GAVO Newport Volunteering Awards 2025
- Dan Coast
- Oct 27
- 5 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Newport Comes Together to Celebrate Local Heroes at the GAVO Volunteering Awards 2025
On 22nd October, Newport was buzzing with pride as the city came together to celebrate its incredible volunteers at the GAVO Newport Volunteering Awards 2025. Hosted by the Gwent Association of Voluntary Organisations (GAVO), the event was a heartfelt tribute to the people who give their time, energy, and compassion to make our communities stronger.
A Night of Inspiration
This year’s awards were a true reflection of Newport’s spirit. With a record number of nominations, the judging panel had the tough task of selecting finalists from a pool of passionate and dedicated individuals. From young changemakers to long-serving community champions, the stories shared were nothing short of inspiring, A video of the awards and speeches given to every shortlisted nominee can be viewed below.
Celebrating Every Corner of Community Life
Awards were presented across a wide range of categories, each highlighting a different aspect of volunteering, Click the arrow to see who was nominated and who won in each category (⭐ - Winner):
Trustee and Director
The Trustee and Director award recognises the often, unseen work of those individuals who make an enormous difference to all our charities and community and voluntary groups. Trustees and Directors make important decisions about how an organisation operates to ensure they comply with legislation and regulations and maintain their integrity.
Shortlisted Nominees:
⭐Jim Thompson - St. David's Hospice Care
Yasmin Jethwa- Age Alive
Food Sustainability
The Food Sustainability award celebrates those individuals who support environmental issues, such as reducing food waste, improving food sustainability and subsequently helping those people in need.
Shortlisted Nominees:
⭐Bettws Community Food Bank
Growing Space
Sport & Leisure
This award celebrates those who give their time to supporting and developing local sport and recreational projects in their communities. This could be football or rugby clubs, bowls, or tennis, even yoga or walking groups.
Shortlisted Nominees:
⭐Walid Kayumi - Capoeira Casnewydd CIC
SIFIL AFC
Community Advocate
The Community Advocate award recognises individuals who contribute to the community by helping people, and groups to find a place where they feel like they are part of something, respected by others and feel valued.
Shortlisted Nominees:
⭐Citizens Advice Witness Service
Zoey Newton - Karbautzki Scott - Friends of Rabbit Hill
Environmental
The environmental award celebrates those individuals or groups who encourage communities to become more sustainable, and they go the extra mile to protect our planet for future generations.
Shortlisted Nominees:
⭐Mike Jones - Free Bikes For Kids
Greening Maindee
Inspirational Young Person (14-25)
This Inspirational Young Person award recognises those young people who are making influential decisions about their communities and are role models amongst their peers. These individuals make a significant and positive impact on local communities by seeing things from a youthful perspective and know what they want their future communities to look like.
Shortlisted Nominees:
⭐Dennis Bader & Pixie Davies - No-Comply Skatepark
Sienna Smith - Newport Live
Family Champion
The Family Champion award acknowledges those who go the extra mile for our next generation. Supporting Parent and Toddler groups, social coffee mornings, children & young people’s groups and PTAs are just some of the ways these individuals help improve the lives of children, young people and families in our communities.
Shortlisted Nominees:
⭐Sue Mizon - Maindee Brownies & Maindee Primary School
Andi-Lee Jordan & Kim Hobbs-Field - And Breathe
Health & Wellbeing
This award celebrates those who help others to manage some of the challenges and personal struggles that life can present. With a caring and compassionate nature, these individuals or groups support people to improve their health and wellbeing needs.
Shortlisted Nominees:
⭐Heather Watkins - St David's Hospice Care
Ffrind I Mi
Inspirational Journey
The Inspirational Journey award is an incredibly special award for the individuals who standout from the rest and take their volunteering responsibilities to another level. This award would be given to individuals who the judging panel feel are a true inspiration to us all.
Shortlisted Nominees:
⭐Julia James - Gwent Wildlife Trust
Marion McIntosh – Citizens Advice Witness Service
Culture and Heritage
The Culture and Heritage Award recognises the work of those who ensure culture is central to our vibrant communities. These nominees go above and beyond to protect their culture and heritage for their present and future generations.
Shortlisted Nominees:
⭐ Active Lives
Gareth Morgan
High Sherrif of Gwent Award
Awarded to Kyla Micallef - Community House, Eton Road
Lord Lieutenant of Gwent Award
Awarded to Walid Kayumi - Capoeira Casnewydd CIC
Each nominee brought something unique to the table, and many were featured in a special YouTube playlist, allowing their stories to reach even more people. long after the event concluded.
More Than Just Awards
While the evening was about recognition, it was also a reminder of the power of community. GAVO made sure to thank everyone who was nominated—whether shortlisted or not—acknowledging that every act of kindness, no matter how small, plays a vital role in building a better Newport.
Whether it’s picking up groceries for a neighbour, running a local sports club, or leading environmental projects, volunteering takes many forms—and all are worth celebrating.
Looking Ahead
As we move into the colder months and face new challenges, the warmth and generosity of Newport’s volunteers continue to shine. GAVO remains committed to supporting these everyday heroes and looks forward to seeing even more incredible work in the year ahead.
If this has inspired you to volunteer in our city please head to the volunteering section of the website found here.
Nominations received this year
Thank you to everyone who nominated the following individuals for an award this year. Although they were not selected for this year's shortlist, we want to publicly acknowledge and thank them for their valuable contributions to supporting the community in Newport:
Nominations Received (Click the Arrow to reveal)
Billy Reynolds - St Joseph’s ABC
Nkechi Allen Dawson - Cynefin Pamoja
GAP Centre
Katie Salomon – Pride in the Port
Rhiannon Brown – Spectrum Homeless
Salvaged Creations Wales
Gine Hayath Hareed Deen - WEMWW
Caerleon Arts Festival
Jeff Grosvenor & Grenville Pow – Friends of Newport Transporter Bridge
People of the Place
Romani Dzivipen Newport
Darran Rice
Elizabeth Pead
Jayne’s Baby Bank
Newport Brick Buddies
James Morgan – Toy Box Project
Lauren Parsons – Feed Newport
Rachel Clark – Feed Newport
Alex Batty – Friends of Rabbit Hill
Alysha Martin & Family – Blue Cross
Lucy Harris – Re: Make Newport
Mike Lawrence – Newport Saints FC
Nyron Caddick – Blue Cross
Liam Howells – Newport Sea Scouts
Oli Broome & Dan Phillips – St David’s Hospice Care
Rufaida Tunteiya Abdul-Fatahi – Maindee Unlimited
Leland Mather
Luca Conibeer – Newport City FC
Mark Seymore – The GAP Centre
Craig Maver
Ian Lamsdale – Newport City Radio
Rhian Hutchings - Operasonic
Image Gallery from the event
