Press Releases

Sue James from Morriston was recently awarded a Certificate of Appreciation for her incredible support and dedication to the African and African Caribbean community.

Sue accepted the award along with Ezzo Alhaj and Emily Robertson, for their exceptional commitment to the African Youth Forum, and Mel Jehu, a retired Superintendent with South Wales Police for his outstanding generosity to the African and African Caribbean community.

It was a total surprise for Sue, who, at the time, was taking part in the centre's public event about the abolition of enslavement of African people in the UK - a commemorative event organised to pay tribute to the people who made this happen.  Speaking about the award, Sue said: "I was over the moon. I've been working with the African Community Centre for a number of years and I was extremely delighted when I was presented with this award."

Sue's been working with various community groups throughout the city for the past ten years. Before joining the National Waterfront Museum, she occupied a similar role with the City and County of Swansea and, working with the African Community Centre, created a programme of performances, workshops and exhibitions which highlighted Africa's people, landscape and culture and its similarities to Wales.

Now, a big part of Sue's role is to join up with community groups and individuals to develop initiatives and events that encourage social inclusion and awareness of how different cultures have contributed to Welsh life.  Examples of her work include the recent, and very successful, launch of Refugee Week in Wales and the award-winning Everywhere in Chains Project - a two year programme of music events, heritage, art, environmental workshops and exhibitions that focused on enslavement and current issues of exploitation.

"Community work is something I've always enjoyed and been interested in," said Sue.  "It's a very rewarding job and you get the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life. I could never do this job on my own as the people I work with always inspire me to try new things."

Speaking about the awards, founder and chair of the African Community Centre, Uzo Iwobi OBE said: "It was such a pleasure to present this Certificate of Appreciation to Sue for her outstanding and exemplary service to our community. Sue has always delivered a professional and inclusive service to all communities hence - the African Community Centre Board of Trustees and all the staff, unanimously agreed to present this certificate to Sue as a small token of our appreciation for her selfless and tireless commitment to promoting good race relations, better understanding of heritage issues and community cohesion.  We have found Sue James to be an outstanding worker in every way - she is certainly an asset and a true ambassador for the National Waterfront Museum."

Sue's next venture, along with the African Community Centre, is to set up a community Banners Making Project which will take place in early October. For more information, please contact the National Waterfront Museum on 01792 638950.

For further information, or to set up a photo opportunity, please contact Marie Szymonski, Marketing Communications Officer on 01792 638970.

Admission to Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales sites is free thanks to the support of the Welsh Assembly Government.

Amgueddfa Cymru operates seven national museums across Wales. These are National Museum Cardiff, St Fagans: National History Museum, the National Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon, Big Pit: National Coal Museum, Blaenafon, the National Wool Museum, Dre-fach Felindre, the National Slate Museum, Llanberis and the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.