POWYS County Council has had to apologise following the launch of a marketing campaign to promote the county’s sixth forms, with the same name as a local charity.
Last week, the council launched Dyfodol Powys/Future Powys a new bilingual web platform giving parents, carers and learners relevant information about education available at Post-16 in Powys.
After the launch it had been pointed out on social media that a Llandrindod Wells based charity had been called Dyfodol Powys Futures for over a decade.
The launch had sparked fears that the charity and education resource would be mixed up.
Dyfodol Powys Futures had spoken to the Local Democracy Service about the issue and had then taken their concerns to County Hall.
Council chief executive, Dr Caroline Turner, said: “Dyfodol Powys Futures contacted the council to highlight the potential confusion between the name of their charity and the new sixth form branding.
“It was not the intention of the council to cause confusion between the charity and the sixth form promotion.
“I would like to thank Dyfodol Powys Futures for bringing this to our attention.
“We sincerely apologise to the charity and fully acknowledge their concerns regarding the similarity.]
“Arrangements are underway to re-launch the brand for Powys sixth forms as Llwybrau Dysgu / Powys Learning Pathways, which will provide greater clarity and distinction between the charity and the sixth form provision.”
The charity, Dyfodol Powys Futures works with children, young people and their families in Powys on a range of issues.
Constance Adams, of Dyfodol Powys Futures, said: “It’s unfortunate that this happened. Families and young people who are looking for help might have failed to find us due to this.
“We’ve been using this name since 2008, clearly someone in PCC didn’t do their homework, as ‘Dyfodol’ is quite commonly used as a name for organisations across Wales.”