Three nurses from Wales have won a national charity award for their work with burns patients in Bangladesh.
Dominique Potokar, Sarah Reavenall, and Danni Mehrez, all from the Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery at Swansea's Morriston Hospital were presented with the Cavell Nurses' Trust Special Achievement Award in London on 18 May.
Earlier this year Ms Potokar and Ms Reavenall flew to the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, to train burns nurses from all over the country. All three of the nurses volunteer during their spare time through Interburns, an international network for training, education and research in burns.
Ms Potokar said: 'After working for many years with Interburns, it is a privilege to win the Cavell Nurses' Trust Special Achievement Award. Our training is innovative in its writing and delivery, and it is written specifically for countries with limited resources. Our team is our strength and it is an honour to help nurses to improve burns care for their patients.'
Ms Reavenall added: 'I'm so pleased to win this award and delighted to be a member of Interburns. It's wonderful to have the opportunity to build global relationships that help raise the standard of burns awareness and care.'
The Special Achievement Award, presented by Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth champion athlete Sally Gunnell OBE DL, is one of 10 awards by the Cavell Nurses’ Trust.
Simon Knighton, Cavell Nurses’ Trust Chairman, said: 'Dominique, Sarah and Danni show us so clearly the remarkable impact nurses have on patients’ lives, whether suffering a terrible burn in Bangladesh or right here in the UK. It’s this impact that inspires Cavell Nurses’ Trust and our supporters, like Next, to be here for nurses with support and money when they face a crisis in their own lives.'
The Cavell Nurses’ Trust Awards celebrates the passion and commitment of nursing and midwifery students and qualified nurses and midwives throughout the UK. There are six student awards, offering the chance to win scholarship funding for placements in the UK and abroad. The four qualified nurse awards recognise achievement in school nursing, military nursing and midwifery.
The Cavell Nurse' Trust is a national charity that gives money and support to nurses, midwives, healthcare assistants and students experiencing financial or personal hardship, often because of illness, domestic abuse, disability, working poverty and older age.