I'm the Communities First worker for Caerau and I'm based in the local police station.

I'm employed through the local authority and it's a Welsh Assembly government scheme targeted at the top one hundred most deprived wards in Wales.

Family support and learning are the key burning issues for us.

Lisa Toghill

In Bridgend there are four areas and Caerau is one of those areas. Basically we work with local people to regenerate the area, and that's physical regeneration and social regeneration.

Caerau is an ex-mining community. It's at the north end of the Llynfi Valley about four miles outside Maesteg - very much at the top of the valley.

It's suffered over the last twenty years since the closure of the pits and there has been unemployment. Now we have third of fourth generation unemployment.

When you look around you see lots of physical deprivation such as derelict buildings and things that have been left to rack and ruin, so the aim of Communities First is to target those areas.

My role has been in the last three years to target the local schools, to target family support issues. I'd say the most successful project is the Nodfa Chapel Community project which runs after-school clubs. It's got an ICT project five nights a week for children.

Caerau alone has a population of 5,000 and almost 25% are aged 0 to 25, so we have a large youth population.

Family support and learning are the key burning issues for us. Until we sort those things out, until we address those things, all the other stuff will follow on.