Key Points
- Welsh Charity Awards 2026 will be featuring an award known as Graham Benfield Outstanding Achievement Award.
- Mr Marco Gil-Cervantes from ProMo Cymru has been chosen as the first awardee.
- This award honours persons who have shown exemplary work and commitment towards the voluntary sector of Wales.
- This award has been introduced in the name of Graham Benfield, the Chief Executive of WCVA from 1989 to 2014.
- According to Dr Lindsay Cordery-Bruce, Chief Executive, WCVA, hundreds of nominations that came year after year demonstrated the necessity of having an award honouring such persons in Wales.
- Mr Gil-Cervantes has served in the voluntary sector for 30 years and built ProMo Cymru into a 50-strong social enterprise.
- In addition, he has established two help lines for young persons and has raised £1.2 million to save Ebbw Vale Institute, which is now visited by 6000 people every month.
- Winner has been chosen by an independent judging panel.
- These awards along with the other eight categories will be awarded in Principality Stadium, Cardiff, on Thursday 15 October, from 9pm till 11 pm.
- Jennifer Jones, BBC Wales Today presenter, will host the ceremony.
Wales (Wales Times) October 03, 2026 — Welsh Charity Awards 2026 organisers have announced a new award to recognise long-term service to Wales’ voluntary sector, with Marco Gil-Cervantes of ProMo Cymru named as its first recipient.
As reported by Nation Cymru staff, the Graham Benfield Outstanding Achievement Award will be presented for the first time at this year’s Welsh Charity Awards. It has been created to honour individuals whose contribution to the voluntary sector extends beyond a single project or moment and who have demonstrated lasting dedication, leadership and commitment to communities across Wales.
The inaugural award will go to Mr Gil-Cervantes, who has been recognised for 30 years of leadership and innovation in the voluntary sector. He is based at ProMo Cymru’s offices on Bute Street, uk/local/cardiff/">Cardiff.
Why has the new award been introduced?
The Welsh Charity Awards are organised by WCVA, the national membership body for charities, community groups, not-for-profits and volunteers in Wales. According to WCVA, the awards recognise and highlight the contribution these organisations and individuals make to people’s lives across the country.
WCVA said the new category was introduced after the organisation received hundreds of high-calibre nominations for the Welsh Charity Awards over the years. It said this demonstrated a need for a separate honour recognising years of exceptional contribution and service, rather than achievement within a single year.
As explained by WCVA Chief Executive Dr Lindsay Cordery-Bruce:
“Having received hundreds of high-calibre nominations for the Welsh Charity Awards over the years, we were coming to realise that we needed a new award that would recognise years of exceptional contribution and service.”
Dr Cordery-Bruce also linked the introduction of the award to the death of Graham Benfield last year. She said:
“Following Graham Benfield’s death last year, we all felt that the award should be in his name, and would hopefully serve as a fitting tribute to honour his legacy.”
Who was Graham Benfield?
Graham Benfield was Chief Executive of WCVA from 1989 to 2014. According to Nation Cymru, he led the organisation for 25 years and played a significant role in strengthening Wales’ voluntary sector.
WCVA said Mr Benfield championed collaboration, strengthened support structures and helped voluntary organisations grow in confidence and impact. It described him as an influential voice for people and communities in Wales, with an impact that extended nationally and beyond.
The new award is intended to reflect the values WCVA says Mr Benfield embodied: selflessness, integrity and an unwavering belief in the power of people to create positive change.
Who is Marco Gil-Cervantes?
Marco Gil-Cervantes is the founder and leader of ProMo Cymru, a social enterprise based in Cardiff. Nation Cymru reported that he has been recognised for his leadership in voluntary organisations over the past three decades.
During that period, he grew ProMo Cymru into a 50-strong social enterprise. He also established two helplines for young people and raised £1.2 million to save Ebbw Vale Institute, a building that is now visited by 6,000 people each month.
Mr Gil-Cervantes said he was “truly honoured” to receive the award, particularly as its first recipient and because it came from the voluntary sector. He described the recognition as being “beyond my expectations”.
However, he said the achievement belonged to the wider sector. He stated: “I really want to make clear that it is the voluntary sector itself that creates the magic. It’s the volunteers and staff who go the extra mile, each and every day, who enrich the lives of so many people.”
Mr Gil-Cervantes added that the sector had enriched his own life in ways he could not have imagined when he began working in it 30 years ago. He said he was “profoundly grateful” for what it had given him.
