PONTYPOOL Community Council are celebrating the anniversaries of the town’s twinning with Condeixa in Portugal, Longjumeau in France, and Bretten in Germany this week.

The town has been twinned with Condeixa for 20 years, and with Longjumeau and Bretten for 25 years.

Representatives from the twinned towns, and their youth councils, will visit Pontypool from today until Sunday.

During their stay, the Pontypool Youth Council will be hosting a conference at West Mon school addressing the issue of young people's mental health.

The youth councils will discuss what is being done to support young people struggling with their mental health, and what more can be done, before reporting their findings back to their own councils.

Earlier this year, the Pontypool Youth Council won the award for Best Youth Engagement for their work on mental health in young people at the One Voice Wales awards, and they are hoping to expand on their work through this youth conference.

Free Press Series:

(Caitlin Takel receiving the award for Best Youth Engagement on behalf of Pontypool Youth Council for their work on young people's mental health. Picture: Pontypool Youth Council.)

Pontypool Youth Council chairwoman Caitlin Takel said: "We are hoping to keep the links going with the other towns.

"We went over to France last year and had a fantastic time. We can't wait to show them around and for them to experience our culture.

"I'm looking forward to showing them Big Pit, as it is a big part of who we are and how we got here.

"The conference will be the most important part of the week. It builds on our work that we have already done ensuring that the mental health support is there for young people.

"We are hoping to take that extra step and learn how each country approaches these issues."