Author: Rhys Gregory

A former children’s holiday camp manager who groomed more than 70 teenage boys online by pretending to be a 16-year-old girl has been jailed. A National Crime Agency investigation identified Cameron Osman, 45, from Southampton, as the person behind online alias ‘Lizzielemon’, which contacted victims on Instagram, MyLol and Love Crush, before moving them on to Google Hangouts, Discord and Skype. Osman engaged them in sexualised chat revolving around a fantasy online world with Osman pretending to be a teenage girl. He never identified himself, instead telling victims his camera was broken. Osman would say that ‘Lizzielemon’ was from Bristol or…

A new indoor sports barn that will include a 3G pitch is taking shape. The steel frame of the building that will help transform sports facilities at Cefn Hengoed Community School and Leisure Centre on the city’s eastside has been erected. It is part of £7.5m investment that also includes upgrades to the school, leisure centre and a new family engagement centre. Swansea Council Leader Rob Stewart said: “The sports barn will be a first for Swansea and I’m excited to see the development take shape as it was one of our policy commitments. “It will transform sports and leisure…

NEATH Port Talbot Council is inviting project proposals to its Valleys and Villages Prosperity Fund (VVPF). The £1.7m VVPF is part funded by the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) and is part of Neath Port Talbot’s £27.3m SPF funding allocation over the next three years. The VVPF aims to address the decline in rural communities throughout Neath Port Talbot, particularly the reduced demand for high street retail and increased demand for housing, recreational and active travel projects. Targeted areas include the Neath Valley, Afan Valley, Swansea Valley, Upper Amman Valley and Dulais Valley. The VVPF aims to have a…

Cabinet Members have agreed to further progress the proposals to create a new special school for Rhondda Cynon Taf by 2026, having considered the feedback received in a recent public consultation. At their meeting on Monday, October 23, Cabinet considered a thorough consultation report following the consultation period, which ran from July 4 to September 15 this year. The relevant Statutory Notices will now be published following Members’ decision on Monday – to open a new 3-19 special school and to introduce catchment areas for all special schools in Rhondda Cynon Taf. The Council has brought forward the plans in…

A report about the future of Pontllanfraith Leisure Centre will be considered by the council’s Cabinet next month, recommending that a consultation takes place on the permanent closure of the facility. Pontllanfraith Leisure Centre closed its doors in March 2020 and the building was used as a vaccination centre throughout the pandemic. It has not re-opened for leisure use since this time and most former users of the centre have relocated to other facilities in the surrounding area. The Leader of Council met community representatives this week to explain the reasons for the proposal and to highlight the significant investment…

Cyfarthfa Castle Museum and Art Gallery will be closed for two weeks from Monday 6th November to allow its stored art collections to be relocated to a new off-site store. As well as match funding from owners of the collection, MTCBC, and managers of the collection, Wellbeing Merthyr, the new store has been primarily funded by Welsh Government’s Cultural Transformation Capital grant award. The grant aims to enable public libraries, local museums, and archive services to transform service delivery, to modernise their facilities, create more sustainable models of delivery, enable joint service working and improve the offer to people and…

The Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Sir Frank Atherton, has called on large companies to take greater corporate social responsibility for public health in his 2023 annual report. This year’s report, called ‘Shaping our Health’, focuses on the strategies and approaches used by businesses to promote products and choices that are detrimental to our health – including vaping, gambling, and ultra processed food and drinks. It says big industries can significantly influence our environment and our choices in varied and complex ways; from the sourcing and manufacturing of products to marketing methods. The Chief Medical Officer’s annual report looks at…

Support from Creative Wales’s production funding is enabling flagship Welsh games company Wales Interactive to create Maid of Sker 2, a sequel CGI video game following on from the award-winning original. The production funding will allow Wales Interactive to develop this next title at pace and at a high level, allowing 10 freelance developers to work on a major title, the potential for a further 8-9 permanent posts during the project period, and creating opportunities for a further 12 trainees. Maid of Sker was first published in July 2020 and, since its launch, has achieved approx. 1.2 million downloads to…

Following the arrival of steam locomotive ‘Falcon’ number 10,  volunteers at Corris Railway are now turning their attention to the next major project which will double the journey for passengers. ‘Falcon’ completed its first spell of operations on the railway on October 21, having headed all passenger trains since its entrance into traffic on September 8. Engineers from Alan Keef Ltd at Ross-on-Wye and Corris Railway will now work on a snagging list of minor problems on the new loco, the paintwork and lining out of which will be completed before in returns to passenger train services next Easter. A…

Caredig, a community based Housing Association situated in Swansea, have completed a development project transforming former farm land in Trallwn, Swansea, now known as Trallwn Farm Close into new homes. Being community based, Caredig has a clear mission to create strong, vibrant and resilient communities, where people can live active, fulfilling, lives – living independently and safely. The new development adds twelve new homes to their current portfolio andsupports their ambitious programme of delivering 700 affordable, energy efficient homes over the next 10 years. All twelve homes,  both one and two bedroom,  with 4 specifically adapted for disabled users,  have…