Citizens Advice Cornwall and Cornwall Development Company (CDC) are providing specialist advice on redundancy, job seeking, debts and benefits for staff at The Eden Project.

Teams from both organisations will be offering help and reassurance following last month’s announcement of around 220 job losses at the landmark attraction.

Gill Pipkin, chief executive of Citizens Advice Cornwall, said: “Job losses from major employers are not only a blow to the local economy but also to the individuals involved, leading to additional stress and worries about the future, particularly in the current post-lockdown environment.

“The Eden Project is helping staff by arranging for those involved to receive vital advice and information about their individual situations at an early stage.

“We will be talking to people about the redundancy process, managing their household budgets, existing debt repayments, benefits and pensions to make sure people know what help is available at this difficult time.

“We are grateful to The Eden Project for helping arrange these sessions which we equip people for the new situations they find themselves in.”

CDC’s Judith Hann said: “Our People Hub work is all about supporting people across all employment and skills issues; since the start of the lockdown period we have had in place a phoneline helping people with their furlough, training, and job questions.

“The work with the team at Eden is an extension of that support, and we are pleased to be able to bring together over 15 different organisations who can help people at this difficult time. We have also collated job vacancies from across the county and in a range of sectors, to help people think about other jobs they can apply for.”

Dawn George, Eden’s Director of HR, added: “We are, of course, devastated that we are in the current position as a result of the Covid pandemic and the effect this has had on our organisation, as it does for many in our sector.

“Whilst this is a difficult situation, we wanted to provide as much support as possible for our affected employees to try and reduce the anxieties they may have. We have partnered with Citizens Advice, CDC and other supporters to deliver this two-day roadshow and have been immensely grateful for the many offers of support we have received to help us support our employees through this process.”

The internal event is lasting two days and is being carried out with due regard to social distancing and infection prevention methods.