I thought it was wonderful when I got here, the 72-year-old said. [1], The Gurnos Estate is a large housing estate established by Merthyr Tydfil Council in the early 1950s and expanded over many years. tenant was son found and John Williams took over. In 2011, Merthyr was given another unwanted tag - Wales' sick claim capital. The precinct was given a 2.5m overhaul in 2010. The area is among the most deprived in Europe, and he has returned as part of BBC Wales' Me and My Health season to find out what has changed. There are drugs up here but there are drugs everywhere. They requested cooking lessons. Gurnos - Alan George's Old Merthyr Tydfil Since her retirement Denise has been spending time with her husband Wyn whom she has been married to for 23 years. It should not be down to the benefits system, it should be down to the government and employers to make sure that people have a living wage rather than minimum wage. Radburn system; with It is about changing attitudes to food, diet and health and nowhere is that more difficult to achieve than in deprived communities where the pressures of poverty weigh heavily on vulnerable people. We have got criminal records as long as your arm. At the top there are a lot more children but I would not say it is much different, Wynne said. We dont make enough of it, unlike how they do in places like Dublin or London.. (parseInt(navigator.appVersion) >= 3 )) || In 2011 Merthyr was labelledWales' sick claim capital with more than 4,500 out of the 55,000 population saying they were unfit to work. It looks better and it feels better now, he said. We dont want to work to be honest it is too easy., He said many had completely given up trying to get a job: We have got criminal records as long as your arm. // -->