Regional Cohesion Team pays tribute to volunteers during Volunteers' Week

Every year from June 1 to June 7, Volunteers’ Week is an opportunity to celebrate all the remarkable organisations and individuals that dedicate themselves to supporting others in their community. This year has presented many additional challenges for volunteers and one of the most immediate concerns has been making sure that vulnerable and isolated members of the community have access to food and essentials.

The selfless work of volunteers has benefited many people in our communities and the North East Wales Regional Cohesion Team wants to thank them for their fantastic efforts.

Gareth Hall, Regional Cohesion Officer, said: “We’d like to say a special thank you to everyone in North East Wales who has been working hard to arrange food parcels and home deliveries for those in need. This includes local businesses like Siop Y Fro in Clawddnewydd, Denbighshire and the Community Café in Rhos, and organisations like NWAMI (Networking for World Awareness of Multicultural Integration) and CLPW (Wrexham Portuguese Community) who have been providing vulnerable minorities with food and PPE.

GET THE LATEST COVID-19 INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC HEALTH WALES
- Info -

“One of our key duties on the Regional Cohesion Team has been facilitating small grants funding to enable more of this much needed volunteer support. The Wrexham African Community organisation were recent beneficiaries of this programme.

“There have also been lots of great volunteer initiatives to support our communities in other ways. In addition to food deliveries, the Rhos Community Café have also made their weekly meditation and mindfulness sessions available via Zoom; PISC (Polish Integration Support Centre) have been delivering training and educational support online for Polish families; and the Contact Club in Flintshire have been running fun activity sessions for young people with disabilities, including a spot of karaoke for anyone brave enough to sing!”

High Sheriff of Clwyd Award

On the theme of celebrating individuals who work hard to support the most vulnerable members of our community, we are also proud to recognise the achievement of Godwin Akinyele, a volunteer caseworker for British Red Cross Refugee Services.

Gareth added: “Godwin was recently given the High Sheriff of Clwyd Award for his tireless efforts in support of refugee families in Wales. In addition to his role at British Red Cross, Godwin also acts as an advisor to the Welsh Refugee Council, a volunteer with BAWSO (national Welsh BAME organisation), and an ambassador for the Voices Network. How he finds the time, we honestly don’t know – well done, Godwin!”