A Swansea company working on a blood test for bowel cancer says winning Wales’ national award changed how people saw it, and there are four weeks left to put someone forward for the next one.
CanSense won the Innovation, Science and Technology prize at the St David Awards in 2023, for a test designed to help pick out people who may have bowel cancer.
Chief executive and co-founder Adam Bryant said the award “stands out for us, and I think it stands out for other people too”.
He said: “When you are recognised in that manner, people look at you and believe you are a company going in the right direction to help people, and specifically the people of Wales.”
The company was set up with Swansea University researchers Professor Dean Harris, Professor Peter Dunstan and Dr Cerys Jenkins. In 2023 it raised £1.5m to take the test towards clinical trials.
It hopes the test will reach people who put off getting checked. Mr Bryant said: “There are people in Wales not engaging with bowel health, specifically, so we believe we can get to those people by giving them alternative methods of testing, so they feel more comfortable to come forward.”
The night itself mattered to the whole team, he said. “Being nominated and being in that room with other nominees is amazing.”
Nominations for the 2027 St David Awards close on 4 December
Gwobr Dewi Sant, the St David Awards, is the highest civic honour the First Minister can give to a person, group or organisation in Wales.
Nominations for 2027 close at midnight on Friday 4 December, according to the Welsh Government.
Categories include bravery, business and innovation, community champion, children’s champion, culture, environment, public service, sport, volunteering and young person, and nominations can be made online or on a paper form.
The First Minister said previous winners’ stories were “a powerful reminder of the talent, dedication and community spirit we have here in Wales”.
He urged people to “think about the remarkable individuals and organisations around them and put forward a nomination”.
‘Much better’ than an OBE, says Gwynedd winner
In Gwynedd, the Penygroes community organisation Siop Griffiths won the Community Spirit award in 2022 for supporting local people through the pandemic.
Community hub manager Ben Gregory said much of the work was “a slog”, and that being nominated by someone who thought it mattered was “wonderful”.
He said: “The fact that they are Welsh awards, that it is not an OBE or MBE, it is much better to get a Gwobr Dewi Sant.”
Swansea had another name in the running the year CanSense won. Elysium Gallery, run by Jonathan Powell and Daniel Staveley, was among the 2023 culture finalists.
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