Author: Rhys Gregory

Dame Shirley Bassey returned home to Cardiff last week to attend the premiere of the Royal Welsh College’s Musical Theatre students’ production of ‘Sweet Charity’. The show features the song Dame Shirley made her own, ‘Hey Big Spender,’ and after seeing the show she ‘spent a little time’ with the students backstage, chatting to the cast and crew. ‘It was a fabulous show and I want to congratulate everyone involved,’ said Dame Shirley.  ‘Whenever I see the Royal Welsh College students perform, I feel happy that I can support training that was not available to me when I was young.…

St David’s Cardiff is hosting what it hopes will be the city’s biggest friendship bracelet kit giveaway on 8th June, ahead of Taylor Swift’s visit to the capital on the 18th. Swifties visiting the city shopping destination during the day will be gifted one of 2,000 free friendship bracelet-making kits in the St David’s Friendship Bracelet Lucky Dip to celebrate The Eras Tour coming to Cardiff. The bracelet kits have been designed and commissioned by St David’s and feature Taylor Swift’s song titles from her 11 studio albums. A select number of the kits also feature song titles translated into…

The 12th Montgomery Canal Triathlon has been declared a success, having attracted 175 entrants from across Britain and as far away as France and Holland. The entrants covered the 27 miles from Newtown to Crickheath, near Oswestry by cycle, canoe and on foot, with most of them attempting all three sections. The event is organised by the Friends of the Montgomery Canal to raise money for the restoration of the canal and is supported by the Canal & River Trust. Councillor Mike Childs, deputy mayor of Newtown, set the entrants on their way on bicycles and they changed to canoes…

Jane Byrd, Managing Director of Compass Cymru has been announced as a 2024 Role Model by WiHTL as part of their groundbreaking ‘2024 Role Models for Inclusion in Hospitality, Travel, Leisure and Retail Index.’ WiHTL & Diversity in Retail is the only Collaboration Community dedicated to advancing EDI in the Hospitality, Travel, Leisure, and Retail sectors. Produced in partnership with The MBS Group, the Index shines a spotlight on champions from across the industry. Jane was among 75 champions from around the UK, recognised for their commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion.  Jane is a strong advocate for equity, diversity…

We understand that divorce is a difficult and emotional time. However, for those navigating this process, it’s important to consider the long-term benefits of reaching a divorce settlement. A divorce settlement is a formal agreement that outlines how you and your ex-spouse will divide your finances and property and, if you have children, how you will co-parent moving forward. While emotions may be running high, having a clear and fair settlement in place can provide much-needed security and clarity as you deal with your separation. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the benefits of agreeing to the terms of…

South West Wales Connected and Severnside Community Rail Partnership recently launched a new poetry collection on the theme of rail ‘Train of Thought: A Poetry Anthology Inspired by Rail Routes from Taunton to West Wales.’ The anthology was funded thanks to our Community Rail Challenge fund with the two community rail partnerships working with established poetry groups across their regions, to deliver a series of poetry workshops followed by the invitation to write and submit poems in response to the question: What does the railway mean to you? More than 100 submissions were received after the workshops, and from these…

North Wales Police Cadets recently carried out checks on the sale of knives to children. Young volunteers, alongside police officers, conducted an under-age sales operation as part of Operation Sceptre, a national, intensive week of action that ran last week to tackle knife crime. The aim was to ensure local businesses are compliant with legislation, and that anyone under the age of 18 are refused knives. A total of 23 shops were tested in areas of Wrexham, Llandudno and Conwy – with nearly half failing to ask for identification from the volunteers before selling knives. Of the eight shops tested…

New national research published by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has found that over two thirds (70%) of beer and wine, checked by Trading Standards professionals, is short measured. The national fieldwork was undertaken by local authorities across the UK. The findings come at a time when the price of alcoholic drinks is at an all-time high: according to the Office of National Statistics, the average price of a bottle of red wine has increased 8% in the last year, while the average cost of a pint of lager is up 5.6%.CTSI’s findings show that there is more work…

Wales is to receive a share of £5.9m to help cancer patients receive ground-breaking new cancer medicines, it was revealed today.  The money is being invested by Cancer Research UK to continue to fund a UK-wide network of Senior Research Nurses.   Wales will benefit from around £265,834 which includes funding for a Senior Research Nurse over the next five years.  Senior Research Nurses play a critical role in helping people affected by cancer gain access to clinical trials which offer patients, some of whom have few remaining treatment options, the opportunity to try new therapies which, if effective, can be…

The housing emergency in Cardiff continues and the need for more permanent and temporary affordable housing remains an urgent and pressing issue. The Council remains committed to delivering rapid solutions to tackle the unprecedented demand for homelessness and housing services in the city and has developed a set of new proposals to create around 250 new affordable homes in the city, as quickly as possible. Some property and land purchase proposals, approved by Cabinet to help alleviate pressures when the authority declared a housing emergency in the city in December, are now no longer available so new plans have been brought…