“We arrived in good time and were offered a choice of refreshments.  There was time to mingle and ‘network’ before we were seated at 12.30.

There were a couple of empty seats at our table, and two people asked if they could sit with us.  We were so surprised when we realized that they were from the Canal and River Trust, and were Mark Evans ( the son of John Evans who is helping us restore the buried lock in Clydach) and a colleague, Carolyn. We had a great chat about canal matters, and he would like to come and see us sometime.

We were also joined by the Whitethorn’s Day Care Centre worker, Paul and Kristian, one of the young lads who attends the Day Care Centre.  Everyone at Whitethorns do so much to help keep the Swansea Canal litter-free.

The first forty five minutes was taken up with plaques being presented to a large number of volunteer groups who work on ‘green spaces’ or parks.  All very impressive.  After an hour Kristian from Whitethorn’s was getting restless and both he and Paul had to leave.  Ironically just after they left we were called up to the front, had a photo taken, hands were shaken and very kind words were said about the work of the SCS. We were so sorry that Kristian and Paul could not be with us in the official photo (shown below).

As arranged by Andy Ellis who sumitted our application for the award, we were given a large flag which we can all take pride in for a job well done.

 

A light tea followed, with lovely fresh sandwiches and a selection of amazing cake.  We then enjoyed a scenic route back to Pontardawe following the coast on the old road father than belting down the M4.

A marvellous day, and much credit to all the volunteers of SCS and Whitethorns who have worked so hard.”

Thanks to Michelle for the excellent first hand account and to Michelle, Toby and Paul for the pictures.