Author: Rhys Gregory

With more than half (52%) of Brits planning to shop local and support their rural high streets this Christmas, Virgin Media O2 has announced upgrades to its 4G network and new 5G deployment across more than 55,000 rural postcodes. It is anticipated that the upgrades will help tackle some of the everyday connectivity headaches that small businesses in rural areas are facing, such as reliably taking card and online payments. This will enable these businesses to ensure they can make the most of the upcoming Christmas shopping period, which is undoubtedly very important to their success. The upgrades come as…

From Ceramics to Vehicle Maintenance for Women — Coleg Gwent has this week announced a host of new part-time courses to support adults hoping to take on a new challenge or career path in 2024. Beginning in January and available across all campuses, the college hopes to attract new learners by sharing the inspirational stories behind adult learners who are taking their personal and career development into their own hands through part-time education. The learners are all of part of the post-pandemic phenomenon of adults returning to education and up-skilling — with a recent survey conducted by the Learning and…

Overnight Wednesday into Thursday, strong west to northwesterly winds are likely to develop across a large swathe of the country. Quite widely winds are expected to gust 45-55 mph, with stronger gusts, possibly reaching 65-70 mph, over and to the east of high ground, mainly across the north of the warning area. However, the strongest winds are likely to be across the far north and northeast of Scotland, including the Northern Isles during the morning. Here, gusts of 70-80 mph are possible for a time. The system has been named Storm Pia by the Danish Met Institute, as impacts are…

The owners of two award-winning restaurants in Swansea have been dubbed the ‘Kings of Curry’ after stepping in to spread some festive joy to 85 local children living in poverty. Suki and Jas Kullar who own Rasoi Indian Kitchen in Pontlliw and Swansea’s SA1 Rasoi Waterfront, were helped by staff to cook and deliver 85 delicious festive takeaways complete with chocolate treats to the Faith in Families community centre in Blaenymaes. Rasoi loaded up their iconic tuk-tuk with 85 curry and chocolate feasts and travelled to the Teilos Community Cwtch in Blaenymaes to deliver them to each and every child…

Long-established Aberdare Town FC set up the under 16’s side due to demand from players wanting to play locally but was looking for all the support they could get so that they could purchase necessary training equipment and kit for the 20-strong squad. Happy to help, local energy company Pennant Walters, stepped in and donated £800 which enabled the team to purchase training tracksuits. The funding is linked to Pennant Walters’ 9 turbine 22 MW Mynydd Bwllfa windfarm near Aberdare in Rhondda Cynon Taf, which became operational in summer 2015. Peter Taylor, Coach at Aberdare Town FC, said: “This funding,…

A former Welshpool school, which created a storm of interest from prospective buyers when the five classroom listed building was put up for auction, has sold to local buyers. The former Ardwyn School, Red Bank, Welshpool, sold for more than four times the guide price of £85,000-plus. Listed by Newport, South Wales-based Paul Fosh Auctions the property, which comprises of five, self contained classrooms and extensive playing fields, sold for £356,000. Adam Smith, a director of Shrewsbury-based property development company Homesmiths, who have bought the former school, said: “This is a very exciting opportunity to bring further investment into Welshpool. Being Welsh…

The owners of three local holiday lets are celebrating after picking up awards for their properties in North Wales. Yr Hen Oriel in the hamlet of Ceunant, owned by Maria and Huw Gwilym, won in the Best for Walking category, while Elaine and Nick Rhind scooped gold for their property in Bethesda, Bryn Derwen, in the Best for Large Groups category.  Best in North Wales overall was awarded to Ali and Anna Edwards, with their property in the quaint village of Rhuallt, Offas Dyke Escape, taking home the top prize for the region.  The awards programme by staycation specialist Sykes…

Swansea city centre art gallery Glynn Vivian has announced the return of its Swansea Open initiative. The Swansea Open is an annual art competition open to anyone who lives or works in the City and County of Swansea (SA1-SA9). It celebrates art and craft from artists and makers throughout the city. The selected works from the submissions will be shown in the gallery, run by Swansea Council, from February 3. The selection is made by a different panel of invited selectors each year, encouraging diverse viewpoints. The exhibition seeks to reflect critical and cultural awareness, with a broad range of…

Hundreds of local school children enjoyed an African adventure at the University of South Wales (USW) last week as Drama students performed a safari themed theatre show. Pupils from schools across Cardiff and Caerphilly came to USW’s Cardiff Campus to watch Beautiful Creatures, an action-packed show aimed at 4 to 7-year-olds, based on popular children’s songs from South Africa. Performed by first-year BA (Hons) Theatre and Drama students, the show told the story of Imvubu the hippo, Lucas the lion, Rita the cheetah, Roddy the rhino and many more animals through lively songs, which encouraged the audience to join in…

The Welsh Government is under huge pressure to safeguard apprenticeship funding following deep cuts announced in this week’s draft budget which could result in around 10,000 fewer apprentices. Employers’ representatives, including the FSB and CBI, have signed an open letter to First Minister Mark Drakeford outlining their deep concerns about the proposed 24.2% cuts – the equivalent of £35 million – to apprenticeships for 2024-’25. They want to know why all the money they pay to the apprenticeship levy is not being invested in apprentices, with claims that more than £80m is being spent elsewhere. The proposed cuts are a…