Council promotes cost of living advice for its residents

CARMARTHENSHIRE Council is eager to make residents aware of the financial help and household support available to them.

In a statement the Council says:

“We know how difficult it is when you need support, but don’t know where to turn – we want you to know that we are here for you.

Carmarthenshire County Council has a dedicated team of advisers who are here to listen and help you apply for the support, services and money that you may be entitled to.

There are 2 ways of accessing this support.

Online – by visiting the council’s Claim What’s Yours Page where you can or access information on a wide range of support schemes  or arrange to speak with an adviser

Visit one of our HWB Centres – located at Carmarthen, Llanelli and Ammanford and speak with one of our friendly HWB Advisers.”

To access help from a HWB adviser or for more information about how to access support, benefits and services, visit the Claim What’s Yours page on Carmarthenshire County Council’s website.

Since April of this year, the HWB Advisers have had over 400 applications for advice and support from Carmarthenshire residents and have helped with applications for a range of council and third-party support schemes, including Blue Badges for disabled parking, Council Tax discounts, Personal Independence Payments and grants to help parents purchase school essentials, such as school uniforms.

In addition to providing support through its HWB Centres and Claim What’s Your Page, Carmarthenshire County Council will be meeting with local partners and stakeholders to discuss and share information, along with best practice, so we can work towards providing a truly multi-agency support package for vulnerable households in Carmarthenshire.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet lead Cllr. Linda Evans said

“Now, more than ever, it is important that people know what support and benefits are available to them as the increasing cost-of-living affects us all.

“Paying for food, energy, fuel and the mortgage, to name only a few rising costs, is at the forefront of all of our minds, so it is extremely important that people can access whatever assistance there is available to them.

“The process of applying for different support can be overwhelming and that is why we have set up HWB teams, at Llanelli, Ammanford and Carmarthen for people to call in and speak with an adviser. Our HWB advisers can guide you through the various processes of applying for support and benefits and they might be able to suggest other branches of support that you might not be aware of. This service is free of charge.

“The council has recently started to distribute the Welsh Government’s Winter Support Scheme and, later this month, we will be hosting a cost-of-living event to bring together a range of partner agencies to better understand what else can be done at a local level to support those being hit hardest by the cost-of-living crisis.”