Celebrating Coleg y Cymoedd’s annual Learner Awards with ‘Welsh Wonder Woman’, Lowri Morgan

29 June 2023

Coleg y Cymoedd recently held its annual Learner Awards ceremony at its Nantgarw campus. The night was a celebration of the college’s inspirational learners and their exceptional efforts and achievements this academic year.

Principal, Jonathan Morgan, welcomed the guests and congratulated the nominees on being named amongst 10,000 learners. He spoke about the significance of the nominations having come from the tutors and staff who work most closely with the learners on a daily basis. He paid special tribute to those staff members, and the family and friends who supported the learners along the way, and to the generous sponsors who helped make the night possible.

The college was delighted to welcome back one of its alumni, Amy Williams. Amy, a former Performing Arts learner at the college’s Rhondda campus, is soon to graduate from Italia Conti, London, and has just been successfully signed to a prestigious talent agency. Amy ably compered the event – firstly introducing guest speaker, Welsh television presenter, adventurer and ultra-marathon runner, Lowri Morgan.

Lowri delivered a heart-felt and personal address which reflected on her own insecurities as a teenager, the life lessons she has learned and the wisdom she has gained since. Guests were visibly moved by her call to only make comparisons to oneself, and to understand that it’s actually ‘the ordinary people that do the most extraordinary things’. Her closing message was not to ‘fear failure, but to fear low aim.’

Amy introduced the winners with over 50 learners from across all faculties receiving their certificate and prize from guest speaker Lowri Morgan and the award’s sponsor. Categories included ‘Contribution to College Life’ and ‘Welsh Language’.

There was a break in the presentation of awards for the evening’s entertainment – a performance from Rhondda Campus’ Performing Arts learners featuring an ensemble from their end of year show musical, ‘SIX!’

The final awards, ‘Outstanding Achievement’ and ‘Overcoming Barriers’ were selected by the principal from the 50+ award winners.

The Overcoming Barriers Award is presented to the learner who has overcome barriers during their course, yet still achieved their qualification. This award was presented to Painting and Decorating learner Tyler Davis, studying at the Ystrad Mynach campus.

Luc Jones was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award in recognition of his achievements whilst studying at the college. Luc received full UMS marks in his AS Levels and has accepted an offer to read Computer Science at Cambridge University.

Bringing the evening to a close, the principal thanked everyone for attending the event and congratulated the learners on their achievements. He wished them every success for the future.

He also thanked Catering company Chartwells, along with the learner ambassadors and support staff who had worked to host a very enjoyable evening.

Congratulations to all Learner Award 2023 winners

A Level Award – BTEC Science Award                       Jacob Trick

A Level Award – AS Award                                        Seth Olner

A Level Award – A2 Award                                        Luc Jones

A Level Award – A2 Award                                        Lilia Simonov

A Level Award – A2 Award                                        Jakob Chukoury

Entrepreneurship Award                                           Finn Johnson-Denny

Childhood Studies Award                                         Summer Lavis

Childhood Studies Award                                         Jasmine Lucas

Health and Social Care Award                                  Talia John

Health and Social Care Award                                  Tiffany Bowditch

Health and Social Care Award                                  Skye-Leah Jones

Hospitality and Catering Award                               Mali Leese

Hospitality and Catering Award                               Abigail Williams

Hospitality and Catering Award                               Bethany Carter

Hairdressing and Beauty Award                               Sophie O’Connell

Hairdressing and Beauty Award                               Kristie Taylor

Hairdressing and Beauty Award (Barbering)         Jacob Richards

Creative Industries Award                                        Carla Jackles

Creative Industries Award                                        Simone Bevan

Creative Industries Award                                        Amber Verona

Creative Industries Award                                        Rayya Bocus

Foundation Learning Award                                     Aiden John

Foundation Learning Award                                     Efân Powell

Foundation Learning Award                                     Halen Cusack

Foundation Learning Award                                     Amy Young

Independent Living Skills Award                              Jack Pensom

Independent Living Skills Award                              Jesse Cousins

Independent Living Skills Award                              Jennifer Davies

Independent Living Skills Award                              Yasmin Thomas

Uniformed Protective Services Award                     Rhys  Herbert

Sport Award                                                             Jade Bevan

Sport Award                                                             Lili Griffiths

Construction Award                                                  Tyler Davis

Construction Award                                                  Ruben Duggan

Construction Award                                                  Conor Milton

Construction Award                                                  Thomas Meredith

Computing and IT Award                                         Jasper Hynes

Computing and IT Award                                         Victoria Mullins

Computing and IT Award                                         Omorinola Akintioye

Computing and IT Award                                         Luke Stone

Computing and IT Award                                         Samuel Deabreu

Engineering Award                                                   Dewi Middleton

Engineering Award                                                   Patrick Laffan

Engineering Award                                                   Talia Eddy

Engineering Award                                                   Ronan Pellow

Engineering Award                                                   Nicholas Singler

Apprenticeships Awards                                           Megan Christie

Skills Award                                                               Callum Davies

Skills Award                                                               Ashley Helyar

Skills Award                                                               Craig Mallen

Welsh Award                                                             Troy Daniel

Young Carers Award                                                 Ethan Tucker

Higher Education Award                                           Kian Stephens

Contribution to College Life Award Rhondda Campus       Thomas Coombs

Contribution to College Life Award Aberdare Campus      Ryan Allen

Contribution to College Life Award Nantgarw Campus     Rosie Adams

Contribution to College Life Award Ystrad Mynach Campus     Jessica Froom

Overcoming Barriers Award Tyler Davies

Outstanding Achievement Award Luc Jones

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