MORE than £21m has been given to support a range of community projects across Bridgend County Borough this year, following a successful application to the UK’s Shared Prosperity Fund.
The fund is a part of the UK Government’s Levelling Up project, set up to provide £2.6bn of funding across Britain for local investment by 2025.
The money will go towards specific initiatives in the area such as the Great Glamorgan Way which aims to connect communities across the region.
A further £8m will also be used on a range of initiatives that will help people gain new skills and qualifications, as well as finding long term permanent work.
While more than £3.5m will be used to set up new centres of enterprise across the borough, over £1m will be spent to support health, climate and economical projects, with a further £2m used for community capacity projects.
Councillor Neelo Farr, Cabinet Member for Regeneration in Bridgend, said: “This is excellent news, and the £21m will be used to fund projects that deliver a wide range of positive outcomes for local people across all of the county borough, especially within our valley communities.
“Designed to replace European structural funds, the Shared Prosperity Fund is intended to support projects which boost productivity, pay, jobs and living standards, and to encourage the private sector to grow and create opportunities.”
A further £28.4 million of the funding has also been granted to the neighbouring borough of Neath Port Talbot.
