STUDENTS at Coleg Gwent have been acknowledged for their commitment to working with the local community.

Thirteen Independent Living Skills (ILS) students at the Cross Keys Campus were presented with certificates to recognise their fundraising and charitable efforts by the Welsh Government’s deputy minister for skills, Jeff Cuthbert AM. The group, all aged between 16 and 25, has worked collectively over the past three years to raise more than £3,000 for various charities including Help for Heroes, the Welsh children’s cancer charity LATCH, Great Ormond Street Hospital and Sport Relief.

Other voluntary work has included helping to establish a fruit and vegetable co-operative through the Rural Regeneration Unit and more recently the students have been fundraising to create a memorial for the 1860 Black Vein Mining Disaster which killed 142 people.

Deputy minister for skills Jeff Cuthbert said: “These young people are an inspiration to us all.

Their hard work and dedication is making a real difference to the community. It is only right that their efforts receive acknowledgement and praise and I wish them every success in the future.”