Meeting on £1.5m Burberry legacy

Burberry workers protested following the decision to close the factory

A trust has met for the first time to decide how to spend £1.5m left to the Rhondda by Burberry after it closed its factory in Treorchy.

The fashion giant agreed to give £150,000 every year for the next decade to the community after it shut the factory last March with 300 job losses.

Local MP Chris Bryant, who is a member of the Rhondda Trust, said the money was likely to be spent on education.

Groups and individuals can apply to the trust for funding.

Mr Bryant, who led the celebrity-backed campaign to keep the Treorchy factory open, said before the meeting: "I'm pleased we have got a trust fund and I hope we will be able to make a difference. But I would still rather have a factory employing people."

The trust, made up of Mr Bryant, Rhondda AM Leighton Andrew, Mervyn Burnett, from the GMB union, a solicitor and two former Burberry workers, met on Friday to discuss its aims.

A lot of the girls have now got jobs in Asda but it's only part time. It's not enough. It's a problem for the youngsters of the future Joan Young, ex-Burberry worker on life after the factory

Mr Bryant said with the agreement of the trust the money was likely to be used to improve education and skills in the area, providing grants for schemes and projects.

"For example, someone who knows they're going to university but wants to go to Antarctica for a few months [on an educational project] and needs money towards that. We might fund that," said Mr Bryant.

"Or a youth club says their roof has fallen in and they need money for repairs, we might fund that.

"We want to give more people educational opportunities in the Rhondda."

The first grant could be given by Easter, he added.

Ex-Burberry worker Joan Young said she would be pleased if the money was spent helping young people.

'No jobs'

"I had suggested using the money for education - that's the road I had wanted to go down," said Mrs Young, who now works as a support worker in a nursing home.

"But I don't think the money is enough. That won't buy many teachers, which is what we need. But if something can come out of it for the youngsters, that's a good thing.

Mervyn Burnett, from the GMB which represented the factory workers, said: "We want to help the young people in training schemes, for example. We feel they have been robbed of a future with the closure of the factory."

Burberry announced last year it was moving production of its polo shirts from south Wales to China.

Months of protests around the world followed, attracting support from celebrities, including Emma Thompson, Rhys Ifans, Sir Tom Jones, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.