Council enter into regional funding project

Bridgend County Borough Council have joined surrounding councils in entering into a regional funding project.

The Connect Engage Listen Transform (CELT) project is funded through the UK Government’s Community Renewal Fund.

A total of 10 local authorities who form the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal are part of the project which was submitted to UK Government in June 2021.

The Bridgend County Borough Council element of the project has requested £274,817 from the UK Government fund to get people into employment, education and training, life skill support, job searching or engaging with the benefits system.

Key areas of focus for the local authority include working with and supporting clients who want to develop a new enterprise, engaging with health providers to increase employability referrals from clients who have health barriers and developing a new employability partnership model to be called the Bridgend Employability Network.

This is one very important strand of our work which is helping people into work who are not in work currently or are in jobs which are not appropriate.

Our focus in this project has set very ambitious but achievable targets to get as many people into employment as possible.

We have seen the difference that these projects and programmes can make not only to individuals but to their family’s life choices and situations. This can change the aspirations within families that give them the inspiration to get into work.

Councillor Dhanisha Patel, Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Future Generations