A Newtown lady has spoken of her pride after discovering she's in line for one of Wales' top honours when she heads down to Cardiff this week.

Jan Rogers MBE, from Newtown, is a finalist in the the St David Awards, which recognise the extraordinary achievements and contributions of people in, or from, Wales and from all walks of life.

Mrs Rogers is a volunteer and member representative on the Board of Trustees at the Ponthafren Association, a charity was set up in 1992 to provide a range of mental health support services in North Powys.

Having arrived at Ponthafren as a service user, she is now a trustee with the charity and her years of service to mental health issues led to her being nominated for, and receiving, an MBE in 2017.

Now Jan will head down to the Senedd on Thursday, March 21, and she says she's been 'humbled' by her nomination for the award.

"We had a letter saying I'd been nominated in the citizenship category. I had no idea who nominated me, but it turned out it was my husband and my daughter in law - I know my husband and he can't even send a text message so I knew he'd had some help!" she joked.

"There were a few different feelings when I found out I'd been nominated - To start with I felt very humbled by it, because there was an awful lot of people who do some very good work here who go unseen.

"I'd have been happy to have been one of the finalists, there's four finalists and about 130 or so nominated so it's just amazing really whatever happens."

Jan came to Ponthafren in 1992 suffered with a number of mental health issues, but she says despite her initial reluctance to go through the doors, the support she's received with the organisation has been a life-changing experience for her.

She now volunteers every week with the organisation, where she runs the garden project at the charity's Newtown building.

"For me, Ponthafren has been a ladder - from there I got involved with PAVO and became part of the expert reference group, and got involved with the DPP forums and things. So you start off here and you go here, here and here so it shows how far you can go.

"The one thing of the MBE and this is that's its proof of the pudding that people have heard what I've been saying.

"It can be quite empowering when you learn to accept it though. If you'd said to me in 1992 when I first came to Ponthafren that I'd be getting up and giving a talk to Dyfed Powys Police, Welsh Gov, speaking to Nick Clegg, David Cameron I'd have said 'I don't think so"'.

"So there's a positive side to everything if you can find it and if you're able to go and look for it."

Mrs Rogers says that whatever happens this week she's proud to have been nominated, and says the charity, which is on the lookout for volunteers and trustees, has a lot to give anyone who wants to get involved.

"Everyone that works and volunteers at Ponthafren has in common is that they're really passionate about it. We're always looking for new trustees and if someone was to ask me to 'sell' it to them I'd say 'you'd be surprised at what you get out of it', and you really are.

"If there was a quick fix for mental health issues none of us would be struggling with mental health. So sometimes it's not just fixing the issues it's knowing when to listen and knowing you don't always have to come back with a 'fix' or an answer.

"Being accepted as who you are is probably the only answer you're going to get - you learn to live with it and you learn to cope."