A community enterprise has won a St David Award for Community Spirit.
Siop Griffiths in Penygroes was nominated for the Community Spirit award for working to create solutions to the challenges facing the people of the Nantlle Valley, and giving young people opportunities to stay, and thrive, in their community.
The St David Awards recognise the extraordinary achievements of people from across Wales. This year’s awards were given to people and companies in nine different categories, recognising Bravery, Community Spirit to Innovation, Science and Technology.
The First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, also presented a special award to the Urdd for everything it has achieved in a century of serving young people in Wales, sustaining Welsh as a living language, and, in most recent times, exemplifying the Nation of Sanctuary approach to providing sanctuary, support and safety to people fleeing Afghanistan and Ukraine.
Congratulating the winners, the First Minister said: “It’s fantastic to be able to award this year’s St David Awards finalists in person once again. They are an inspiring group of people who deserve to be congratulated on their contribution to Welsh life.
“Many have courageously and selflessly served others, some are trailblazers in their fields, others have worked tirelessly to protect the environment, and we are lucky to have them all living and working in Wales.
“I’m particularly delighted to publicly commend Urdd Gobaith Cymru, in its centenary year, for working so hard to provide a warm and distinctly Welsh welcome for people fleeing trauma and humanitarian disaster.
“The Urdd truly demonstrated the ‘Team Wales’ approach we’ve developed along with other partner organisations, in going beyond their normal role and providing a vital catalyst for our efforts to welcome individuals and families seeking sanctuary in Wales.
“We are committed to being a Nation of Sanctuary, and the Urdd have been an inspiring example of what this looks like in practice.”
Urdd Gobaith Cymru provides valuable sporting and cultural opportunities to Wales’ young people.
Last autumn the organisation opened up its residential centre in the shadow of the Welsh Parliament to well over 100 children and families as part of the Afghan resettlement scheme. The Urdd’s best practice is now being implemented again, through use of a residential centre to support up to 250 people arriving from Ukraine.