching lives, supporting residents and making such a huge difference.”
Community Awards
Ian Evans – Overcoming Adversity Award
Ian runs Sporting Memories Group on a voluntary basis, they aim to promote the mental and physical well-being of individuals by using the medium of sport as a focus. Each week they welcome between 20-30 + people and Ian is always offering support and advice to anyone in need. Ian is really making a difference in the community and positively impacting the lives of those attending the group.
Tasty Not Wasty – Dedicated Team
Provide a food waste reduction service which helps get food to those in the Community who need it, they run a community fridge plus a pay as you like café as well as hosting events such as Together at Christmas. Not only do they work together as a team but they are always willing to support other Community groups to promote community cohesion and a sense of togetherness.
Llewelyn Brookes – Young Volunteer
Llewelyn is 16 and sets a great example to his peers by regularly litter picking within the Llantarnam area, in his spare time he also joins other litter picking groups such a LLARCS and Torfaen Litter Champions to assist them.
Dawn Tattershawl – Caring
Dawn Volunteers at Forget me not Fridays group, as the group members have memory loss and dementia Dawn sits and offers 1:1 support while loved ones attend the carers group in another room. Dawn is able to listen to carers and empathise with their circumstances in a caring environment. She is so hard working and passionate, and it would be difficult to run the group without her.
Cwmbran Otters – Achieving Sports
Cwmbran Otters Swimming Club has over 100 swimmers and approx 14 volunteers, this year they are celebrating their 50th Anniversary and have nurtured many swimmers over the years, helping children grow in confidence and achieve their own personal goals. The head coach Gerald Sims has such dedication to this club and has volunteered for the with them for 36 years.
Rachael Williams – Volunteering
Rachael has been a dedicated member of The White Hut for many years and recently took on the role as Chair. She has helped turned it into a thriving hub for community activity. Her positive and kind demeanour with the community at her heart sets her apart. She always puts others before herself and regardless of any challenges she faces them head on displaying resilience and dedication to the well-being of others.
LLARCS – Achieving Environment
LLARCS should be commended for their dedication to the well-being of the community of Llantarnam. This group of volunteers help maintain and improve Oakfield Flower Gardens by tending to the plants and trees, regularly litter picking and hosting numerous free family events always promoting ways the importance of caring for the local environment.
Brenda Flewelling – Volunteering
Brenda gives up so much of her own free time running two groups in Cwmbran for lonely and isolated people, both groups have been a huge success offering a mixture of games and crafts to up to 40 people per session. Brenda engages with everyone who attends and goes out of her way to ensure everyone has a great time.
Diane Brain – Caring
Diane wants to help the community by providing meals through the week and has developed a group on a Thursday where the community can have a light lunch and play board games. Diane is always willing to go the extra mile, she always has time for everyone who walks through the door of United Reformed Church.
Congress Youth Theatre – Achieving The Arts
This non-profit youth drama group has been helping to nurture the talent of children in Torfaen for 30 years this year. They provide a fun and professional environment and make a huge impact on the kids that attend offering them a chance perform in many sold out performances each year.
Doris Cheadle – Sharing
For many years she has made jams and marmalades and baked for people in her local Community, every Christmas she has huge orders for mince pies and has recently been awarded a 5-star food Hygiene rating from TCBC. Every Wednesday her jams and marmalades can be found at Co Star and Doris kindly donates all profits made to animal charities.
Reverend Canon Harald Thomas MBE – Special Award
Unfortunately, Rev Thomas couldn’t attend the event but his award was accepted on his behalf by John Cunningham.
His services to this town go back decades, and include.
- 50+ years as a board member of the Congress Theatre
- Decades of service as a governor of Maendy Primary School
- One of the key organisers of Torfaen Jazz festival
- Decades of unpaid ministry as reverend of Holy Trinity Church of Pontnewydd
- Multiple terms as chaplain for the Mayor of Torfaen at Torfaen Council after the position of the Mayor was abolished.
As well as these services Harald has always been a great friend to Cwmbran Community Council, delivering many Armed Forces Day/Merchant Navy Day services, MCing our [Cwmbran Community Council’s) Primary & Senior Schools Choral festivals and even presiding over the Memorial service for Her Majesty the Queen. Thank you Harold for all that you have done for Cwmbran.
John Cunningham and Steve Brooks both received an Achieving Public Service award.