AN organisation helping to empower residents at the heart of a community in Newport were commended during third sector awards.

Duffryn Community Link has grown from a community-led group to a set of businesses with around 30 staff and an annual turnover of around half a million pounds.

On Thursday [January 23], the group were runner-up in the “Most Admired Organisation” category at the Wales Council for Voluntary Action awards held in Cardiff.

The organisation promotes childcare in Duffryn and its Tredegar House allotments were finalists at the Keep Wales Tidy Awards this month.

Other successes include refurbishing an IT suite, providing work space for international companies and attracting tens of thousands of pounds of council investment.

Office manager Julie Wysome, 51, said: “It’s a very high accolade. We are really pleased to be have been nominated. We are really honoured.”