Seventeen-year-old Merthyr litter picker honoured at St David Awards

A 17-year-old from Treharris has won the Young Person award at the St David Awards for his work in cleaning up his local community.

Daniel Lewis started a campaign to clean up fly-tipping hotspots within the Merthyr Borough during lockdown. 

Through fundraising and working with local businesses, he has successfully removed more than 25 tonnes of illicit waste on the Merthyr and Gelligaer Common.

He has also organised group events encouraging local residents and even supporters from as far afield as Wolverhampton to travel to Wales to assist him with his efforts.

Daniel, who is currently studying a horticulture apprenticeship with Merthyr county borough council, told ITV Wales: "I’m over the moon. I don’t really know how to describe it. It’s not something that happens every day. 

“I have always been interested in volunteering and the environment. I started when I was four or five years old. 

“It was slow at the start of the pandemic, but once I started documenting what I was doing on Facebook, local businesses started coming on board. It’s been brilliant, and I can’t thank the community enough. 

“It’s been lovely to see the community come together and make a difference."

Daniel has also successfully run a community skip scheme, providing free skips for local residents in villages in the lower Merthyr Borough and focused on preventing fly-tipping by installing overt solar-powered CCTV systems close to fly-tipping hotspots on the common.

Any evidence captured on the CCTV cameras are passed onto the local authority and police to pursue a prosecution.

The St David Awards, now in their ninth year, celebrate the achievements and contributions of people in or from Wales from all walks of life.

In this year’s awards, there were categories for bravery, business, community spirit, critical worker, culture, environment champion, innovation, science and technology, sport, young person and the first minister’s special award. 

Congratulating the winners, Mark Drakeford said: “It’s fantastic to be able to award this year’s St David Awards finalists in person once again. They are an inspiring group of people who deserve to be congratulated on their contribution to Welsh life.

“Many have courageously and selflessly served others, some are trailblazers in their fields, others have worked tirelessly to protect the environment, and we are lucky to have them all living and working in Wales.”

Receiving the first minister’s special award was Urdd Gobaith Cymru, celebrating its centenary year.

The Urdd provides sporting and cultural opportunities to young people in Wales and last autumn it opened up its residential centre in Cardiff to over 100 children and families as part of the Afghan resettlement scheme.

Mr Drakeford continued: “I’m particularly delighted to publicly commend Urdd Gobaith Cymru, in its centenary year, for working so hard to provide a warm and distinctly Welsh welcome for people fleeing trauma and humanitarian disaster. 

“The Urdd truly demonstrated the ‘Team Wales’ approach we’ve developed along with other partner organisations, in going beyond their normal role and providing a vital catalyst for our efforts to welcome individuals and families seeking sanctuary in Wales.

We are committed to being a Nation of Sanctuary, and the Urdd have been an inspiring example of what this looks like in practice.”