Town council to help people with loneliness
CARMARTHEN Town Council has been working closely with other organisations during the course of the past six months to try to help people experiencing loneliness.
The project was the idea of the Deputy Mayor of Carmarthen Cllr Miriam Moules, and she has been leading in the co-ordination of work between various agencies to improve the flow of information about the services that are available in the Carmarthen area.
Cllr Moules said: “We shouldn’t underestimate the problem of loneliness in our town, it is not something that just happens in larger cities. Very many people from all sorts of backgrounds really struggle with support, and during the past six months we have learnt a lot about the extent of those difficulties. I have been hugely impressed by the number and quality of organisations and people ‘out there’ who provide all sorts of support, but it is clear that one of the real challenges is actually finding out what is available for people to help them.”
One of the projects that has been completed has been the creation of an online directory of local services so that people can have easy online access to information about the services that they may require.
The directory, which has been produced by two students working with Carmarthen Town Council as part of their academic course at University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s, is the outcome of discussions during the past six months and is available at the Carmarthen Town Council website www. carmarthentowncouncil.gov.uk
Online meetings have taken place since September, and plans will now be put in place to hold events at Carmarthen Park and St Peter’s Civic Hall for people to be able to attend and to speak to people from the different agencies that are able to help them.
Cllr Moules added: ‘It is important now that we move this work on to the next level and continue to provide opportunities for people to obtain help and support more easily.
“We are therefore planning a number of events that will take place at Carmarthen Park and also at St Peter’s Civic Hall that will hopefully provide practical help for people.”
Among the partners involved in the project was NACRO, and its representative Debbie Smith said: “It’s been a pleasure and very informative to work collaboratively and to network with other agencies for the benefit of our service users.
“The Carmarthen town wellbeing directory is just one practical solution to come out of these recent meetings, with more exciting opportunities discussed during the last meeting.”