Faith in Families is proud to have been named a finalist for the Community Impact Award at the inaugural Businessin Wales Awards 2026.
Our CEO, Cherrie Bija, and Fundraising and Marketing Manager, Siâny Martin, attended the ceremony at Cardiff’s Parkgate Hotel, joining organisations from across Wales to celebrate business, leadership and impact. Businessin Wales described its first awards as a way to recognise organisations helping shape Wales and make a positive difference.
We did not bring the Community Impact Award home to Swansea, but we came home incredibly proud.
Because, for us, community impact has never really been about a trophy.
It is about people.
What does community impact really look like?
Sometimes impact is easy to count.
Through Inspiring Futures, learners across our Community Cwtches in Clase, Portmead and Bonymaen in one term have achieved 73 accredited certificates. People have progressed into employment, volunteering, further study and university.
But the numbers only tell part of the story.
Natalie Price Pettersson, 36, is now progressing to a Bachelor’s degree at Cardiff Metropolitan University after taking part in Inspiring Futures.
She told us she had finally managed to “stick to something and become qualified”, before adding that university was something she never thought she would be capable of.
That is what the Community Impact Award nomination represents to us.
Not simply a course completed, but someone beginning to see a future they had not believed was possible before.
Community means somewhere to belong
Our Community Cwtches are also about something much harder to measure: belonging.
Kelly came to Clase after moving into the area and knowing very few people. Following the loss of her husband, she described feeling lost and needing to find herself again.
Through the Cwtch and Inspiring Futures, she found opportunities to learn, meet people and build friendships. In her own words, without those opportunities she “would not have met” the people who have now become friends.
Another member of our community, Joanne, summed up her experience in just a few words:
“You helped give me confidence and a future.”
Those sentences matter to us just as much as statistics.
Our Community Cwtches exist to be places where people can arrive exactly as they are; somewhere to talk, learn, connect and know they do not have to face things alone.
Practical support can create breathing space
Community impact can also look incredibly ordinary.
A pack of nappies. Toiletries. Bedding. Clothing. Household essentials.
Through Multibank Cymru, practical support reaches people experiencing poverty or crisis with dignity.
Recent feedback from parents accessing free nappies found that 100% said the support helped their household and 100% said it made everyday life easier.
One parent explained that the money saved could instead go towards bills and food.
That is the difference an everyday item can make.
Through partnerships with businesses and organisations, we can turn resources into breathing space, helping people focus on what comes next rather than simply getting through today.
Helping children build brighter futures
Our Community Impact Award recognition belongs to children too.
Through Brighter Futures, children and young people receive one-to-one support around challenges including anxiety, trauma, low self-esteem and emotional wellbeing.
The aim is to help children understand their emotions, develop confidence and build healthier ways of managing difficult moments.
Alongside Community Cwtches, Inspiring Futures and Multibank Cymru, it forms one connected organisation.
Someone might first walk through our doors looking for practical help. Later, their child may need emotional support. They may begin learning themselves, volunteer, find work or simply discover a community they feel part of.
Support changes because lives change.
The Community Impact Award belongs to our community
Being shortlisted for the Community Impact Award gave us an opportunity to stop and look at what people across Faith in Families are achieving every day.
Our staff, volunteers, trustees, funders, partners, businesses and supporters all play a part.
Most importantly, so do the people who walk through our doors, try something new, ask for support, offer support to somebody else and keep moving forward.
We are enormously proud of that community.
Congratulations to FOR Cardiff on winning the category, and to everyone recognised at the inaugural Businessin Wales Awards.
For Faith in Families, though, the work continues exactly where it matters most: in our communities.
Because nobody should have to face life’s toughest moments alone.
Be part of what happens next
Whether you want to fundraise, volunteer, become a corporate partner, donate goods or support our work, there is a place for you at Faith in Families.
Together, we can create more safe spaces, more opportunities, more practical support and more moments where somebody knows they are not alone.
