THE Hwb Torfaen has been awarded almost £49,772 from Welsh Council for Voluntary Action to develop its youth volunteering programmes which will support 120 volunteers gain qualifications, life experiences and gain the investing in volunteers mark.

In March this year, The Hwb Torfaen was visited by the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in recognition of the huge impact the charity makes on young people through accessing their volunteering programmes.

Following the death of the Queen on Thursday the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are now the Prince and Princess of Wales.

The programmes empower young volunteers to have a voice in their own lives, their communities, and the care and world heritage sector.

The charity focuses on alternative approaches to education, resilience, mental health, and wellbeing supporting more than 600 young people each year.

With the youth mental health crisis and highest waiting lists for mental health services in years, organisations such as the Hwb Torfaen provide a lifeline for many young people when facing mental health crisis.

The Hwb Torfaen’s Young volunteers help run our youth provisions, provide essential peer support for other young people, work with their communities supporting older people, as well as protect our world heritage, and promote their local areas.

Ashleigh Taylor, director of development and programmes said: “We are so thrilled to have achieved this funding which will go directly to supporting our volunteers. Our volunteers are the lifeline of our organisation.

"We’ve had an exciting year with the royal visit, and this funding will help us develop our services to better meet the mental wellness needs of our young people after Covid, through what is a youth mental health crisis.”

The funding will help the organisation develop new volunteer systems, activities, and roles to ensure that all opportunities help young people to work towards their aspirations.

It will help establish a new peer mentor programme, as well as new mental health programmes.

The organisation will also be developing new adult volunteering roles to support young volunteers with an aim to improve positive intergenerational community relationships and provide young people with trusted adults who can support them.

If you would like to join the volunteer programmes, or become an adult helper, contact seren.gunningham@thehwb.org.