This year’s Winner, more than any other single person, has been responsible for kick-starting the Regeneration of Barry, through passionate support for the Town and through a Vision for the future.

The Winner’s insistence on quality developments will leave a lasting legacy for which the Town and its people can feel extremely proud.

The Town Hall & the Entrepreneurship Centre are just 2 out of the 70 plus examples where the Winner has had a direct input.

The Winner has always been a great advocate for Barry, ensuring that not only did Projects receive a great deal of local publicity, but in many instances obtaining publicity in UK wide publications.

When the next chapter in the history of Barry is written, the name of the Winner will be close behind David Davies, who built Barry Docks, in his contribution towards the creation of a new Barry.

The 2006 Ambassador of the Year is……Andrew Dakin.

 

This year’s Winners have been nominated for their work over the last 25 years. They have continuously strived to encourage the people of Barry and surrounding areas to keep their custom local by promoting events and entertainment, and involving all the Traders, local schools, and residents.

They have created a vibrant shopping area, which manages to keep shop premises occupied quickly on those occasions when they become vacant.

This year, after the Nominations had already been received, the Winners have shown how resilient a team they are by coping with the vandalized loss of equipment used to install the Christmas Lights – and coping admirably, as The Show Must Always Go On.

The Lights are all in place, the next festive event is ready, and of course everyone will be looking forward to the fantastic display put on by this year’s worthy Winners.

The 2006 Business Ambassadors are …..High Street Traders.

Presenting the Business Ambassador Award, on behalf of the sponsors Glamorgan Gem was Caroline Patuto.

 

 

 

 

This year’s Winners are a musical theatre company who offer high quality amateur theatre to the people of Barry and the Vale, and raise money for worthwhile causes, whilst nurturing local talent.

During the past 12 months, they have raised over Ј7,000 for local charities; they have entertained at Barry Hospital fete and Amelia Trust Farm events; they sang for elderly patients in Barry Hospital, and have just recently staged “Joseph” in this very Memorial Hall theatre.

Their growing reputation has received favourable recognition in the National Operatic and Dramatic Association magazine.

This organization contributes in a positive way to the cultural life of our local community and to the lives of talented individuals from Barry.

The organization has its roots in Porthkerry Road Methodist Church and Windsor Road United Reform Church, which is where it takes its’ name from.

The 2006 Cultural Ambassadors are………Pukka Productions.

This Award was presented by Pride In Barry President Gareth Howe.

 

 

This year’s Winner has been active in the community since 1985 to ensure community use of Barry Town Hall & Central Park.

Central Park is now restored and once again open to the public. Barry Town Hall and Kings Square are now fully restored with a wonderful state of the art Library which will open in the New Year, and the Town Hall building will act as catalyst to attract visitors and the local community back to Barry Town Centre.

The Winner has addressed many local groups encouraging people to become involved in supporting efforts to improve Barry’s prospects, and continues to lead the way in encouraging civic pride within the main areas of Barry.

As well as being an active supporter of Pride In Barry, this person also is secretary of Barry Citizens Action Group.

The 2006 Community Ambassador is………Dilys Colbourne.

This Award was presented by Graham Thelwell on behalf of sponsors Newydd Housing Association.

 

 

 

 

This year’s Winner has raised the profile of Barry worldwide. The Winner has been operating a website through his company, called barrywales.co.uk on a purely voluntary basis for a number of years.

This enables Barrians from all over the globe to keep in touch with their hometown.

Indeed, all the good luck messages received by Pride In Barry over the last few months for tonight’s Ambassador Awards have stemmed from this website.

It contains many seasonal pictures from all over the Town, as well as archive pictures from Barry’s rich heritage. All the pictures you will have seen within tonight’s presentation, and on the banners on display have come from this website.

The 2006 International Ambassador is……Steve Williams of Park I.T. Consultancy.

This Award was presented by Pride In Barry Chair Paul Haley.

 

 

 

This year’s Winner has recognised the importance of event-led tourism and established an annual event that continues to grow. It is now an important part of the Barry events calendar, and is a showpiece event that reunites Barry with its past heritage, through a Waterfront Festival.

Tall Ships, open to the public, now once again grace the dockside, and visitors are being attracted in large numbers to see a rejuvenated Waterfront, and listen to local bands, taste local foods, enjoy local attractions, within a pleasant regenerated environment.

The Winner has led the way with a great Barry event which will continue to grow, and has wetted the appetite for more events. This is a real team effort in organizational terms.

The 2006 Tourism Ambassador is…..the Vale of Glamorgan Council.

This Award was presented by Pride In Barry Deputy Chair & Treasurer Paul Goodwin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year’s Winner is no stranger to winning within their chosen field.

This person is an International athlete, who has made a huge impact in their sport. He competed in the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Still a teenager, he took part in the European Junior Championships where he won gold in 2003.

Specialising in the 1,500 metres freestyle, he competed in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, where he took the bronze medal in a time of 14:45.95 (a British and European record), the European Championships in 2004 and the World Championships in 2005 where he also took bronze.

He won the gold medal in the 1,500 metre freestyle and the bronze medal in the 400 metre freestyle for Wales at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. He was the first non-Australian to win the 1500m freestyle race in the Commonwealth Games since 1954! And to top it off, he was the first Welshman to win a swimming gold in 32 years.

He has now become a well known icon and is the new face of Speedo.

A search of the internet revealed numerous references to this person as ….”the well-known International Swimmer from Barry”.

The 2006 Youth Ambassador is……David Davies.

 

more to follow soon.....