Author: Rhys Gregory

People from across Rhondda Cynon Taf are invited to come together and pay their respects to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country at the Pontypridd Remembrance Sunday Parade and Service. The event is being held in partnership with Pontypridd Town Council and will take place in Ynysangharad War Memorial Park on Sunday, November 12th and will include a parade through the park involving people of all ages from a range of community and military organisations. The parade will start at 10.35 and will culminate at the War Memorial where a service led by the Reverend Charlotte Rushton…

Plans that could help Powys County Council meet the aims of its Strategy for Transforming Education will be considered by Cabinet later this month, it has been announced. The council is looking to continue to deliver the next wave of its Transforming Education Programme, which was relaunched last year along with an updated version of the Strategy for Transforming Education in Powys. The latest plans, which will be considered by the council’s Learning and Skills Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday, October 17 and by Cabinet on Tuesday, October 24, are: Plans for Newtown schools Proposal to close Irfon Valley C.P. School…

More than £158m will be shared by over 15,600 farms across Wales as Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) 2023 advance payments are made today (Thursday 12 October), Rural Affairs Minister Lesley Griffiths has announced. The announcement means over 96 per cent of claimants will see a BPS advance payment worth approximately 70% of their estimated claim value. This year, for the first time, Rural Payments Wales (RPW) will be making BPS advance payments during a payment window. The new payment window which opens tomorrow will run until 15 December. Farm businesses not receiving an advance payment tomorrow, but whose claim is…

Nearly half a million pounds of extra finance has been invested into the Caerphilly Enterprise Fund following a decision by the Council’s Shared Prosperity Fund Board. The funding, which will be split £370k Capital and £70k revenue, has been secured to support small and medium businesses who have applied for assistance through the popular scheme. Cllr Jamie Pritchard, Deputy Leader & Cabinet Member for Prosperity, Regeneration & Climate Change said: “Having visited businesses all across the county borough, it’s clear this fund is really offering real – terms assistance. In the first year, CEF provided financial support to seventy-eight businesses,…

Welsh Government is calling upon schools across Wales to produce their own school travel plan which can transform the way everyone travels to school and help promote travelling actively. All schools in Wales will be able to address known issues outside the school gates, identifying ways in which they can improve safety and make the streets outside schools healthier, happier places for everyone. Welsh Government has partnered with Sustrans Cymru, who are providing a comprehensive toolkit to support schools in creating an active travel school plan. An active travel school plan is a brief document outlining a school’s actions to…

A Cardiff Capital Region City Deal (CCR) housing investment fund is bringing 200 much-needed new homes to the Abercanaid area of Merthyr Tydfil. The £35m Housing Viability Gap Fund was launched in 2021 by CCR to stimulate the housing market by helping to unlock previously stalled housing sites across the region. £3.5m of the fund has been secured for Dragon Park, Merthyr Tydfil, for works including ground remediation and associated development infrastructure. These works will unlock 200 units, of which up to 20% will be affordable homes. The remediation works will be completed on site by November 2024 with the…

First Minister Mark Drakeford has welcomed the news that Wales will host matches at the finals of a major senior international football tournament for the first time. In a ceremony in Switzerland today, UEFA announced that the UK and Ireland’s bid to host the 2028 UEFA European Championships has been successful. Wales has previously hosted major sporting events, including the UEFA Champions League Final in 2017, boxing, the London 2012 Olympics and the Rugby World Cup final.  EURO 2028 will be the first time matches in the finals of a major senior men’s international football tournament are played in Wales.…

Nationwide will undertake its most significant rebrand in a generation as it commits to the High Street at a time banks continue to close branches. All 605 branches will be rebranded as Britain’s biggest building society continues to value face-to-face service at a time the major banks have closed significant numbers up and down the country. Research from Nationwide reveals 63 per cent of people value their local branch, with face-to-face service the top reason. The Cardiff branch on Queen Street will be updated in the rebrand. The new look for one of Britain’s most trusted brands represents its biggest image…

Trivallis, the biggest housing association in Rhondda Cynon Taff and one of the biggest in Wales, has been successful in regaining the highest level of approval from Welsh Government. Just 18 months ago, the Welsh Government Housing Regulator voiced concerns over the way Trivallis was run and put it under review. Trivallis were asked to come up with an improvement plan and the Regulator took a more hands-on approach to monitoring its finances and leadership. A new Chief Executive, Duncan Forbes, was brought in and a new Chairman of the Board, Nick Beckett, was also appointed. Following a year of…

A new business referral group is launching in Cwmbran next month as part of an attempt to set a new world record for global networking company BNI. The world’s leading business referral organisation, with over 300,000 members in seventy-seven countries, BNI provides weekly networking meetings for groups of businesses, who follow a structured meeting agenda that enables them to use their combined network of contacts to find business opportunities and referrals for one another. Last year, its members in towns and cities across the UK & Ireland shared over half a billion pounds (£538m) of business between one-another, with the…