GILWERN resident, Martha Holman, has been awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours for services to international development and Fairtrade between Wales and Zimbabwe.

Martha, who moved to the UK from Zimbabwe in 2001, has spent the past 25 years building a remarkable bridge between Wales and rural Zimbabwe.

As the founder of Love Zimbabwe, she has helped to support hundreds of families at the Chinamora Community Centre in Domboshawa, providing education, healthcare, food production and sanitation improvements for some of Zimbabwe’s most vulnerable communities.

The award coincides with Love Zimbabwe announcing the launch of a major fundraising campaign for its most ambitious project to date: the Mutake Mountain Escape (MME). This ethical tourism destination will generate long-term income to sustain the charity’s community work for generations to come.

Born in Zimbabwe, Martha worked as a Geography teacher before moving to the UK, where she began selling fairly traded Zimbabwean arts and crafts to raise awareness and funds for those she had left behind.

Together with her husband, David Holman, she founded Love Zimbabwe in Abergavenny in 2010. The charity is now an established force in Welsh international development.

Martha is also a lecturer at Cardiff and Vale College, where she is an active member of the anti-racism action group and a regular speaker on Fairtrade, gender equality and climate change.

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(Pic supplied )

Martha said, “I am deeply honoured and humbled to receive this award. However, it belongs to every person who has donated, volunteered, or simply shared our story. Above all, it belongs to the community in Domboshawa, whose resilience and determination in the face of adversity continue to inspire us.”

Pauline McKenna, Chair of Trustees, said, “Martha’s MBE is a testament to what can be achieved through quiet dedication and a deep, unwavering commitment to community. The Mutake Mountain Escape represents the next chapter which is a sustainable vision that will help secure the future of this vital work in Zimbabwe.”