{"id":78575,"date":"2023-11-14T15:49:21","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T15:49:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?p=78575"},"modified":"2023-11-17T16:08:28","modified_gmt":"2023-11-17T16:08:28","slug":"man-who-ran-three-10k-races-for-the-welsh-refugee-council-nominated-for-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2023\/11\/14\/man-who-ran-three-10k-races-for-the-welsh-refugee-council-nominated-for-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Man who ran three 10K races for the Welsh Refugee Council nominated for award"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Volunteer co-ordinator praised for his work getting people into work<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A MAN who ran three 10k runs in three months for The Welsh Refugee Council has been nominated for the Volunteer Co-ordinator of the Year award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin Smidman, 65, a volunteer and partnerships manager, recently completed the Richard Burton 10K in Port Talbot \u2013 his third 10K in three months representing The Welsh Refugee Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now colleagues have nominated him for an award at the Cardiff Third Sector Council\u2019s Cardiff Volunteer Awards 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Welsh Refugee Council won Organisation of the Year at the Welsh Charity Awards 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The charity supports refugees and asylum seekers in Wales through schemes including its Wales Sanctuary Service, Move On Service, and Safe Play Spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through these schemes the council helps asylum seekers and refugees by teaching English, providing education and employment support, and creating safe places for children to play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin Smidman has been the volunteer manager for nearly five years. Before that he was a comprehensive school teacher for 33 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne thing I am proud of is that since I have doing this job around 22 of our volunteers have gone on to paid employment with the refugee council,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volunteers go through the same application process as everyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But with the help of the education and employment team they can very often perform successfully in interviews and get offered the job on merit,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeeing them initially volunteering, getting satisfaction from it, gives me satisfaction and particularly when they go onto paid roles which they would not have got if they had not volunteered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Welsh Refugee Council said: \u201cMartin is our much-loved volunteer manager and has been running 10ks for over 42 years.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n