Author: Rhys Gregory

Carmarthenshire has invested £1m in rolling out an extensive network of electric vehicle charging points across the county in a bid to ensure the sustainability of the tourism sector. There are now 130 charging stations throughout Carmarthenshire, which run across key rural routes used by visitors exploring the county – 43 of those are rapid charging points, which is more than any other rural Welsh county has available and ensures drivers are able to charge their vehicles at a much faster rate. Carmarthenshire has already surpassed the Welsh Government’s target of introducing an EV charging point every 20 miles across…

Cai and Celyn Llewellyn, a brother and sister from Pembrokeshire, have received prestigious recognition at an award ceremony in London. The pair were awarded a British Heart Foundation Heart Hero Award on 6th December after their father, John, had suffered a cardiac arrest at their home in Fishguard in November last year. John’s life was saved by the quick thinking of his two children who carried out CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). The British Heart Foundation’s Heart Hero Awards is an annual event to honour incredible people who’ve shown remarkable bravery and gone above and beyond to help others while coping with…

Visitors enjoying Wales’ flagship Christmas lights trail were treated to the ‘ulti-mutt’ festive experience when a group of ‘Santa’s little yelpers’ stopped by to wish them a ‘Happy Howl-iday’ after this year’s event opened to the public. Christmas at Bute Park 2023 really is turning out to be a ‘hairy and bright’ one after the volunteer pooches and their owners stopped by to raise vital awareness of their work with Guide Dogs Cymru, wearing festively lit collars and with their own troop of helpers in tow. As one of more than 40 charities that Christmas at Bute Park is set…

Bridgend based multi-award winning Hawkstone Commercials launches the Hawkstone Commercials Scholarship Scheme. Hawkstone Commercials has partnered with the University of South Wales to create a £500 scholarship scheme to help a student with their studies. The scholarship can be used for anything that is required to complete their course. Oliver Lewis, Co-director of Hawkstone Commercials said, “The University South Wales shares the same approach that we do. They have a global view of the world, education, and the commercial sector but at the core, their roots are deep within the community of South Wales. I’m proud that we can launch…

Paul Popham Running Club (PPRC) marked a triumphant milestone at its eighth Annual Christmas Awards Night, hosted at Morgans Hotel, Swansea on November 24. This year’s fundraising efforts reached an unprecedented total of £4,330, taking the club’s cumulative total to over £15,000 since its inception in 2016. The funds raised will be utilised to provide a memorable experience for children and their families battling kidney disease on December 17, 2023, when 50 kidney patients will experience a performance of Aladdin at the Wales Millennium Centre. The Annual Christmas Awards Night showcased the club’s commitment to acknowledging member achievements and also…

West Wales pet food business Burns Pet Nutrition has been acquired by Assisi Pet Care in a multi-million-pound deal. The exact value of the eight-figure deal, which sees Mr Burns retiring from the Kidwelly-based company that he set up 30 years ago, has not been disclosed. Burns Pet Nutrition was advised by Lexington Corporate Finance. Assisi itself was recently acquired by US private equity firm Wind Point Partners with investment to support an acquisition strategy. In its last financial year to the end of July 2023, Burns Pet Nutrition, which employs just under 100 people, posted revenues of £23.6m. As…

In a bid to address climate change, as well as increase woodland and habitat connectivity at the top of the Ogmore Valley, the council aims to plant over 10,000 trees, with a habitat mosaic scheme being proposed for Aber Fields, also known as the ‘Planka’. A phased project, the first phase of the programme will comprise of planting over 5,500 native tree species; stages two and three will focus on creating a wildflower meadow.  The final step of the initiative will involve the removal of non-native tree species, such as the cherry laurel and western red cedar, in an attempt…

Pupils at Dylan Thomas Community School in Swansea are the driving force behind a new community shop that has opened in a shipping container on school grounds. The school has joined the Big Bocs Bwyd initiative – a network of “pay as you feel” shops that are starting to open in schools across Wales. The idea is to make healthy food available to families on a budget to help tackle food poverty. It also provides learning opportunities for pupils and increases parental and carer involvement in the school in a way that suits them. Pupils from the school’s Derek Roberts…

Libanus Lifestyle is a registered Community Interest Company, whose profits are put straight back in to the Libanus Centre. As part of the gateway to Blackwood High Street the grounds and venue had seen better times, so in 2014, Libanus Lifestyle was created to provide a community hub, cafe, and garden, providing a wide range of health and wellbeing services and venue hire for meetings, events, and community needs. They took over the lease and set about developing a much-needed creation of a community space to service Blackwood and the surrounding area. Karen James, her son Sion, and volunteers, set…

A new Educational Suite was officially opened today at the Household Waste and Recycling Centre (HWRC) at Roseheyworth, Abertillery. Situated inside the HWRC the educational centre is ideally located to allow school children and community groups to learn about recycling and what happens to the materials. The Educational Suite was built with Welsh Government Circular Economy Funding. A further successful bid to ‘Keep Wales Tidy’ for a wildlife pack has also been used to develop the grounds for the benefit of local wildlife. Already there has been interest from several of Blaenau Gwent Council’s partners to utilise the building for…