5 March 2008

Gwynedd’s success recognised at national awards

The work that is being undertaken by Gwynedd Council to deliver the best possible services for the county’s children and young people as well as encouraging youngsters to “Get on in Gwynedd” has been recognised at the 2008 Excellence Wales Welsh Local Government awards.

At a ceremony held in Cardiff over the weekend, Gwynedd Council was commended in the “Our Children and Young People” category for the way the Council has demonstrated a whole authority commitment to delivering services that protect children and young people in the community.

According to the judges, Gwynedd’s coherent and corporate approach, which has led to the establishment of a multi-agency partnership, aims to ensure that every child and young person has access to the best life chances. They also noted that the Council had taken full advantage of the opportunities created by the publication of the Children Act (2004) to establish robust procedures for the promotion of the welfare of children and young people.

Council Leader and Children and Gwynedd’s Young People’s Champion, Councillor Richard Parry Hughes said:

“As a Council we have worked hard to ensure that our children and young people have the best possible start in life. I am delighted that the hard work and dedication of our Children and Young People’s Team has been recognised on a national level.

“Over the past two years, we have worked hard with our partners to put in place the necessary arrangements to promote the well-being of our children and young people. This award proves that we are delivering on our commitment to putting children and young people at the heart of everything that we do.”

Iwan Trefor Jones, Gwynedd Council’s Strategic Director – Development, who is the Lead Director for Children and Young People added:

“Gwynedd Council is committed to working in partnership with others to develop and provide the best possible services for the county’s children and young people. As a result, we have established the Gwynedd Strategic Partnership for Children and Young People in order to bring together a number of key agencies to work together for the wellbeing of our young people.

“The Excellence Wales award recognises this important work and is a further boost to our efforts as a Council and Strategic partnership.”

The work undertaken as part of the Llwyddo’n Lleol (Get on in Gwynedd) project was also recognised in the Excellence Wales “Our Economy” category. Since its inception in 2003, Llwyddo’n Lleol has supported almost 2,000 of Gwynedd’s children and young people through various aspects of the innovative project which supports young business ventures across the county.

“The Llwyddo’n Lleol project is key to our aim of giving our young people the support they need to be able to contribute positively to the social and economic life of their own communities.  It is good to see the outstanding work which has gone into the Llwyddo’n Lleol project over the past five years being recognised by Excellence Wales,” added Iwan Trefor Jones