Urdd social club founders rewarded for their work

ALED Rees from Porthrhyd and Rhinedd Williams from Llanddarog are the winners of the 2017 John and Ceridwen Hughes Uwchaled Award – an award given for significant contribution to the life of young people in Wales.

Rhinedd is a mother of three, originally from Pembrokeshire but now living in Llanddarog, and Aled is a father of four children and lives in Porthrhyd.

The two of them decided to establish the Urdd junior social club, Adran Neuadd Fach, in Cwm Gwendraeth 10 years ago. They felt that the children and young people in the area needed somewhere to socialise through the medium of Welsh, giving them everlasting memories. They run two clubs, one for primary-aged children and the other for secondary, every week, train the children for the Urdd Eisteddfod, organise holidays in the Urdd residential centres, hold community events such as concerts and have raised a lot of money for charities.

They were informed that they had won the award during the Myrddin East County Eisteddfod.

Rhinedd said: “Winning this award is a big privilege and I still haven’t recovered from the shock. We’ve seen other people winning the award and thought ‘That’s nice’ but never thought it could be us, and are very grateful. We don’t do the work because we want to be thanked, but when an award like this is offered it does mean a lot.”

Beca, who is 14 years old, is one of the Urdd members in the area. She said: “Rhinedd and Aled have been running the adran for 10 years now and have given us many experiences. We have a lot of fun in the adran and I have made new friends – it feels like an extended family.”

The award was presented by Dewi and Gerallt Hughes in memory of their parents, John and Ceridwen Hughes, who were very involved in youth work.