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Ely and Caerau Community Award Winners – Nick & Rhiannon

Community Award Winners - Nick and Rhiannon.

Nick Aiston - Sports Volunteer of the Year:
Recognises someone creating inclusive spaces and making a positive difference through sport.

Nick is pivotal to the success of Ely Rangers Football Club. He runs the entire Junior section which includes approximately 200 kids, helping coordinate all the weekly training sessions and administrative details, liaising with parents and the community, whilst also coaching his own u14 team, as well as one of the club’s senior teams.
 
Nick organises an annual football festival for kids aged 6-11 and ensures entry for kids across Cardiff. It helps foster community relations whilst ensuring the children finish the season in style whilst having fun. Most recently Nick has led Ely Rangers’ new ‘Club of Welcome’ initiative, supporting refugees into football in partnership with the Welsh Refugee Council. This has seen him provide coaching to the Ukrainian community, develop a pathway for Kurdish players to join the club, and lastly, organise a Refugee football tournament celebrating the end of Refugee Week.
 
Through Nick’s hard work the club welcomed teams representing Kurdistan, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iraq and Nigeria. This dedication led to the club and its refugee festival getting a mention in the Senedd thanks to newly elected MS Kiera Marshal of Caerdydd Penarth. It is fair to say, if it wasn’t for Nick’s dedication, commitment and passion, many kids from Ely wouldn’t be playing football, getting fit, developing social skills and building friendships. Nick is the foundation the club is built on and his work with refugees is the latest example of him going above and beyond for the club and a marginalised and misunderstood part of society. He truly is the best of us.
 

Rhiannon Spence - Environmental / Biodiversity / Green Award: Recognises work supporting conservation, biodiversity and green spaces.

Rhiannon’s passion for improving the environment of her local community has led to her setting up Friends of Mill Road Recreation Ground, working with the council and other local groups to improve the environment and reduce antisocial behaviour in the area.

Planting trees, wildflowers holding monthly sessions where neighbours, people and from the community can volunteer their time to help maintain the area. Rhiannon was also one of the original people who helped establish Caerau and Ely Litterpickers, she is very community driven and does such a fantastic job. I feel she deserves recognition for what she has achieved, trying to improve a small part of the community for everyone’s enjoyment.

She welcomes everyone with a warm smile. She cares about the unattended patch of land that is gathering litter and seems overlooked. She makes those phone calls and sends those emails to raise awareness and get support to get things sorted. All because she cares about her community.

With support from C3SC and WCVA.

Cardiff Third Sector Council logo
WCVA - Welsh Council for Voluntary Associations - logo

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