The Heads of the Valleys Regeneration Area welfare-to-work programme, JobMatch, has been awarded funding of £1million to ensure it can continue to help thousands of people in the Valleys back to work over the next year.
The funding, was announced by Deputy Minister for Housing and Regeneration Jocelyn Davies AM while she visited JobMatch’s office in Aberdare.
The Deputy Minister met Akinola Verissimo, Nikki Davies, Susan Pilkington and Jared Walters, who have all found employment through JobMatch’s Employment Routes programme at Rhondda Life, a community regeneration project that has also received funding from the Heads of the Valleys Regeneration Area to create a community facility and tourist attraction in Ferndale with the aim of creating local jobs for residents of the Rhondda Valley.
The JobMatch programme, which is backed by the European Social Fund and run by the Welsh Assembly Government in partnership with the Jobcentre plus and the five Local Authorities in the Heads of the Valleys Area, has helped over, 7500 people back to work since it was launched in 2003.
The Deputy Minister said:
“Over the last seven years JobMatch has proved that is delivering excellent value for money and bringing real benefits to the Heads of the Valleys Regeneration Area programme. As well as boosting the local economy and making a real difference to people’s lives by providing them with jobs and skills that will help them stay in employment in the long term.
“Regeneration is as much about investing in people as it is in bricks and mortar so I am delighted to announce this funding for JobMatch to enable it to carry on the excellent work it has been doing so far. It is an excellent example of what we can achieve by working together with local authorities and other organisations.”
