Penarth Times – St David Awards

Last week I had the privilege of attending the St David Awards Ceremony at the Senedd. The annual ceremony celebrates the extraordinary achievement of Welsh people from all walks of life. It acknowledges people who are making a real difference here in Wales and abroad. This year saw 24 nominees across eight categories, including bravery, sport, citizenship and culture.

I had the pleasure of sitting next to last year’s Bravery award winner, Peter Fuller and Professor Jen Wilson, who won the Culture award. This year’s bravery award was presented to firefighters Gary Slack and Billy Connor who braved strong currents to save two children from drowning. During my recent visit to Penarth Fire Station I discussed their sea training that they were undertaking in the Bay. It is a common misconception that all fire-fighters do is put out fires, they respond to all types of emergency.

The First Minister’s Special Award, which is chosen personally by the First Minister was given to Sir Karl Jenkins and Dr Mereid Hopwood for their work in composing the music and words for Cantata Memoria, a piece of choral work to commemorate the  50^th Anniversary of the Aberfan disaster.

This week I will be holding a Leaseholders Advice Surgery on Saturday, 1^st April, starting at 10am at the Pierhead, Cardiff Bay. Leasehold reform, right to manage and service charges are issues that feature heavily in my postbag from across my constituency. This will be an opportunity for leaseholders to put questions to a solicitor from the Leasehold Advisory Service specialising in these areas. If you would like to attend the surgery then please get in touch with my office by emailing [email protected] or by telephone 0300 200 7150.