Exciting schemes launched to help the town centre
A SET of exciting new projects have been launched in Llanelli after receiving £177,550 of funding from the UK Government’s Community Renewal Fund.
The cash will help innovative schemes aimed at boosting town centre businesses and supporting grassroots projects across the town.
The projects have been developed through a partnership application by Ymlaen Llanelli Business Improvement District (Bid), Llanelli Town Council and the Transforming Tyisha team, supported by Carmarthenshire County Council.
The project list includes two town centre schemes launching this week.
Headed up by Ymlaen Llanelli, the first scheme will see a team of two ambassadors creating a welcoming atmosphere in the town centre for shoppers and visitors while supporting local businesses. Additionally, an electric cargo bike scheme will allow businesses to provide an eco-friendly delivery service to their customers free of charge.
The ambassador scheme, named AmbassadorElli, launched on Monday, while the cargo bike delivery scheme, named DeliverElli, will launch in the coming weeks.
Chair of Ymlaen Llanelli Lesley Richards says the Bid is raring to go with the projects: “Since Ymlaen Llanelli began in 2015 we’ve wanted to launch an ambassador scheme, so it’s really exciting that we’ve finally been able do this now thanks to the Community Renewal Fund.
“Our ambassadors will be a welcoming presence in the town centre, supporting our businesses and the public as a key part of their job.
“DeliverElli has been a more recent idea. When Covid hit, there was a huge demand for deliveries, and some small businesses simply can’t afford to offer this service or to meet that demand.
“With DeliverElli, we’re giving businesses the opportunity to offer a delivery option completely for free, with the added bonus of it being eco-friendly.”
Carmarthenshire County Council secured £2.94million from the UK Government’s Community Renewal Fund to support a range of projects to help people into employment, invest in local businesses and communities and boost the skills of local people.
Cllr Emlyn Dole, leader of Carmarthenshire Council, said: “Supporting Llanelli town centre to adapt and thrive again is one of the key elements of our recovery plan for the area.”
Leader of Llanelli Town Council Cllr John Jenkins said: “I welcome the development of this partnership project by Ymlaen Llanelli, Carmarthenshire County Council and Llanelli Town Council.
“The AmbassadorElli and the DeliverElli projects are two exciting and innovative schemes which I hope will help boost the town centre and help local traders. I’m particularly excited about the potential of the DeliverElli scheme which I hope will get a lot of town centre produce into the homes of local shoppers.”
AmbassadorElli will also be supporting the Ymlaen Llanelli team on event days, with Llanelli Superhero Day as the first on the slate for this year on Wednesday, February 23.
The UK Community Renewal Fund is a UK Government programme for 202122. This aims to support people and communities most in need across the UK to pilot programmes and new approaches to prepare for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
For more information, visit www.gov. uk/government/publications/uk-community-renewal-fundprospectus