The Welsh Charity Awards took place in October, David Cook, WCVA Health and Social Care Project Officer, looks into the winners and runners-up of the health and wellbeing award.
THE WELSH CHARITY AWARDS
The Welsh Charity Awards showcase the positive impact and outstanding contributions made by charities, community organisations, not-for-profits and volunteers across Wales. The event this year took place at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, where WCVA and the voluntary sector celebrated all the amazing finalists and announced the winners in each category.
As WCVA’s Health and Care Project, we wanted to take time out to celebrate the winner and runners-up in the health and wellbeing category, which salutes the outstanding work done by organisations across healthcare, social care, mental health and beyond.
2025 WINNER
The deserving winners of the award were Brynawel House of Rhondda Cynon Taf. Brynawel House is a specialist addiction recovery charity delivering comprehensive support to individuals and families affected by substance use. It is the only not-for-profit rehabilitation service in Wales for people with Alcohol Related Brain Damage (ARBD), of whom 75% can recover enough to live independently with proper support, significantly exceeding the national average of 38-48%.
Over the past year, the team has done outstanding work supporting 190 people through residential treatment, structured aftercare, and family support services, working with those who have complex needs including co-occurring mental health conditions and trauma histories. Residents report improved mental health, better physical wellbeing, enhanced self-esteem, and stronger family relationships.
2025 RUNNERS-UP
We’d also like to highlight the two amazing runners-up in the health and wellbeing category – Area 43 and the Baxter Project.
Area 43
Based in mid and west Wales, UK-wide youth mental health charity, Area 43 is a groundbreaking organisation that delivers exceptional results in empowering young people using a truly youth-led approach. Its pioneering work has been recognised in previous years, with the charity nominated last year for the organisation of the year award.
In addition to its extensive counselling services, Area 43’s youth cafe, Depot, operates as a vital community hub, where over half the population lives in deprivation. In 2024 alone, it welcomed more than 10,000 visits from over 3,000 young people, providing a free, judgement-free, safe space that operates six days a week.
The Baxter Project
The Baxter Project, as part of the Therapeutic Activities Group CIC, delivers outstanding frontline early intervention support to improve the emotional wellbeing of vulnerable children across Wales. They do this by using specially selected wellbeing dogs to break down barriers and build trust with young people who have experienced grief, exclusion, trauma, neurodivergence, and school refusal when other systems disengage.
Over the past year, the team has expanded its reach significantly, responding to a growing mental health crisis in young people with a trauma-informed, relationship-based approach that works. This translates into 9,000 hours of one-to-one wellbeing support in over 30 schools and organisations, from mainstream primaries to specialist settings.
THE AWARD
Johanna Davies, WCVA’s Head of Health and Social Care, said: ‘The health and wellbeing award is about recognising how voluntary organisations help people every day to achieve good wellbeing and healthy lives. There were so many excellent nominations that shortlisting to just three was exceptionally difficult.’
‘The work of organisations like Brynawel House, Area 43 and The Baxter Project goes on in the background of our health and social care system and their contributions often go unrecognised and are undervalued. The outcomes they achieve with people and the services they provide communities deserves recognition and should be in the foreground of our health and social care system.’
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Interested in learning more about this? For further information, please visit WCVA’s Health and Care Project.