What does the award recognise?
The Graham Benfield Outstanding Achievement Award is designed to celebrate people whose contribution goes beyond one project or moment. According to the Welsh Charity Awards, it recognises individuals whose dedication, passion and leadership have made a meaningful and enduring difference to communities across Wales.
The winner is selected by an independent judging panel. The award forms part of the wider Welsh Charity Awards, which Nation Cymru describes as the only dedicated awards ceremony celebrating charities and voluntary organisations in Wales.
WCVA said the awards recognise the “imaginative, caring and often transformative work” carried out by organisations and volunteers across Wales.
Which categories are being awarded?
The Graham Benfield Outstanding Achievement Award will be presented alongside eight other categories at the Welsh Charity Awards 2026. The categories are Volunteer of the Year for those aged 26 or over, Young Volunteer of the Year for those aged 25 or under, Fundraiser of the Year, Champion of Diversity, Use of the Welsh Language, Most Influential Small Organisation, Health and Wellbeing, and Organisation of the Year.
The finalists for Volunteer of the Year are Annie Hutchings, Helen McCarthy and Mark Jones. The young volunteer finalists are Amélie Houghton, Annie Miles-Davies and Bowen Cole.
In the Fundraiser of the Year category, the finalists are Faith in Families, Media Academy Cymru Ltd and The CAE. The Champion of Diversity finalists are AP Cymru The Neurodiversity Charity, Cybervists CIC and Motion Control Dance.
The finalists for Use of the Welsh Language are Cwmni Theatr Arad Goch, Barnardo’s Cymru Virtual Family Space and Meddwl Ymlaen Gwynedd a Môn. Children’s Legal Centre Wales Ltd, Trefnu Cymunedol Cymru / Together Creating Communities and VIBE Youth CIC are shortlisted for Most Influential Small Organisation.
The Health and Wellbeing finalists are Eye to Eye Counselling Service, Single Parents Wellbeing and Tanio. The Organisation of the Year shortlist includes Awel Aman Tawe, Calan DVS, Cancer Research Wales, Domestic Abuse Safety Unit North Wales and Seren Ffestiniog Cyf.
When and where will the ceremony take place?
The Welsh Charity Awards 2026 ceremony will take place at Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Thursday 15 October, between 9pm and 11pm. The winners of the eight award categories will be announced live during the event.
BBC Wales Today presenter Jennifer Jones will host the ceremony. Nation Cymru reported that expected attendees include Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Minister for Social Justice and Equality Sioned Williams MS, Shavanah Taj MS, Anthony Slaughter MS, WCVA Chair Dr Neil Wooding CBE, WCVA Chief Executive Dr Lindsay Cordery-Bruce and WCVA Vice President Tom Jones.
Nominations for the 2026 awards opened on 15 April and closed at 11pm on 30 June. WCVA said entrants could make one nomination in each category, with nominated organisations required to be based in or working in Wales and nominated volunteers required to live in Wales or carry out their volunteering in Wales.
Background of the development
The Welsh Charity Awards were established to celebrate the work of charities, community groups, not-for-profit organisations and volunteers across Wales. WCVA describes them as a way to recognise the positive difference the voluntary sector makes to people’s lives.
The 2026 programme introduced the Graham Benfield Outstanding Achievement Award as a new category. WCVA said the honour was intended to create a lasting legacy in Mr Benfield’s name and to shine a light on people who, like him, devoted themselves to improving lives and strengthening the voluntary sector over the long term.
The award’s introduction also reflects the scale of nominations received by the Welsh Charity Awards in previous years. WCVA said the volume and quality of nominations had highlighted the need to recognise sustained contribution as well as recent achievement.
How can this development affect Wales’ voluntary sector?
For charities, community groups and volunteers in Wales, the new award may increase recognition of long-term leadership rather than focusing only on short-term projects or annual results. This could encourage organisations to highlight the sustained work of founders, senior staff, volunteers and community leaders whose impact develops over many years.
For smaller organisations, the wider awards programme may provide visibility with funders, decision-makers and the public. WCVA has previously said that being shortlisted can raise an organisation’s profile through media exposure and by demonstrating the quality of its work to funders and decision-makers.
For volunteers and voluntary-sector staff, the inaugural award to Mr Gil-Cervantes may reinforce the value placed on collaborative leadership and community-focused work. His own comments emphasised that volunteers and staff who “go the extra mile” are central to the sector’s impact, which may encourage greater recognition of frontline contribution across Wales.
