Muni axe: 'Centre closure made me use food bank'

Using a food bank for Christmas "wasn't a nice situation", said Jodie Tomaszewski

A mother of two young children has said she had to rely on food banks over Christmas after an arts centre where she worked suddenly folded.

The Muni arts centre in Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taff, closed on 22 December.

Jodie Tomaszewski said she had yet to receive her full wages or redundancy benefits and had been "left in limbo".

The GMB Union said the situation was "unacceptable" and "a disgrace".

Ms Tomaszewski said the 14-strong staff team was called into a meeting just before Christmas, to confirm mounting speculation about the future of the Muni.

"We'd heard rumours. We had heard it was going to close, but nobody would tell us," Ms Tomaszewski told BBC Wales Good Morning Wales.

• Arts centre closure will be 'temporary'

• Arts centre to close over debts

She said staff received some wages before Christmas, but not their full salary or holiday pay.

Muni arts centre in Pontypridd was converted from a church and is a listed building

"We were just struggling to make ends meet and we had to decide how to feed ourselves," she said.

"It wasn't a very nice situation, to have to go to a food bank. You just feel really bad."

The arts centre has been "dogged by financial difficulties" for the last three years, after being taken over by a trust in 2014.

The GMB said the workforce was still unable to claim redundancy benefits until the company had officially been liquidated.

"It's bad enough for staff that everything collapsed in the run up to Christmas, but then to leave them in limbo for over two weeks is simply a disgrace," said union official Gareth Morgans.

Bethan Evans, insolvency partner at accountancy firm Menzies, said it was "proactively contacting all former employees this week" on behalf of the arts centre to assist them in claiming any money they were owed, including claims for statutory redundancy pay.

Rhondda Cynon Taf council said it wanted to see the venue "open as soon as possible" and was in talks with administrators.