Happy New Year! As 2026 begins, we look back and reflect on what an amazing past year we have had at Cartrefi. Read on to find out what we’ve been up to and some of our favourite moments from 2025.
2025 has been a busy and exciting year at Cartrefi. From hosting our first awards evening, to another successful Cartrefi Fest, supporting #TeamCartrefi as they took on the Cardiff Half Marathon, and launching a new safeguarding initiative for the people we support; there’s been so much to celebrate.
Read on for some of our highlights of the year…
Achieving Goals
Our mission is to empower the individuals we support to achieve their personal goals, and 2025 has been no exception to that.
Whether that’s running a race, taking part in athletics competitions, learning to cook, attending a concert, or raising money for charity, many of the people we support have accomplished something remarkable this past year.
Well done to all the people we support who achieved a personal goal this year.
The Community Garden
Throughout the year, our group in the Vale, led by support worker Karen Christie, have had great success in their community garden.
From planting seeds in the spring and tending to them throughout the seasons, our group have thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the gardening sessions, not only learning new skills, but also being able to spend more quality time outdoors as a community.
Speaking of the garden, Karen said “Gardening is one of those things that is for everybody, at whatever level, there’s something for everyone.”
The fruits of their labour have been worth all the hard work, with lots of fresh produce harvested and incorporated into delicious dishes for all to enjoy.
Our group in the Vale have made the community garden a great success!
Be Safe, Be Heard, Be You Workshops
In 2025, we launched our ‘Be Safe, Be Heard, Be You’ safeguarding workshops for the people we support.
These workshops aim to empower the individuals with learning disabilities to be able to advocate for themselves and speak up if something isn’t right. Skills like these are incredibly important and key to bringing about more independence for the people we support, helping them to live safely in their local communities.
The sessions have been delivered at Cartrefi services across Wales by our activity coordinators and so far, have been a great success, with participants earning certificates and gaining important knowledge and confidence to help keep themselves safe.
Read more about the safeguarding workshops here.
Our 'Be Safe, Be Heard, Be You' Workshop in action.
Cartrefi Fest 2025
Cartrefi Fest is an annual celebration of our community at Cartrefi, with events and activities taking place across Wales.
Our 2025 Cartrefi Fest took place in September and saw our activity coordinators pulling out all the stops to organise a week of fun for everyone to enjoy. We had such a wide range of activities across the regions, including sports days, Welsh food cookery classes, pamper days, arts and crafts, animal sessions, and of course plenty of parties!
Read more about what we got up to here.
There were so many different activities to enjoy at Cartrefi Fest!
The Cardiff Half Marathon
In October, 50 runners for #TeamCartrefi took on the Cardiff Half Marathon – our biggest team of runners yet!
Our runners included colleagues from Cartrefi as well as people outside of the organisation, all running with the goal of raising money to support people with learning disabilities and autism in Wales.
The total raised came to around £15,000, which will go straight back into communities across Wales, funding vital hubs and activities for the people we support.
Read more about #TeamCartrefi and the Cardiff Half Marathon here.
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Well done to all our #TeamCartrefi runners.
Our First Ever Cartrefi Awards
November was the month we hosted our first ever Cartrefi Awards evening at the Village Hotel in Cardiff.
Our Cartrefi community came together from across Wales to celebrate the #EverydayRemarkable and recognise the incredible achievements of the people we support and our colleagues.
We gave out 20 awards in total, 10 to the people we support and 10 to colleagues, with each award based on our organisational goals and values of wellbeing, honesty, respect, trust and kindness.
Find out who took home an award and read more about the evening here.
There was plenty to celebrate at the Cartrefi Awards evening.
Whilst these are just a few standout moments of the year, there have been countless more and we cannot thank enough the people who have helped make 2025 so brilliant.
We hope that 2026 will bring more of the same fun, excitement, innovation and community spirit we have seen over the past year and can’t wait to see what awaits.