Green champions are recognised at ceremony
WHEN you put in over 360 hours of voluntary time, you probably deserve a bit of recognition.
And that is exactly what happened to Cardiff’s student and community volunteers at an awards ceremony at the Mansion House.
The Environmental Champions group got civic approval for dedicating 363 hours of their time to environmental and sustainability projects, ranging from energy efficiency auditing, conservation work, collecting clothing for the YMCA at Cardiff Half Marathon and educating other students on their waste and recycling responsibilities.
All of the volunteers were presented with certificates by Lord Mayor of Cardiff councillor Bob Derbyshire and prizes from The Gate Arts Centre, The Woodville pub, Treetop Adventure Golf, Premiere Cinemas and NewLink Wales.
And awards went to best newcomer Raja Shuran, student volunteer of the year Rachel Bright, community volunteer of the year Chris Ellis, continued excellence and consistency winner Sam Chung and outstanding achievement and contribution award winner Gwen Thomas.
For the Lord Mayor, it was just the start to his year in office that he wanted.
“The environment is an issue I personally feel very strongly about, so it’s heartening, on my first engagement as Lord Mayor, to get the opportunity to meet and thank these admirable young people who regularly give up their free time to benefit the community,” he said.
Student liaison officer Emma Robson, said: “We’ve had 36 active volunteers working with us this year and all of them deserve a big thank you. Right now they’re out knocking on doors as part of our Get it Out for Cardiff campaign, encouraging students to dispose of their waste and recycling responsibly at the end of term. They’ve given out over 1,000 recycling bags, food waste bags and food caddies and collected 116 bags of litter on community litter picks.”
Award winner Chris Ellis said: “I really enjoy volunteering. You learn so many different skills that you can use in employment, your communication skills, being able to talk to new people, your confidence builds as well, and you also learn a lot about Cardiff in general, so you see behind the scenes of how it all works and you can have a bit more of an understanding of what happens in your local community.
“I’ve always seen people volunteer in my local community back at home and I just wanted to give a little bit back as well.”
For more information about Environmental Champions visit: www.cardiffdigs.co.uk