Heledd Fychan Canol De Cymru - South Wales Central

On Tuesday 19 July, Heledd Member of the Senedd for South Wales Central and Luke Fletcher Member of the Senedd for South Wales West held a Cost-of-living event in Pontyclun. This built on an event organised by Heledd Fychan MS in Treforest in February, and brought together organisations from across the region of South Wales Central who are working to support people impacted by the cost-of-living crisis.

As we all know, increasing costs of food, fuel and energy are putting individuals and families under huge strain. The focus of the event was to get a clearer understanding of how the cost-of-living crisis was affecting local organisations and their service users. It also provided an opportunity for attendees to establish working relationships and to learn best practice from one another.

In attendance were representatives from Citizens Advice, Taff Ely and Pontypridd Foodbanks, Interlink, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, Llanharan Community Council, The Pantry Llanharan, People and Work Unit and Age Cymru – Hope advocacy. All agreed that there was a need for greater collaboration and sign-posting to each other’s services, given the scale of the crisis people living in our communities are facing.

Speaking following the event Heledd Fychan MS said:

“Each organisation is seeing how increasing costs are impacting more and more people, with greater support required to ensure people can afford the basics such as food, fuel and energy.

“In-work poverty is increasingly becoming an issue, and requires every tier of Government to work together to ensure more is done to help people. 

“The organisations that attended the events are all working hard to support people, and it was very useful to come together to discuss what needs to change and how we can all work closely together to provide support.

“This will be an on-going priority for my office, and I would urge anyone that is suffering to please seek advice and support.”

Residents of South Wales Central – which cover all of Rhondda Cynon Taf, the Vale of Glamorgan and Cardiff – can contact Heledd’s office directly for further support via [email protected] or 01443 853214.

Read the report from the event by clicking the image below.