An award ceremony was held at the Mansion House last week to recognise the work done by some of Cardiff's student and community volunteers.

This year the Environmental Champions group have completed 363 hours of volunteering on environmental and sustainability projects ranging from energy efficiency auditing, conservation work, collecting clothing for the YMCA at Cardiff Half Marathon and educating other students on their waste and recycling responsibilities.

All volunteers were presented with certificates by The Rt. Hon. The Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Cllr Bob Derbyshire and prizes from The Gate Arts Centre, The Woodville pub, Treetop Adventure Golf, Premiere Cinemas and NewLink Wales were awarded in the following categories:

Best Newcomer - Raja Shuran

Student Volunteer of the Year - Rachel Bright

Community Volunteer of the Year - Chris Ellis

Continued Excellence & Consistency - Sam Chung

Outstanding Achievement and Contribution Award - Gwen Thomas

The Rt. Hon. The Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Cllr Bob Derbyshire, said: "The environment is an issue I personally feel very strongly about, so it's heartening, on my first engagement as Lord Mayor, to get the opportunity to meet and thank these admirable young people who regularly give up their free time to benefit the community."

Student Liaison Officer, Emma Robson, said: "We've had 36 active volunteers working with us this year and all of them deserve a big thank you. Right now they're out knocking on doors as part of our Get it Out for Cardiff campaign encouraging students to dispose of their waste and recycling responsibly at the end of term, they've given out over 1000 recycling bags, food waste bags and food caddies and collected 116 bags of litter on community litter picks."

Community Volunteer of the Year, Chris Ellis, said: "I really enjoy volunteering. You learn so many different skills that you can use in employment, your communication skills, being able to talk to new people, your confidence builds as well, and you also learn a lot about Cardiff in general, so you see behind the scenes of how it all works and you can have a bit more of an understanding of what happens in your local community. I've always seen people volunteer in my local community back at home and I just wanted to give a little bit back as well."

For more information about Environmental Champions visit:www.cardiffdigs.co.uk