Cwm Taf Morgannwg Public Health Team welcomes you to join us at one of our two events to understand how together, we can tackle the harms caused by tobacco and vapes in CTM.

Smoking rates are declining and yet it remains the biggest cause of preventable ill health and death in Wales. Smoking is highly addictive, it hooks people from an early age and quitting is tough. It also impacts financially, costing on average £2,500 per year, a significant portion of household income.

Join us to find out more about what we’re doing across the health board, and how you can help including: 

• Why tackling smoking is vital for a safer, healthier, and wealthier workforce and community.
• What we can do together to help our young people to live vape and smoke-free.
• The link between smoking, mental health and how we can work together to support people to quit.
• How you can support the CTM-wide campaign to raise awareness of Help Me Quit.

Location: Orbit Centre, Merthyr Tydfil / Waterton Technology Centre, Bridgend

Date: 25th February 2026 / 4th March 2026

Registration from 09:00, 09:30 start with a 12:30 finish - reserve your place on Eventbrite.

Every year, over £1 billion in benefits go unclaimed in Wales which is why Welsh Government has launched its national communications campaign – ‘Claim What’s Yours’.

Through this campaign they want people across Wales to claim what’s theirs to help with living costs, even if they already claim benefits.

Click HERE for more information.

The Older People’s Commissioner for Wales is looking at how social care in Wales could be improved and wants to hear from older people across Wales about their experiences of receiving help and support from social care services, to learn more about what’s working well and where changes are needed.

The Commissioner will use the evidence shared by older people to consider whether the quality of the social care support people are receiving in Wales reflects the standards set out in policy and legislation, which appears not always to be the case based on the issues and concerns raised by older people.

She will publish a report in 2026 that sets out her findings, together with recommendations for action to address any issues she identifies.

We want to reach out as widely as possible, to capture the voices and experiences of older people from a wide range of backgrounds and communities, and we hope you can support this by sharing information about the Commissioner’s survey via your communications channels and encouraging people to respond.

To capture older people’s experiences of receiving social care services, the Commissioner has developed a multiple choice survey.

The survey can be completed online here:

www.olderpeople.wales/socialcare

Paper copies of the survey are also available if you’d like to share these with older people you work with or support. If you’d like us to send you any paper copies, please call us on 03442 640 670 or email ask@olderpeople.wales.

Completed surveys can be returned to the Commissioner’s office via Freepost.

Older people can also complete the survey over the phone with a member of the Commissioner’s team by calling 03442 640 670.   

Could you help to make sure Merthyr Tydfil is represented in national research?

Baromedr Cymru is the new Welsh voluntary sector ‘barometer’ organised by WCVA and Nottingham Trent University. The rolling data source will provide an up-to-date picture on what’s happening across the voluntary sector in  Wales.

In return for completing a short survey each quarter, participants will receive personalised data that could be a game-changer in decision making.

WHAT DO YOU GET ACCESS TO?

Access to Baromedr Cymru will give you evidence to back up your funding applications and inform conversations with stakeholders and decision makers:

Every organisation that contributes will receive a personalised dashboard, showing how your responses compare to others across the sector. It’s a useful way to reflect, benchmark and plan.

Each quarterly ‘wave’ will be accompanied by a short report, highlighting findings and digging deeper into areas of particular interest.

WHAT DOES IT INVOLVE?

For those signed up, Baromedr Cymru will involve a short, quarterly survey asking organisations in Merthyr Tydfil about:

• Your financial position
• Volunteer and staffing pressures
• Demand for services
• Confidence about the future
• Plus a rotating section on ‘hot topics’ or areas we want to explore in more depth

Each organisation responds just once per quarter, typically via a staff member or volunteer who understands how the organisation is doing.

You can sign up HERE