Lidl Pontardawe

We manage youth clubs across Neath Port Talbot CBC providing young people age 11 - 18 with free access to a range of educational, social and recreational activities. The youth clubs are an open access provision that offers free entry and free food and refreshments to all the young people that attend. Young people are also able to take home any surplus food at the end of the session. We currently manage youth clubs based in Aberdulais, Blaengwynfi, Bryn, Bryncoch, Caewern, Cimla, Crynant, Cwmllynfell, Cymmer, Glynneath, Neath, Pontardawe, Sandfields, Seven Sisters, Taibach, Trebanos and Ystalyfera. We also support vulnerable groups including; young carers, young parents, a speech & Language group, a GSA Group and support for young people at risk of homelessness.

We are a project that house 12 young people aged 16-24 with complex needs who would be homeless if they were not living here. Our aims are to teach them to live independently whilst encouraging them into education or training. We support them 24 hours a day and involve them in activities that promote health and well being whilst encouraging them to make friends and learn new skills. We have recently had funding to build a workshop on the premises and we are presently making items from 100 percent recycled wood such as reindeers and snowmen. The proceeds of these go directly back to the young people and the money is used to help them with travel, clothes food, activities and anything they may require whilst living here at the project. We also have two training flats nearby that they can move into if they are ready to move on but may need additional support for a short while. our long term goals are to move them into more permanent accommodation and for each client this can be between 6 months and 2 years depending on their individual progress.

Llwynhendy Surplus Food Project is run by a local community group, The Llwynhendy and Pemberton Forum. We work with all members of our community from children through to the elderly. The Forum is run completely by volunteers from all walks of life, from disabled adults to local councillors. Llwynhendy is one of the most deprived areas of Wales and has over 600 social housing in the community. Many people rely on benefits and struggle to make ends meet. Often benefits get sanctioned and many families are left with no money to support or feed they're families. We work with the local police, local authority and family centre to help support the most vulnerable people in our community. We identify where the surplus food is needed in our community and distribute it accordingly. Aswell as distributing food to the needy we also run a free lunch club for children during the School Holidays. During term time a large number of children in our area receive free school meals. When the school holidays arrive the children do not have access to free school meals and the families benefits don't increase to help pay for the extra food. This proves a real problem for families and causes child food poverty. This is a real concern for our group and we do our utmost to provide nutritional meals and drinks during the holidays. Due to lack of funding we can only provide this service for 2 days a week during the holidays. With extra support and funding we hope to add extra days to our project. Our group also provides many volunteering opportunities and we often encourage the community to help out. We also arrange training by working with Communities First to deliver necessary training and skills. We have recently completed food hygiene, emergency food aid, defibrillator use, basic IT, Minibus course etc