Rhondda Cynon Taf’s Health, Social Care and Wellbeing (HSCWB) Partnership in conjunction with Health Challenge Wales held their third annual Health Challenge RCT Crystal Trophy Awards last week (28th January) which aim to recognise and reward the achievements of local groups and organisations who are working to improve health and wellbeing across Rhondda Cynon Taf.
The awards celebrate community projects and activities that contribute to the delivery of health improvement. Making positive developments in community health is the joint responsibility of individuals, communities, Cwm Taf local Health Board and Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, working together to achieve better health outcomes for citizens. As well as recognising projects which help towards improved health, the awards also recognise the sustainable process for involving and engaging communities such as volunteering.
Nicola John, Director of Public Health, Cwm Taf Local Health Board who presented the winners with their awards, said: “This is the third annual award ceremony and every year the competition gets even tougher, this year the applications submitted were of an extremely high calibre posing an almost impossible judging task. Three projects reached the finals and attended on the day to make a short presentation on their projects. I would like to congratulate all the winners on their amazing contribution to health improvement in Rhondda Cynon Taf.”
The three winners were:
The Maerdy Association for Self Help (MASH) scooped the first prize of £1000 and the prestigious crystal trophy for their amazing contribution to the community. MASH is a self help group who focus on recovery from depression and which is an excellent example of community collaboration between agencies. Around 1 in 4 people will experience some degree of depression at some point in their lives and how disabling this is depends on the support they receive.
Beverly Smith, who is a service user and an ambassador of the group, spoke of how MASH has saved her life:
“Before I became involved in the group I found life quite difficult and was really struggling with every day tasks. The group has saved my life and helped me to tackle the things I was finding difficult, I am now able to live my life instead of watching it slip away. Thank you MASH!”
Chair of the group and service user, Barbara Montague, said: “MASH has really helped me to understand depression and learn how I can help my husband cope with the illness. The project has now helped lots of people across the County Borough and is being rolled out to other areas due to its success.
“This award is testament to the hard work and commitment of not only the team but the service users themselves and will now give us the confidence to continue the work that we are doing. It is really fantastic when other people recognise the work that we do.”
Daerwynno Outdoor Centre were awarded second prize (£500) for the work they carry out which enables people of all ages to have outdoor experiences in order to gain confidence, self esteem and mental and physical health and has a strong focus on volunteering.
The Bryncynon Walking Group were awarded third prize (£250) for their project which was created in response to local people expressing an enjoyment of walking but feeling they were unable to do so because of a number of barriers, such as being unfit, unwell or afraid of being attacked.
Councillor Mike Forey, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Services, said:
“We are privileged in Rhondda Cynon Taf to have such a high calibre of groups operating across the County Borough. These groups operate in addition to the services offered by the Council and our partners in Health and provide fantastic and as mentioned by one of the service users, a sometimes life saving service to residents. I would like to congratulate all of the winners and thank them for their hard work and contribution to improving health and wellbeing across Rhondda Cynon Taf.”
