About the trust
Ebbw Vale and District Trust (EVAD) is a Blaenau Gwent based Development Trust and Charity that seeks to work in partnership to facilitate the economic and social regeneration of the town of Ebbw Vale and the other communities in the Ebbw Fawr Valley. The organisation was established in 2001 against the backdrop of the closure of the town’s steel works. EVAD currently employs 34 staff across its operations in the Ebbw Fawr Valley.
EVAD is a not for profit community based organisation that operates a number of projects and services that are either community or business focused. Community based services include the provision of youth facilities and operating a number of “Info Shops”. Furthermore, EVAD plays a leading role in community regeneration through “Communities First” programme, which aims to assist those living in the communities it serves to develop and deliver initiatives that regenerate those communities and increase individual skills, confidence and capacity for action within those areas.
The former reliance on heavy industries such as steel manufacturing and mining has created a legacy of high levels of unemployment which EVAD is working to rectify. The organisation has developed and operates a number of social enterprises which aim to create jobs and stimulate economic regeneration in the community. Amongst these initiatives is a “scrap store” that promotes and facilitates the reuse and recycling of scrap materials and other products, which are then sold on to member organisations such as local schools. It has also partnered up with with other Development Trusts across the heads of the Valley region in the provision of a Day Care Nursery, Kerbside Recycling in Blaenau Gwent, Build Wales a construction company and Fuel Factory a Bio diesel producer and distributor.
