Cylch Yn Yr Ysgol Welsh Medium Pre-school is celebrating after success at the annual Mudiad Meithrin Awards.

The awards recognise outstanding contributions from staff and volunteers who contribute to the successful running of their local Cylch, and nominations are chosen from across the entirety of Wales.

Success came first for the Deputy Play Leader, Carys Price from Hundred House, who won the “Play Assistant of The Year” title, being selected from over 20 nominations from all areas of Wales.

Michelle Davies, one of the setting’s RIs and Deputy Head for Builth Wells primary school, where ‘Cylch yn yr Ysgol’ is located, said: “Carys is an invaluable member of the team and is dedicated to promoting the physical and mental well-being of all the children.

“Carys has initiated the Bach a Iach scheme [Small and Healthy scheme] within Cylch and her commitment and enthusiasm earned the setting a gold award last year.

“She also enrolled the setting in the Designed to Smile campaign, which encourages good oral hygiene habits, arranged talks to parents from a visiting nutritionist, runs healthy cooking and food tasting sessions with the children and encourages children to be active.

“Carys even ran the Cardiff 10k to raise monies! She is a very supportive assistant to our two play leaders, is loved by all the children and well-respected by their parents. She often gives above and beyond her role and her award was very well-deserved.”

Not only was Carys successful, but the setting itself was awarded second place in the best Welsh Medium setting within south west Wales. The setting runs two-and-a-half hour sessions, twice daily and is seeing an ever-increasing number of applications for places. The Play Leader for the morning sessions is Estelle Wilcocks and the afternoon sessions are led by Sonia Tighe.

Estelle Wilcocks said: “we were thrilled to be even nominated for the award, so being placed second was a huge honour.

“We have amazing children to work with and we receive valuable input and expertise from Builth Primary school and would like to convey our gratitude.

“Builth Wells is not a predominantly Welsh speaking area and we aim to give families a taster of Welsh medium education. All the staff work extremely hard, and it feels fantastic to be recognised for this.”