“Service above self” – volunteer heroes awarded for their community work

A host of volunteer heroes have been awarded for their work in the community.

The volunteers were presented with certificates by members of Blackwood Rotary Club at their community service awards evening on Tuesday May 16.

In total, four organisations and two individuals were awarded at the event, which was held at Maes Manor Hotel in Blackwood.

Rhymney Valley Foodbank, Blackwood and District Food Bank and Newbridge Tabernacle Food Bank all received awards, as did homeless charity HCT.

Meanwhile, volunteers Janie Hughes and Wendy Thomas were also recognised for their commitment over the years.

Rotary club member Trevor Morgan said: “It’s about service above self.

“We’ve celebrated people in our community tonight and look forward to doing what we can in the future.”

Caerphilly County Borough’s mayor, Cllr Mike Adams, attended the event in what was his second official engagement since returning to the role this month.

Rhymney Valley Foodbank

Rhymney Valley Foodbank, which operates in Aberbargoed and the Upper Rhymney Valley, was the first organisation presented with their certificate on the night, with its manager Steve Jones and volunteer Jaci Prosser in attendance.

In the last year, the food bank has given out 38 tonnes of food, feeding more than 5,000 people.

Steve said: “Without volunteers, people would go hungry.

“Food banks are sadly a massive part fabric of life in the UK. There are more foodbanks than there are McDonald’s – it’s a sad indictment of society.”

Steve continued: “I want to thank Blackwood Rotary, who in the darkest depths of the pandemic came and saved the food bank with their donations.”

He also heaped praise on the council’s Caerphilly Cares team, who he thanked.

Blackwood and District Food Bank

Receiving the award on behalf of the food bank was its manager Jeremy Steele and trustee Susan Steele.

Jeremy praised the generosity of the community for their support over the 13 years the food bank has been operating.

Over the last year, it has fed more than 2,000 people.

Jeremy said: “We spent most of the pandemic driving around, with the community giving us food.

“Our end goal is to close and for everyone to be where they need to be. We’ve been fighting this for 13 years.”

Helping Caring Team (HCT)

HCT is a charity supporting the homeless and those affected by poverty.

It was set up in 2019 and provides help and advocacy to homeless and vulnerable people across Caerphilly County Borough, as well as Newport, Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent.

Accepting the award was the charity’s founder, Hayley Thomas, from Oakdale, who set up HCT after witnessing a rise in the number of homeless people in Newport over Christmas 2018.

Hayley said: “We don’t have a lot of funding but we have a lot of public support.”

She continued: “We deliver takeaways, hot meals, roast dinners, snacks and healthy food to around 100 people each week.

“During the pandemic, things went crazy. We helped get 30 homeless people inside.”

Hayley spoke of the “umbrella of need” out there, with her charity collecting baby food and pet food to give away to those in need.

“We’ll help anyone in need,” Hayley said, “We are known as the pink crazy ladies, but we don’t mind that.”

Newbridge Tabernacle Food Bank

Volunteers John Palmer and wife Marjorie Palmer accepted the award on behalf of Newbridge Tabernacle Food Bank, which operates out of Tabernacle Baptist Church.

John said the food bank has sent out more than 3,000 food parcels.

He said: “People are not always aware of the trouble other people are in. It’s important we think of other people and be generous.”

He thanked the food bank’s volunteers for their sacrifices and spoke of how problems have been exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis.

“The cost-of-living crisis has caused problems. We’re able to to lift some of the burden and help out.”

He also thanked Blackwood Rotary for their “vital work” helping the food bank.

Janie Hughes

In 1998, Janie Hughes, from Blackwood, became the secretary of Caerphilly’s Macmillan cancer support group.

Her voluntary involvement in the group sees Janie visit schools and community groups to talk about cancer, as well as raise money for the charity by organising fundraising meals, coffee mornings and table-top sales.

She also organises fundraising events for St Margaret’s Church in Blackwood, where she has volunteered for more than 30 years.

Janie said: “I have a bedroom upstairs in my home but no one could ever sleep up there because it’s so full of all the unwanted items that people deliver to me in preparation for yet another sale.”

Ten years ago, Janie was made a licensed eucharistic minister, meaning she has been able to go out and visit people in their own homes who are unable to come to church, but wanted to take communion.

As well as this, Janie has also volunteered with Rhymney Valley Foodbank over the last decade. She said “things have moved on tremendously” since she started at the food bank, with “more and more people in our valleys having to accept the help of food banks to be able to sustain their families.”

Wendy Thomas

Wendy Thomas was awarded at the ceremony for her long-serving voluntary work with the Blackwood Boys’ Brigade, which she started volunteering at in 1981.

The boys’ brigade is a national Christian organisation running a variety of activities for children and young people aged between five and 18.

The only time Wendy has taken a break from her voluntary work with the group was when she was recovering from a broken shoulder.

She has also volunteered as a Sunday school teacher at Blackwood Methodist Church in the past.