Above and Beyond Awards

Providing a much needed outdoor youth club with their 'Under the Bridge' sessions which have been amazing with lots of different activities to try out and have fun. Meet new people and raise money for other charities

Preserving our martime heritage in Pembroke Dock. 

This group provide a safe environment for teenagers and children to express themselves with activities that is suited for them. It may skateboarding spray painting or even sumo wrestling to burn there energy and it’s all done with a sense of fun.

Supported many young people throughout the challenging times we’ve had recently and as a team, have always been there and ready to help.

They are on call 24/7 never say no to anyone needing their help, even though they are/have been going through tough times. Amazing lady who runs this charity, without her and her helpers many of the people needing help immediately would go without shelter and or food, she/they ensure the people who fall through the "gaps" get at least some help.

“BESPOKE has altered my life. I love it so much. I can’t imagine life without it now.”
“I discovered the Facebook group BESPOKE completely by accident but attending the session today with my partner (who is a full-time wheelchair user) we can see it will be something he will be coming to every week. He has thoroughly enjoyed it – also meeting people with various disabilities has made him not feel like the only one. Thank you so much."

They help anyone and everyone who are desperate for counselling for free without having to wait on a never ending list, no long referral to speak to a counsellor, when they have no one else to turn to regarding their mental health they can access counselling from this organisation. They sell coffee, teas and their own brand clothing to enable this to happen but always need donations to ensure people can access this much needed service .

This group is all volunteers and they are all amazing. Leaders who were used to delivering Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers in halls across the county were suddenly thrown so far out of their comfort zone but they rose to the challenge and smashed it. Zoom meetings were happening across the county. Leaders were helping those less confident on technology. Badges and craft packs were being delivered through letterboxes to very happy girls. Girls couldn't come to Guiding so we brought Guiding to them. When things started to open up, leaders did so many risk assessments to make it possible to have outdoor meetings etc. GirlGuiding Pembrokeshire have all worked so hard and they have all gone above and beyond.

Throughout the pandemic the group have gone above and beyond their usual duties of providing transport for those who have difficulties accessing transport for whatever reason. Throughout the pandemic many of our passengers stopped using the community buses for doing their shopping for obvious reasons. During the first major lock down the Green Dragon team called passengers to see how they were doing and to see if they needed anything. This was a lifeline to some as they had no family to organise such things as shopping, etc. most of the time it was just to have a natter which was lovely for both parties.

We hope you will consider this group in your awards - this sector is often forgotten about but we all love passionately what we do.

Thank you

When lockdown came all of these church activities came to a stop or did they? Thanks to the hard work of all the members and friends of the church led by Pastor David Gooding, the church was able to continue worshipping collectively in a variety of ways. Our Pastor Gooding led from the front and sent out weekly sermons by email which turned into videos. For people without IT, these sermons were often printed out by neighbours. Deacons meetings were moved online and so did youth club meetings. The church also managed to splice together videos so that we could still celebrate our anniversaries whilst we could not meet and we even had a virtual Christmas service.

They worked throughout lockdown quickly working to teach children and families remotely, they support the whole family not just the children who are referred and stay in contact with all children who have been through their services, they advocate about children suffering from bereavement in all walks of life for those children

They help support all people in the community with mental health and other issues. And help the homeless and families stay together. They have reopened a community centre for the people in Monkton and surrounding areas. They have a warehouse in Johnston that you can get almost anything and pay what you can . And they have recently opened a shop in Haverfordwest. These lovely people will go above and beyond to help anyone if they can they are amazing !!

Keeping the library service running throughout the pandemic by offering a Click and Collect service operated by volunteers.

The PATCHites are always great, helping thousands of people in poverty all over our beautiful County for over 12 years. Suddenly we were also all affected by the changes needed for these strange times as people found themselves in lockdown. Those already struggling to make ends meet we're suddenly flung into harder times. Many people lost their employment whether permanently or temporarily. People that had only contacted a food bank to donate, suddenly found themselves needing help from PATCH.

Catrescuewestwales.co.uk are a local charity rescueing cats and vet check and rehome through a network of volunteers in pembs and carms- the charity shop is run by volunteers in whitland - they come out day or night to save cats in the area .

From March 2021 our community group and campaign helped to galvanise our local community, and Pembrokeshire community divided by being in isolation in the final lockdown of 2021. Bringing everyone together with a common cause and passion to save the wonder of nature that is our "Lonely Tree on Saundersfoot beach.  This week our SSLT group learned that our tree has been declared The Woodland Trust's #TreeOfTheWeek. This means it could go on to stand a chance of becoming The Woodland Trust's Tree of the year!

