Our People - Evan Pritchard Contractors Wales

After having to run only virtual events due to covid he was looking forward to running real events in 2021. Bad start as the Wales marathon was cancelled again. Back to virtual stuff. Decided as a way of keeping him motivated to run the virtual route 66. Over 2000 miles but had two years to do it. It was a start. Then early in the year discovered a virtual 100km that he could run from home. Ten 6m Laps around the village was his plan and on the 28th February after setting off at 4.30 am completed it in a time of 13 hours and 44 minutes. Enjoyed it so he much fancied running a real ultra and hey ho he found one! Brecon to Cardiff on the 1st August. Back into training he went. On the 1st August on a glorious Sunday he completed a gruelling trail event. His first no virtual run in two years. How he missed the camaraderie! Eight hours and 53 mins to finish with a huge smile. Loved it. Well done Stephen!

These awards are said to be the highlight of the year for apprentice tradesmen in Wales. They showcase businesses and individuals who have excelled on the Welsh Government’s apprenticeship, and traineeship programmes during these unprecedented times.

18 year old Vincent will be a part of a group of 35 finalists, competing in 12 categories for awards. The winners will be announced at a virtual awards ceremony on Monday, April 29.

After failing to complete a previous course in Pembrokeshire College, Ross moved into a traineeship in brickwork, and said the hands on, practical work suited him better, and allowed him to learn from industry professionals.

Since then he has completed his level 1 traineeship in bricklaying, and gone on to secure an apprenticeship with Evan Pritchard Contractors in Haverfordwest, where his father, Carl, is a site manager.

Ross Vincent said:

“Through the employability sessions, I realised how important it is to get a job and work hard in life to get the things you want.

“I really wanted to succeed, after having made a mistake the year before and, with hard work and the right support from my tutors, I was able to do this.”

He also thanked Mark Slaney a mentor on site for teaching him all he knows, Mr. Slaney has been a brick layer for 40 years.

Tom Powell, employability lecturer at Pembrokeshire College, said the traineeships had matured Ross, giving him more confidence to work hard to achieve his goals.

Support Chris Frearson in his 100 mile challenge fundraiser for Bone Cancer Research Trust, his challenge ends on the 7th March. Every 10 minutes somewhere another child, teenager or adult is diagnosed with this brutal disease and they face a 5-year chance of survival at little over 50%. The Bone Cancer Research Trust fund ground-breaking research, life-saving awareness initiatives and provide dedicated and trustworthy information and support to patients and their loved ones. Good Luck Chris!

After the success of the ‘Everesting’ event Mathew Pritchard and the Bald Haven Dynamos decided to try to continue to raise funds for Ty Hafen Children’s Hospice and set a new target of £5000. On August 22nd Mathew, Andy Devs, Andrew Fisher and Julian Burt each undertook their own Ironman (or 1/2 Ironman) Distance Triathlon which total 600 km. They aimed to raise £1/km to reach the £5000 target – but smashed it and at last count they have raised a total of £9300 (without gift aid) for a charity close to their hearts. It is still possible to support this fantastic cause www.justgiving.com/fundraising/bald-haven-dynamos1.

Stephen has been running for years to keep fit but in 2014 his brother wanted to run the Brighton marathon for his fortieth birthday so Stephen decided to join him. After training hard and successfully completing it he got the bug and so in 2015 entered the Wales marathon in Tenby. He did the same in 2016 but also completed the 100 mile run along the Cotswold Way over four days. Trained for Wales marathon in 2017 but two weeks before race managed to dislocate his ankle so didn’t enter it. Entered Wales marathon 2018 and had the pleasure of running it with his son. His first marathon. In 2019 completed Wales Marathon again but later that year also ran the Narberth Nobbler trail marathon with his son. They enjoyed it that much they did the night nobbler later that year. 10km at night. Hilarious. 2020 decided to do some virtual running as well as the Wales marathon. 200 km a month and 1000miles in a year however due to corona virus the Wales marathon has been cancelled so during his time off in furlough he did 20.20 miles of hills for front line workers and ran a virtual marathon. Next month he intends to run a virtual marathon on the day he would have run Wales marathon as he has continued his training and obviously through the year will continue doing his 200 km a month and his 1000 miles in a year. Congratulations Stephen!

Mathew Pritchard and his team of Bald Haven Dynamos decided that in 2020 they would put their competing to good use to raise money for Ty Hafan, however once the Coronavirus took hold they were hit with a conundrum as race after race was cancelled and Ty Hafan needed the resources even more.

So these intrepid fundraisers made the decision not to let the virus put a stop to their plans for raising vital funds for Ty Hafan and Mathew Pritchard, Andy Devs and Andrew Fisher took on a virtual challenge on Saturday June 13th – Everest by bike! Everesting, named after the highest mountain on Earth, is a grueling challenge for cyclists. Over one ride they tackled 29,029 feet of elevation gain, 8848 m with Mathew completing the challenge in a very impressive 9 hours 45 min! Alongside this Greg Murdoch also completed a second mammoth everesting challenge – golf putting 8848 m! Congratulations to the team and all those that sponsored – over £3,500 was raised for Ty Hafan.