Communities First

Graigfelen Communities First

What is Communities First?

Communities First is the Welsh Assembly Government's flagship programme to improve the living conditions and prospects for people in the most disadvantaged communities across Wales, and exists to provide local people with opportunities to play an active role in shaping the future of their community.

Communities First

• it is a long term programme and will run for at least ten years
• local people themselves decide what is needed and are helped to make it happen.

Communities First aims to:

• get local people involved in improving their areas and their own prospects
• bring in funding and support from a range of sources to make things happen
• make sure improvements last
• encourage flexibility, risk-taking and new ways of dealing with problems
• involve everyone working together to identify and do something about their community's problems.

The Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) was used to identify Communities First areas in the most deprived areas of Wales.

The WIMD 2005 provides detailed information, categorised by postcode, for all of Wales as well as separately for Communities First areas.