This group of volunteers have been and are again welcoming cruise visitors to Fishguard, Goodwick and Pembrokeshire. Whether rain or shine, small or large ship you are guaranteed "the friendliest and best welcome ever", "no one welcomes you better than the Friendly Faces". Every ship is met by them with a warm welcome and a vast array of experience and knowledge of the area so they can give the passengers the best possible insight and opportunity during their visit to the County. We a love and passion to their county they excel at bringing positivity and friendliness to all encouraging many to a return visit to the area either independently or by ship. A unique and inspiring group of people.

They have managed to support their families all the way through the lockdown. They have had to go through losing all their funding from PCC so are now operating as a sole charity. They have made many changes to continue to support families getting through covid and have never given up their fight to support children with additional needs AND their families. They have just returned after the summer and are already moving forward in their recovery. They have 28 years of skills and expertise and make changes all the time to make sure the families get what they deserve.

Sian the community champion at Morrison’s Haverfordwest supports local projects including food banks and the local Pembrokeshire baby bank. She is such an active member of the community and fully supported by the rest of her store team.

They offer free inclusion sessions for youngsters and young adults who are physically and mentally disabled. The rapport they have with their classes is absolutely amazing and so heartwarming

Family raising funds for Wales Air Ambulance to help keep the helicopters flying saving lives. Has done Christmas & Easter raffle had lots donated from public to& small businesses for prizes they done 5 boot sales outside her home raised over £3000 and still raising funds

They have worked with lots of vulnerable people allowing them to interact with dogs. During Covid when they were unable to go and see people with their canine buddies they came up with the plan of using robot dogs to help those people . They ran a robot pet scheme where they gave people in need a robot pet. This made a huge difference to so many peoples lives and helped those that are vulnerable and isolating to have a buddy to interact with. Great ideas that allowed them to go above and beyond during a time when others would have given up.

Supporting parents of children with mental health problems. Providing brilliant support via weekly zoom meetings; approachable and understanding, they helped me more than I can explain...I don't know how we would have survived lockdown with out them. 

Stayed open through all lockdowns, looked after dogs of key workers at the daycare service, and continued to walk dogs for vulnerable people.

Over the pandemic and lockdown the Charity brought a new package of support to our community, looking after hundreds of vulnerable members in the community covering thousands of miles, being one of the only charity still taking referrals during lockdown seen our welfare engagements rise considerably with crisis teams and police relying on our unique package of support both physical and digital.

PPF has done well to help people with learnign disabilities have a voice and have the confidence to learn new skills and make friends. During the COVID pandemic, PPF set up lots of different groups online to make sure that nobody felt lonely and still managed to meet up with the people they enjoy meeting with. PPF have mor plans to come around the corner with new projects coming in every week.

The Bluetits Chill Swimmers was started by Sian Richardson in 2014. In 2020 it became a social enterprise, run by 4 volunteers, Sian, Sarah, Gail and Sam. Members have soared from an original handful to well over 1500 in Pembrokeshire and 15,000 UK and worldwide! And yes, it all started here in Pembrokeshire in St David's! The Bluetits Chill Swimmers have gone above and beyond to promote safe and inclusive sea swimming, encouraging everyone to enjoy our amazing coast, training local swim coaches to give sea swimming lessons, organising fully inclusive of any ability local swim and swim/run/walk events. Hundreds of local people have found a love for sea swimming the whole year around, meeting new friends through a great supportive social network and feeling the mental and physical health benefits of sea swimming and the Bluetit community.

Fantastic volunteer drivers always doing extra for passengers. Small but dedicated group of Voluntary Trustees and helpers. Charity helped other groups eg with food runs and getting RNLI staff home.

When the iconic community centre at the heart of Hubberston and Hakin was threatened with closure five years’ ago, a group of volunteers stepped up to the challenge of keeping open the much-loved  historic building in order to serve the residents of the area of high deprivation ( as defined by the Welsh Government.)  The volunteers registered a charity, the Hubberston and Hakin Charitable Incorporated Organisation  (CIO).

In these early days, one of the valued users, Little Acorns Playgroup recorded their appreciation of the facilities then available, saying the volunteers had provided a lifeline to the group by providing space for the children when there was no where else suitable.   

The trustees and helpers have worked together to go “above and beyond” just keeping the centre ticking over.  This would have been the easy option at the time.

As an example, of “above and beyond” the charity’s volunteers  were not content just to provide space for Little Acorns, but the trustees’ vision was to create the best possible facilities for the children and their families.

Pembrokeshire Care Share and Give are a recycling charity that uses the funds it genereates to support other charities in the County.