From this week, Carmarthenshire County Council is extending the range of support and advice available in rural communities across the county with the introduction of Hwb Bach y Wlad.

The new customer service model will make it easier for residents in more rural areas to access a range of services already delivered by the Council online, on the phone and in the county’s three customer service Hwbs in Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford.

The services provided by Hwb Bach y Wlad will include:

• Cost of living advice (helping residents to ‘claim what’s yours’)

• Waste and recycling advice

• Consumer and business affairs (scam awareness, trading standards, licensing and animal health advice)

• Working in Carmarthenshire (job vacancies, career change advice and training support)

• Housing first tenancy advice and housing issues.

As the cost of living puts additional pressure on many households and individuals, Carmarthenshire County Council have continued to expand upon the support available to residents in customer service Hwbs.

Hwb Bach y Wlad extends this support even further and provides help and advice for everyone, with support tailored to support a range of individual circumstances.

As well as most areas covering Carmarthenshire, the Council’s Hwb Advisors will offer targeted support in local areas such as Laugharne, St Clears and Whitland, through a regular schedule as follows:

• Laugharne - Wednesday (fortnightly) in the Memorial Hall

• Whitland – Tuesday (fortnightly) in the Memorial Hall

• St Clears – Tuesday (fortnightly) in the leisure centre

Cllr Ann Davies, Cabinet Member for Rural Affairs said: “As a Council, we are committed to supporting all of our residents to get the help, support and advice that they need, particularly as we all face challenges as a result of the increased cost of living. We want to encourage everyone to seek support if they need it.

“Hwb Bach y Wlad will enable specialist Hwb Advisors to offer wrap around financial and wellbeing support to residents, with tailored packages of support depending on a person’s circumstances.

“Our Hwb Advisors will provide a range of services currently available in our Hwbs in Carmarthen, Llanelli and Ammanford.

“Once established, we will look to work with partner organisations to expand upon the support provided in these areas.”

Hwb Bach y Wlad forms part of Carmarthenshire county Council’s Tackling Poverty Advisory Panel’s priorities to prevent poverty, improve the lives of people living in poverty and helping people into work.

Hwb Bach y Wlad is funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) which forms part of UK Government’s Levelling Up agenda.