Urdd hailed and brave officers praised

THE Urdd has been awarded the First Minister’s Special Award at the St David Awards 2022 for everything it has achieved in a century of serving young people in Wales, sustaining Welsh as a living language, and in the most recent times exemplifying the Nation of Sanctuary approach to providing sanctuary, support and safety to people fleeing Afghanistan and Ukraine.

The St David Awards, now in their 9th year, celebrate the extraordinary achievements and contributions of people in or from Wales from all walks of life.

South Wales Police officers Pc Thomas Scourfield and Sergeant Geraint Jenkins who won the Bravery Award risked their lives to attempt to save the life of a 92-year-old man trapped in a burning building in Port Talbot.

Off-duty Pc Sourfield heard screams from inside the property and forced his way in to find an elderly woman trying to help an elderly man who was on fire in a yard near the burning shed. Sgt Jenkins also came to help. He tried to pull the man from the fire and attempted CPR until paramedics and air ambulance doctors arrived. Sadly the man died.

The Innovation, Science and Technology Award went to Luca Pagano, Graham Howe, Peter Charlton, John Hughes and Richard Morgan at University of Wales Trinity St David’s (UWTSD), Carmarthen campus. They developed a 3D printed jet respiratory support system to help the NHS during Covid-19, which could then be used in other countries in desperate need such as Nepal where high altitudes mean oxygen levels are already depleted.