A local charity providing help for children with brothers or sisters with disabilities or additional needs has been voted the Valero Pembroke Refinery ‘Charity of the Year’ for 2018 in a site-wide ballot by members of the workforce. Pembrokeshire Sibling Group (PSG) will receive a special focus from the refinery’s community engagement, volunteering and fundraising activities throughout the year.

Set up in 1996 by a small group of professional people who realised there was little support for children in families affected by illness, disabilities or other needs, PSG’s dedicated team help young people aged from seven to 18 years with day trips, residential trips and workshops to give these children and their parents a much-needed respite service.

Lee Hind, chairman of PSG, said: “We were both surprised and thrilled to hear that we have been selected as the Charity of the Year by Valero’s workforce. This kind of support and exposure will help us to continue to deliver our service to as many siblings as possible. Thank you to everyone who voted for us!”

Stephen Thornton, Valero’s public affairs manager, said, “Members of the Valero workforce overwhelmingly chose to support PSG as our 2018 ‘Charity of the Year’ and to support their mission of putting the ‘childhood back into the child’. We are very keen to being our annual fundraising efforts for this great charity and we hope that PSG gains a lot out of this important partnership.”