News

Social worker wins national award

Published

7 years ago

March 28, 2019

A SOCIAL worker in Pembrokeshire has received a prestigious national accolade thanks to her inspirational leadership of a new family support Team.

Amy Slater, who is based at the Flying Start centre in Pennar, won the ‘Innovative Social Work’ category in the BASW Cymru Social Work Awards 2019, held last week.

The small team – set up less than 12 months ago – is ground-breaking in its work on early intervention, says Amy’s supervisor Trish Mellor, who nominated her for the award.

“Amy has been influential in moving this service area forward, being creative and innovative in her approach,” she said. “She has a very modest, yet sensitive and ethical approach to building purposeful relationships with families and other professionals.

“Her particular skills lie in her ability to be non-oppressive with parents and carers who are vulnerable and are also very often anxious and totally overwhelmed in their role as parents.”

A range of parents supported Amy’s nomination. One said: “The support we had has been a massive help. I have been put at ease with everything from my mental health after pregnancy to dealing with a previous landlord and getting a new home. Literally couldn’t have done it without Amy over the past year.”

Another parent said: “Flying Start have helped me to make a completely new start. I couldn’t have done it without Amy. I feel brilliant.”

Originally from Abergavenny, Amy qualified as a social worker 18 years ago and worked for many years in the voluntary sector in London, including with Action for Children, Barnado’s and organisations combating child sexual exploitation.

For the last five years she has worked in Pembrokeshire County Council’s social care service based in the county’s Flying Start centres.

Her team takes a holistic approach towards early intervention, working with families on anything from mental health support and relationship problems to ensuring they have access to community resources and tackling hardship issues.

Amy said she was glad the work of preventative services had been recognised.

“Some people think it’s a fairly straightforward area of social work but it can be quite challenging,” she said. “It’s all about helping families to build up resilience so that their child can reach their potential in their early years and participate fully when they go to school.

“It’s a crucial period for children and families. This is the time we should be investing in; it sets the scene for their whole lives.”

A social care colleague said: “It is an inspiration and a joy to work alongside Amy. She is professional at all times without losing her empathic approach with families.”

Amy’s health colleagues in other areas of the Flying Start programme were also generous in their praise. “Her preventative approach to working has been invaluable in supporting Health Visitors and Community Nursery Nurses to safely manage families on their caseloads who are not quite meeting the threshold for statutory social care,” said one.

Another colleague said: “The Health team would love to see an “Amy” available to every community team in the County.”

Amy said an important feature of the Family Support Team are that they are flexible, responsive and compassionate in their delivery.

“We’re quite a new team and have had a busy year of trying to get things done but it makes my job really enjoyable working alongside people who are committed and enthusiastic and believe in what they’re doing.”

Crime

Rosemarket motorist banned after drink-drive incident

Published

3 minutes ago

March 25, 2026

Sarah Jane Absalom

49-year-old found hiding beer can with breath reading over three times the legal limit

A ROSEMARKET motorist has been banned from driving after being found in charge of her vehicle while unfit through drink.

Haverfordwest magistrates heard that at around 10:00pm on Saturday (Mar 1), police were alerted by staff at the Johnston garage to a Toyota Aygo that had been driven away from the premises. Subsequent checks confirmed the vehicle was registered to Julie Askew, 49, of The Chantry, West Street, Rosemarket.

Officers travelled along an unclassified road towards Johnston, where they discovered the vehicle parked in a pull-in on Church Road.

“They also saw the defendant, Julie Askew, hiding a can of Bud beer between the seats,” said Crown Prosecutor Nia James.

A roadside breath test produced a reading of 114 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Askew pleaded guilty to being in charge of a vehicle while unfit through drink.

Representing her, Fenn Richards told the court that the defendant had pulled over to go for a walk with her partner.

“This has been a significant wake-up call for her, and she hasn’t consumed alcohol since,” she said.

“She has suffered significantly over the past five years as a result of a severely traumatic period in her life, which has led to a decline in her mental health. She has consumed alcohol as a coping mechanism.

“She’s greatly affected by what’s happened over the past five years and has lost a lot of confidence. She’s worked all her life but now, for the first time, finds herself on universal credit. She’s extremely ashamed to be in this situation today.”

Askew was fined £120 and ordered to pay £85 court costs and a £48 surcharge. Her licence was endorsed with ten penalty points.

Crime

Narberth motorist banned for drug-driving and no insurance

Published

4 minutes ago

March 25, 2026

Sarah Jane Absalom

21-year-old tested over cannabis limit after being stopped for not wearing seatbelt

A NARBERTH motorist has been disqualified from driving after being caught behind the wheel after consuming cannabis.

Ethan Williams, 21, was stopped by on-duty police officers while driving his Volkswagen Golf along Jesse Road, Narberth, just after 9:30am on Thursday, November 7.

“The officer’s attention was initially drawn by the fact that he wasn’t wearing a seat belt,” Crown Prosecutor Nia James told Haverfordwest magistrates this week.

Subsequent checks revealed that Williams’s vehicle was not covered by third party insurance, while a roadside drugs swipe tested positive. Further blood analysis showed he had 7 micrograms of Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol in his system. The legal limit is 2.

Williams, of Rhywoga, Clynderwen, pleaded guilty to drug-driving and using a vehicle without third party insurance.

He was represented by Fenn Richards, who told magistrates the defendant smoked cannabis “quite regularly” after losing both his mother and his grandfather.

“He used cannabis as a coping mechanism,” she said.

“But he’s now working on reducing his cannabis intake, to the point where he didn’t believe he’d be over the limit on the day of the offence.”

Williams was disqualified from driving for 12 months. He was fined £120 and ordered to pay £85 court costs and a £48 surcharge.

Crime

Haverfordwest man fined after missing drug assessment

Published

6 minutes ago

March 25, 2026

Sarah Jane Absalom

32-year-old said he believed appointment was voluntary after testing positive for cocaine

A HAVERFORDWEST man has been fined after failing to attend a mandatory drugs assessment following a positive test for cocaine.

Phillip Carroll, 32, of Gerald Road, Haverfordwest, had been required to attend the assessment after testing positive for the Class A drug at Haverfordwest police station on Friday (Oct 24, 2025).

“He didn’t realise this was a compulsory assessment, but believed it was voluntary,” his solicitor, Fenn Richards, told Haverfordwest magistrates this week.

Carroll pleaded guilty to the offence.

Magistrates fined him £80 and ordered him to pay a £32 surcharge. No prosecution costs were awarded, with the court stating the matter should have been dealt with at an earlier hearing.