MP awarded national recognition for local community work
24th January 2008
Hywel Francis MP for Aberavon has supported New Sandfields Aberavon a Community Development Trust for the past 10 years and has regularly attended as a guest speaker at events and more lately in support of our proposals for a Landmark project for Community Enterprise Centre for the Aberavon Seafront. This project seeks to create over 40 jobs in the area over the next 3-5 years and we are seeking the collaboration of the Local Authority by seeking their permission to buy the land for the project in the seafront. This is being actively considered by the Local Authority at present.
When we celebrated one of training projects called UNIT 19 Carpentry receiving a National Institute for Adult continuing Education (NIACE) award for most innovative project in 2005 Hywel and his wife Mair having heard about it came along to Canary Wharf in London to support the group.
Hywel regularly endorses funding applications when appropriate and acts as a champion for Community Regeneration in our area.
When we opened our £1.8m project called Sustainable Initiative Developing Employment skills (STRIDES) aimed a disadvantaged groups and the economically inactive in the Neath Port Talbot area Hywel officially opened the second and final phase of the project.
Ian Isaac the Executive Director of New Sandfields Aberavon said,
" I highly commend the support given by our MP to the work we do in the Sandfields, Aberavon and Port Talbot area of his constituency. That is why Hywel has received an award from the Development Trust Association whose slogan is …'Transforming communities for good'"
