A CARMARTHENSHIRE charity run for and by people with learning disabilities has been honoured for its pioneering work by the Royal College of Nursing in Wales.

On Thursday night, Macmillan specialist care nurse Tracey Lloyd scooped the mental health and learning disabilities award at a glittering ceremony in Cardiff for a project run in conjunction with Carmarthenshire People First (CPF) which is transforming the way people with learning disabilities deal with health issues.

The Check 4 Change programme puts health education and awareness directly into the hands of people with learning disabilities, a group which has often been dismissed as incapable of understanding serious health issues such as cancer.

The project has seen Tracey and CPF members Wendy Thomason and Chris Lischka taking the message of individuals checking their own bodies for the tell-tale signs of the disease to groups and organisations around Wales.

Check 4 Change, which also deals with the emotional stress of being diagnosed or having family members diagnosed, has already had a massive impact in the field and was recently shortlisted for a Nursing Times award.

“When my name was announced as the winner I froze,” said Tracey.

“I only came round thanks to Wendy from CPF and her celebrations.

“It would have been impossible to create such a person-centred initiative without the commitment and focus from the experts of CPF and I would like to thank them unreservedly.

“It means a great deal to learning disability nurses everywhere that the profile is raised and recognised for the specialist profession it is.

“I would like to thank the RCN for acknowledging the importance of this work and adding to the validity of the project.

Tracey donated her £500 winning cheque to the charity, which supports people with learning difficulties from Ammanford, Llandeilo, Cross Hands and across the county.

However, despite its unrivalled success – CPF trains every new police recruit in Dyfed-Powys in learning disability awareness along with large numbers of student nurses and civil service staff – the charity finds itself under serious threat due to ongoing budget cuts.

The past year has seen it forced to shed numerous staff – including individuals with learning disabilities – as funding contracts and grant schemes have dried up.

CPF office manager Sarah Phillips was delighted with the latest award but admitted the charity faced an uncertain future.

“On behalf of all of CPF I would like to offer huge congratulations to Tracey and our members involved in the Check 4 Change project,” she said.

“The project has had a real impact and has transformed people’s lives and given them an understanding of the issues which impact on their lives, but are all too often denied them.

“People with learning disabilities are often dismissed as being unable to understand, but nothing could be further from the truth.

“CPF hands back control of their lives to people with learning disabilities and the Check 4 Change project – and the recognition it has received – underlines the importance of our work.

“CPF is a charity funded through grants from the Welsh Assembly, Carmarthenshire County Council and other sources such as the Big Lottery fund.

“Unfortunately in this age of austerity our funding has all but disappeared and we are struggling to make ends meet.

“Unless we are able to find new funding streams very soon it is difficult to see how we can continue.”