FINALISTS TO GATHER IN AWARDS FIRST FOR WALES

FINALISTS TO GATHER IN AWARDS FIRST FOR WALES

The finalists of the first ever Jo Cox Cymru Awards presented by Eluned Morgan AM will gather in Cardiff Bay on Monday as the life of the former MP is marked in the National Assembly for Wales.

The Jo Cox Cymru Community Champions Awards 2018 have been set up as a way of expressing appreciation for community activism across three categories: Community Champion, Tackling Loneliness Champions and Women’s Champion.

Nominations were received from across Wales on behalf of individuals and organisations in celebration of those who go above and beyond to help others in an event.

Judges include former head of BBC Wales, Menna Richards, Global News Editor, Steve Francis and the Western Mail’s Catrin Pascoe who shortlisted and evaluated the entries ahead of the ceremony in the Senedd.

Eluned Morgan, AM for Mid & West Wales said: “Jo believed that we have more in common than that which divides us and this award was founded to highlight the fantastic work happening all over Wales on the issues Jo cared so deeply about.  I am really proud to have worked alongside her and I could think of no better way to celebrate her legacy or to share her message of unity and compassion that to pay tribute to the kind and selfless acts happening in Welsh communities every day.  

We have a great community spirit in Wales, with so many people volunteering and giving back to their communities in a whole variety of ways.  The Jo Cox Cymru Awards are about celebrating the huge contribution ordinary people make to improving the lives of others.  Jo felt passionately that even the greatest challenges could be overcome – I believe that the dedication, selflessness and hard work celebrated in today’s awards exemplify just that.”

Commenting on the awards, Heart Radio‘s Steve Francis said, “I was really pleased to have been asked by Eluned to take part in this initiative. The categories received many impressive entries detailing the incredible work being done throughout Wales. It was really difficult to narrow the nominations down, so those who have made it through to the event on Monday should be especially proud – they are certainly worthy winners and should be their achievements deserve to be celebrated.”

Menna Richards, Former Director of BBC Cymru added: “I’m delighted to be involved with the Jo Cox Community Champion Awards. It’s vitally important to recognise and celebrate the wonderful work being done by individuals and groups across Wales to support one another and to bring our communities together.”

The Awards received the backing of the Jo Cox Foundation, the charity established to support Jo’s friends, family and colleagues to continue her work and to highlight the issues she cared about.

A special message from Jo’s sister, Kim Leadbeater will be played at the event, offering her congratulations to the winners.

In it she says:

“I want to say a huge congratulation to the people who have won awards. Many unsung heroes in communities up and down the United Kingdom often work for hours and hours and hours without any credit or any acknowledgement and I think it’s important that from time-to-time we take some time out to say thank you to those people – it’s something Jo believed in, it’s something I feel strongly about too.

As we have just seen from the Great Get Together weekend, most people are good and want to come together to create strong and vibrant communities, where we all have a sense of belonging and identity – the Jo Cox Community Awards are a really good evidence of that, so thank you very much to everybody involved.”

The awards ceremony will take place during a lunchtime event in the Senedd