New Community Support Centre Opens in Port Talbot to Aid Tata Steel Workers

A new community support centre has been opened in Port Talbot with the aim of helping those who have been affected by job losses at the town’s Tata Steel site.
The facility, located in the Aberafan Shopping Centre, was opened on October 9 and comes just weeks after the closure of the site’s blast furnaces which has left almost 3,000 employees facing redundancy.
The new centre is being opened by the Community Union with funding from the Welsh Government and will help provide support and advice to both Tata and supply chain workers as well as their families and other affected businesses.
Their work will include helping people to find new jobs and opportunities to learn new skills in areas where there are vacancies as well as directing them towards help that’s available from the Employment Support Fund which is backed by the UK Government’s release of £13.5m from the Tata Steel/ Port Talbot Transition Board.
The Port Talbot centre will now be open to the public from Monday to Friday with support available from a range of agencies such as Neath Port Talbot Employability, Careers Wales, UKSE, and Acorn.
While visiting the centre secretary of state for Wales and chair of the Tata Transition Board Jo Stevens said: “This innovative hub will act as a one-stop shop to help deliver the support to workers affected by the changes at Tata Steel.
“I am determined to do everything I can to support workers and businesses who are affected by the changes at Tata Steel. That’s why this renewed partnership of governments, unions, and the local council is working together to make sure the town gets what it needs.
“The funding from the UK Government, via the transition board, is already making a difference. We know there is still a huge amount of work to do but we are already seeing people successfully placed in new jobs as a direct result of the £13.5m that we made available.”
Neath Port Talbot council leader Steve Hunt added: “This is a welcome addition to the package of support which is being developed by the transition board to both employees of Tata and the companies in its supply chain.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By BBC LDRS ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​