Author: Rhys Gregory

The Football Association of Wales has opened the third application window of the PAWB Fund for 2023. The FAW PAWB Fund supports young people and families across Wales to access football opportunities and equipment. The application is open to 5–18-year-olds living in Wales and can be applied for on behalf of any young player, to support and assist them with accessing football opportunities and/or equipment. The following items are eligible for support through the fund: Grassroots Club Membership Fees Playing/Club Kit Football Boots Shin Pads Goalkeeper Gloves Sport Hijab Impairment Specific Equipment e.g. Sports Goggles Travel Costs e.g. Train, Bus…

As summer comes to an end and the nights become longer, people across the nation are preparing to set reminders to put their clocks back an hour on 29 October to reflect the change in season. Despite this routine occurring twice every year, many people are caught out by the extra hour lost or gained. But for people with dementia, the time change may cause more than just a surprise. The UK’s leading dementia charity, Alzheimer’s Society, has advised that people with dementia can find themselves disorientated by the clocks moving back. As winter mornings become darker, people with dementia…

A drugs boss who had a £250,000 watch has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after a National Crime Agency investigation. Craig McKenzie, 41, conspired to supply heroin, cocaine and cannabis from the Netherlands, Spain and North America. He was a well-known offender in the North West of England. McKenzie, of Hatchmere Close, Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester, used runners to move his drugs to customers who were mainly based in Liverpool and Manchester but were also as far afield as Wales and London. Evidence suggested he sent money from his drugs sales to notorious offenders in Spain and the…

Pupils from a city primary school were given a special insight into local democracy in Cardiff on a visit to County Hall. As part of Local Democracy Week last week, children from Howardian Primary’s Years Three to Six met the city’s First Citizen and one of the council’s Cabinet Members to help broaden their knowledge of how local democracy works. The pupils were invited to County Hall after Howardian teacher, Nia Court, signed up to the Democracy Ambassador Programme, organised by the Council’s Electoral Services team. The programme supports primary and secondary schools in the city to learn more about…

One of Swansea’s most popular cultural venues is in the running for a national award. The Swansea Council-run exhibition and learning facility at the Dylan Thomas Centre is a finalist in the annual Museums Change Lives Awards run by national body the Museums Association. The centre, based in the Maritime Quarter, is co-shortlisted with Your Voice Advocacy (YVA) in the best small museum category for their Our Museum, Our Voice initiative. The honour reflects the collaborative work carried out by the centre and YVA, a user-led organisation for adults with learning disabilities. Swansea Council cabinet member Elliott King said: “The…

‘Launchpad: net zero industry, South West Wales’ — a partner project which builds on the success of the region’s well-established South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC) — is set to benefit from up to £7.5m of new investment to drive the area’s innovation and business growth in renewable technologies. Businesses and researchers from across Wales and the UK can benefit from the Launchpads programme — providing their project has a direct impact on the South West Wales region, made up of Neath Port Talbot, Swansea, Carmarthenshire, and Pembrokeshire. Businesses can apply for competitive grants, with other support, for innovation projects that…

Following a successful application to the Welsh Government’s Access Improvement Grant, Monmouthshire County Council is launching the Paths to Community Project. This project focuses on developing ways to make the public rights of way network more sustainable in the long term and will contribute towards social justice, wellbeing and resilient communities targets. Part of the project enables Monlife Countryside Access staff to work with community volunteer groups, providing them with materials, training and information, while making physical improvements to signage and the accessibility of routes. To expand upon this project, Monmouthshire County Council has signed a Service Level Agreement with…

Blake Morgan in Wales is celebrating its success in the 2024 Chambers & Partners Guide, after securing impressive rankings for its practice areas and individual lawyers. The guide profiles the best-performing lawyers and legal firms across the UK, based on an in-depth independent research process. This year, the guide honours 24 lawyers from the Cardiff-based firm, with corporate restructuring and insolvency partner Paul Caldicott, intellectual property expert Lee Fisher, property litigator Siân Jones, and employment lawyers Matthew Smith and Joanne Davies achieving the apex of recognition with Band 1 rankings. Clients commended Siân Jones as “absolutely fantastic to work with”,…

The First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford officially opens the substation linked to Morlais tidal energy on Anglesey this week. The event, which is the culmination of more than ten years’ work, marks not only a significant milestone for the project itself but for the tidal energy sector in Wales. As part of this week’s Ireland Wales Forum, the First Minister will host the Irish Tánaiste, Micheál Martin TD (Deputy Prime Minister) and showcase the Morlais project as a key tidal stream development in Wales. Morlais, off the west coast of Holy Island is the largest consented tidal energy scheme…

A powerful new chamber opera from Swansea City Opera – Shoulder to Shoulder – exploring the male experience of loneliness tours Wales this November.   Loneliness is an epidemic and affects men disproportionately. The experience of loneliness is explored in Swansea City Opera’s (SCO) new chamber opera Shoulder to Shoulder, created in partnership with the charity Men’s Sheds Cymru, part of the international Men’s Shed movement, which originated in Australia. Busy young mum Gwen is at her wits end with her dad, Rhys, who’s hitting the whisky, having lost his wife and son. Bereaved and lonely, Rhys reluctantly joins his local…