Wood-B

20/10/2026

Cofiwn Aberfan.

Tomorrow, we will join communities across Wales in observing a minute’s silence to remember the children and adults who lost their lives in the Aberfan disaster 60 years ago.

We will pause to reflect and remember all those affected by the tragedy at 9.15am.

15/10/2026

07/10/2026

The trainees have worked very hard this year, not only learning practical skills in B-Leaf and Wood-B but learning a lot of theory in the classroom. They have worked with partner organisations Bridgend College and Adult Learning Wales and gained accredited certification through Awen alongside B-Leaf and Wood-B staff.
They have achieved a wide range of certificates, and we are very proud of each and every one of them.

Thank you to Councillor John Spanswick, Leader of the Council and Huw Irranca-Davies MS for presenting these certificates.

Not pictured:

Martin Banks - Martin is kind, caring, and polite. He makes everyone smile, especially when he breaks into song! Martin likes to learn and is a brilliant member of the class, asking lots of questions to gain a good understanding. This year Martin has gained certificates in Oral Communications and Personal Protective Equipment.

Sam Evans - Sam is a character who loves a joke. He is very funny and quick witted and particularly likes to wind up the staff team! Sam enjoys learning and is the first in the classroom. This year he has completed many courses with Adult Learning Wales and Bridgend College including Essential skills for work and life and Number skills for darts.

Susan Simcock - Sue has graduated B-Leaf to become a volunteer kitchen assistant. To help her gain the role she worked hard on her customer service skills, achieving an Oral Communications certificate in b-Leaf. We are very proud of everything she has achieved this year - congratulations, Sue!

Tomos Cross - Tomos joined Wood-B this year and made a huge impact from the very first day. He works exceptionally hard and is a valued member of the team. He is polite and funny, with exceptional listening skills and an eye for detail. Tomos has gained certification in Personal Protective Equipment and Traffic Safety Awareness.

06/10/2026

Our values – creative, collaborative, empowering and fair – underpin everything we do at Awen. It was a pleasure to recognise the trainees who exemplify them every day. Congratulations!

Fair – Tomos Cross.

Tomos joined Wood-B this year, and he has embraced the opportunity to learn new skills. He has built and maintained strong relationships with the staff and his peers at Wood-B. Tomos always wants to work with everyone and continue his positive relationships. He is very respectful, a team player, and an important part of the collaboration at Wood-B.

Tomos was unable to attend the celebration evening, but the award was collected on his behalf. Thank you to Councillor Heidi Bennett, Mayor of Bridgend County Borough for presenting these awards.

06/10/2026

Learner of the Year sponsored by Coleg Penybont - Bridgend College was awarded to Kristoffer Rutter.

Kris has had a very busy year at Wood-B, he chose to attend the mathematics class held in Bryngarw Park through Bridgend college. Kris has excellent attendance and fully participates in all elements of the course, he has particularly enjoyed the number skills for darts module, where he was able to have lots of fun playing darts and learning skills such as doubling and tripling numbers which worked alongside his multiplication module. The skills that Kris has been learning in these classes have been transferable to his work in Wood-B, particularly when measuring multiple components.

Kris continues to enjoy the accredited courses available with Awen and Adult Learning Wales. He is very enthusiastic throughout and very willing to engage in practical sessions. Kris is very forward-thinking and once he has learnt a skill, he will apply it to everyday tasks, using his own initiative. We hope that Kris continues to be a lifelong learner; we are enormously proud of him!

Unfortunately, Kristoffer was unable to attend the celebration evening, but received his award at Wood-B.

06/10/2026

Wood-B trainee of the year sponsored by Valleys to Coast was awarded to Dean Wright. Presented by Awen Trustee, Robert Evans.

Dean is a big part of Wood-B and is a well-liked team member. He is always helpful and reliable. Dean enjoys working alongside his peers to make gates, benches, and pergolas; he likes to go out to different sites to erect them. Dean has recently been working hard trying to gain new skills in Wood-B; he follows instruction, and he always tries his best. Dean's favourite task is painting and is meticulous when he is painting the forever flowers!

Dean attends all educational courses that are offered to him, and he particularly enjoyed going to the mathematics classes held in B-Leaf. He is a valued member of all classes that he attends, and he is always actively involved in creating some fantastic ideas. Dean has continued to grow over the last year; despite any challenges he has encountered, he has shown a fantastic attitude and gone from strength to strength.

Congratulations, Dean!

06/10/2026

What a fantastic evening for the B-Leaf and Wood-B annual celebration evening on Thursday 🎉

A big thank you to everyone who attended and huge congratulations to all our trainees who received awards and certificates for their achievements over the past year.

Thank you to sponsors Castell Howell, Valleys to Coast and Coleg Penybont - Bridgend College, as well as the businesses who kindly donated raffle prizes, Bryngarw House, Nando's Bridgend, Florence Green, Tesco Bridgend & Scarlets.

11/09/2026

We are so proud of Sid, who works at Bryngarw Country Park cafe every Tuesday.

Pop in when you have the chance, you're guaranteed a very warm welcome and a great coffee from Sid!

18/08/2026

We are proud to have collaborated with Coleg Penybont - Bridgend College on ‘Project Malcolm’, an integrated health, wellbeing and sustainability initiative at the college.

A central element of this project was to create a vibrant outdoor teaching and dining space and our collaboration bridges local, sustainable craftsmanship with student-led education.

We were tasked with handcrafting a communal banqueting table, custom built to bring students, community members and local employers together.

We also made companion benches, built to fit the banqueting space and a pizza oven preparation table to accompany the wood-fired oven.

Here’s some behind the scenes snaps of the process of building the table and delivering it to the college 📸

06/08/2026

Restock of forever flowers in the B-Leaf shop, with special new additions of Daisies and Hedgehogs. Absolute bargain at £2.50 each and you've got it - they last forever!

B-Leaf are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm.