CAVS Trustee Sandra Llewelyn receives the Platinum Champions Award
As well as sitting on CAVS Trustee board, Sandra is a Director of ReConnecting Carms CIC a board member of Carmarthenshire 50+ Forum and a trustee of CDCFA Carmarthenshire Disability Coalition for Action.
“I was very surprised to receive a letter from RVS telling me I had been awarded the Platinum Champions Award for ‘outstanding commitment to volunteering’.
It was especially gratifying to know that I was nominated by a service user who also volunteers their time to help others.
There are many benefits to volunteering, the impact can be very far reaching and touch the lives of people that you never see. Helping someone to slowly overcome their problems, build confidence, become more resilient and to engage more with life is the main reward for any volunteer. This is a huge high for me, especially when service users become service providers and volunteers themselves. It can be a long journey from anxiety, grief, trauma and domestic violence to feeling safe to express yourself to others, to open up and be comfortable. This can be achieved and every person can play a part in other’s journeys simply by being kind and non judgemental, accepting people for who they are.
This award, for me, recognises not just efforts but those of the community that has been built over the last three years. This community could not have happened without funding and support from other people and organisations. Nor would there be a community without the other volunteers and the service users who all support each other.
I hope that others can begin to see the value to themselves and to their communities of volunteering and helping others. Volunteering has a positive impact on mental health and well being for the volunteer as well as everyone that is touched by their work.
Thank you to all those that have supported me over the last 3 years, with especial thanks to Eleanor Shaw and Susan Smith, my journey would not have been possible without their support.”
