Eleri Williams, 27, is a Development Worker at Displaced People in Action & Swansea City of Sanctuary from Swansea
To mark three decades of the IWA’s role in making Wales better, we decided to look forward to ‘the next thirty years’ by introducing some of the people who will be shaping ‘the Welsh agenda’ as the future unfolds. We have teamed up with PricewaterhouseCoopers and their #GreatWales campaign, which celebrates the ideas and people who contribute to the Wales of the future.
Eleri Williams, 27, is a Development Worker at Displaced People in Action & Swansea City of Sanctuary
from Swansea
After several false starts, I finally completed my second degree, an MSc in Development and Human Rights from Swansea University, graduating with a distinction and the highest mark of my year in January 2014. Following about eighteen months as the ‘eternal intern’, I was appointed as Displaced People in Action’s Swansea Development Worker in April 2015. In this role I work to develop a culture of welcome for asylum seekers and refugees who find themselves dispersed to Swansea as part of their asylum application. I support people seeking sanctuary to deliver awareness-raising training and workshops, in addition to working in partnership with a wide range of statutory and third-sector organisations to make their existing activities more inclusive and welcoming. In the future I would like to move to a role in policy work linked to human rights, and have recently become a trustee of Asylum Justice, a charity providing free legal services to asylum seekers and refugees in Wales. Outside of my full-time job I am the sole carer for my disabled father, following the very sudden and unexpected death of my mother in early 2016.
I believe wholeheartedly that the world can become a better, more inclusive place, and recognise the role that Wales and its residents have to play in this never-ending challenge. Whilst none of us can predict the future accurately, I am sure that I will continue to support, encourage and empower individuals in society who may not have the skills or confidence to realise their rights or their dreams, without additional support and encouragement.
Each day, throughout the month of June, we are celebrating the exceptional people on the Next 30 list by publishing a short pen portrait here on Click on Wales, as well as raising their profile on Twitter using #IWAnext30 and #GreatWales to highlight the exciting contributions these people are making to Wales’ future.
