Nia Griffith MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, was taken this week by local MP Ian Lucas to visit the Caia Park Partnership in Wrexham. This organisation is based at the largest housing estate in North Wales, and employs 57 people, using funding from a variety of sources to provide a wide range of services. Amongst these are seven self-financing social enterprises including Sparkles children’s nursery, a cafe and a wood-turning workshop which has just clinched a deal to supply bespoke vegetable racks to Prince Charles’ Highgrove.
Nia also met the staff who work with the elderly, those who run the tenancy advice services and those who run the Stars Youth project which mentors young people and helps them find job opportunities.
Commenting on her visit, Nia said,
” I was really impressed by the passion of the staff at the Caia Park Partnership: many of them have overcome obstacles themselves to get where they are today, and they have a real determination to get the best possible outcomes for the wide range of people they are now dealing with. They have been extremely resourceful in securing the necessary support for the services they provide, and I share their real concerns that the Tories’ savage cuts are going to make life increasingly difficult for people ….. Bedroom tax, cuts to tax credits and cuts so deep to local councils’ budgets that even vital services for the elderly are threatened.”
