Celebrating Over 30 Years of Inclusion and Innovation: ELITE Supported Employment Finalists in St David’s Awards

Oh, what a night! Perhaps a night over 30 years in the making. ELITE Supported Employment is thrilled to announce that we are finalists in this year's St David’s Awards, Business Category. Andrea Wayman, CEO and Erika James, Group Administration Manager, visited the Senedd to take part in the award announcement.

The St David Awards are the national awards of Wales, nominated by the Welsh public, with three finalists in each category selected by an independent panel. As a third sector organisation, we’re honoured to receive this acknowledgement of ELITE’s mission of inclusion and the success of our social enterprises - ELITE Paper Solutions and ELITE Clothing Solutions. We are delighted to be Business finalists, alongside luminaries Bad Wolf, and the indefatigable Lucy Cohen.

First Minister Eluned said during the ceremony, “It’s a real privilege for me to name the finalists of the St David Awards for the first time. The awards bring together the best of Wales, with fantastic examples of the positive contribution people can make to other people’s lives.”
Honouring Inclusion
ELITE Supported Employment was founded in 1994 to provide person-centred, specialist support to young disabled people. Since then our mission has grown to include all disabled and disadvantaged people. We believe everyone can work, given the right support and empowerment, and we can prove it too!

Honouring Inclusion

We use the fidelity model of supported employment to empower hundreds of people each year to achieve their aspirations. We build confidence, raise expectations and provide holistic support to find quality job matches and sustained employment. We support a huge range of employers with their recruitment needs, including, Cwm Taff Morgannwg Health Board, DEWIS, Monmouthshire Building Society, The Entertainer, Ar Ben y Byd, Village & Valleys, and Sparkles Cleaning Services, to name but a few.

Our award-winning social enterprises are innovative and fully inclusive, offering a range of employment, training, and volunteering opportunities to people, aged 14 to 65+. ELITE Paper Solutions is now in its 10th year and continually innovating. We not only collect, shred , and store confidential materials, we repurpose carboard and plastic into new products. ELITE Clothing Solutions continues to work with Transport for Wales, and others, to produce top-quality garments that are made in Wales.

A Huge Thank You, to our Supporters.

Last night’s announcement is only the start of the celebrations. Everyone at ELITE is looking forward to the award ceremony on the 27th March. We are proud to stand with the outstanding nominees, all of whom are individuals and organisations who put Wales on the map as a strong, kind and diverse nation.

For those who nominated us, diolch am y enwebiad, rydym yn wirioneddol anrhydeddus. Thank you for the nomination, we are truly honoured.