Two women from Gwynedd have been honoured for their contribution to the Welsh language.

Aberystwyth University has honoured Fiona Reynolds from Barmouth and Heledd Davies from Bala with Gwobrau Gwyl Dewi Aber Award.

The awards should have been announced in March but were postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The other winners were Sarah Whitehead, Dafydd Rhys and Rhian Williams.

All five were nominated by the university’s staff and students.

Each of the winners will receive a personal ‘Englyn’ from Eurig Salisbury, poet and lecturer in creative writing at the university’s Department of Welsh and Celtic Studies.

Originally from Barmouth, Fiona joined as senior catering supervisor at the arts centre in 2016 and began attending a Welsh in the workplace course with a view to improving her Welsh to be able to chat with family members, customers and visitors to the centre.

Heledd, who won the Welsh Medium Study award, is a student in the Department of Law and Criminology studying criminology and applied psychology.

Originally from Parc, Bala, Heledd decided to study through the medium of Welsh at Aberystwyth University because Welsh is her first language.

Rhian, the Welsh Language Champion, is originally from a bilingual home near Welshpool and has just completed a degree in geography. She decided to attend Aberystwyth to have the opportunity to live in a Welsh area and study in Welsh.

As well as winning a Coleg Cymraeg Incentive Scholarship, the various opportunities she has undertaken in Welsh have led to her being elected as an ambassador for the university, her department and the Royal Geographical Society.

The adjudicating panel also presented university staff members Kate Wright, Alice Farnworth, Scott Tompsett, Jaya Mukhopadhyay, Jackie Sayce, Joe Smith and Rachel Rees with a Certificate of Special Recognition for their commitment to the Welsh language.

Congratulating the winners, Dr Rhodri Llwyd Morgan, director of Welsh language and external engagement, said: “Congratulations to all those who have won and to those who have received special recognition for their efforts to promote the Welsh language.

“It is a real pleasure to recognise and celebrate everyone’s contribution, and we can all be inspired to make similar efforts to embrace the Welsh language.”