Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

A Llanelli man has transformed his life after being helped to get his first job in 14 years. Mark Simlett had been the sole carer for both his parents for many years, and after his father’s death continued to care for his mother. When his mother passed away in 2009, Mark was hit hard. He said: “For a long time I was very lost. Looking back, it was a scary place to be – I had to dig deep to get through each day.” Despite his best efforts to gain stability by finding employment, 54-year-old Mark had been out of work for so long he was unable to get any job interviews. As a result, he turned to Workways for support and thanks to them has now secured two cleaning jobs – one with CBSA for Business and Social Action and one with Five Roads Primary School. South West Workways, an EU-backed employment project, helped Mark through a confidence building course; training and CV assistance; support to search for job vacancies, and access to a paid temporary job which gave him the vital experie...

Thanks to the support of an EU backed employment project, 27-year-old Dafydd William Thomas, from Llanelli, has found a job with a local construction company. Having been out of work since May 2012, Dafydd’s struggle to find a job had landed a major blow to his confidence. It was thanks to a referral to the South West Workways project by Jobcentre Plus that things began to pick up. Dafydd said “I was unemployed for 12 months before signing up for Workways. I couldn’t find any jobs as I lacked qualifications and experience.” Workways helped Dafydd to search for job vacancies, to refine his CV and to complete site safety training. Due to his inexperience, the project also supported him to access a temporary job as a labourer with local company, TRJ Construction. Impressing over the course of his contract, TRJ were only too happy to offer Dafydd a permanent job. Len Gibbons, Site Manager, TRJ Construction said “Dafydd has learnt a lot since he’s been with the company. He’s doing a ...

A project to help people into work is celebrating a successful first year. The South West Wales Workways is a regional convergence project, led by Neath Port Talbot Council in collaboration with Carmarthenshire County Council, Pembrokeshire County Council and City and County of Swansea. The aim of the project is to assist the transition into sustainable employment by overcoming barriers to work, whilst exploring various supporting agencies, training and work opportunities. Executive board member for regeneration and leisure Cllr Clive Scourfield said: “Partnership working has resulted in almost two thirds of project leavers entering full time employment. “The Temporary Job Opportunities within the project has secured an additional 57 per cent of leavers securing sustainable employment from newly created jobs.” During the next year Workways will further address the challenges of economic inactivity by holding multi-agency job clubs in the communities, awareness sessions and linking more...