Author: Rhys Gregory

From serene natural retreats to luxurious glamping destinations, the annual AA Caravan and Camping Awards has just revealed the top UK outdoor accommodation for 2024. The worthy award winners make an ideal destination for the 16.7 million camping and caravanning trips taken in the UK. The awards honoured 12 sites across the country, carefully handpicked by the AA’s expert inspectors who assessed them based on their exceptional quality and unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction. Categories included AA Glamping Site of the Year, AA Campsite of the Year and AA Most Improved Campsite of the Year. This year’s winners represent every…

A gross misconduct hearing has found that force used by a South Wales Police was necessary, proportionate, and reasonable. The officer had been accused of breaching the standard of professional behaviour by using unnecessary force on Mr Mohamud Hassan at Cardiff Bay Police Station. The misconduct hearing panel, made up of a Legally Qualified Chair, a police superintendent from a different police force, and an independent member, considered whether the officer had breached the standards of professional behaviour. The panel found the allegations were not proven. They concluded that the evidence supported the officer’s account, and that the use of…

The impact of the conflict in the Kurdish borderlands of Turkey will be the focus of new research at Aberystwyth University following the awarding of a prestigious fellowship. Over the next two years, Dr Dilan Okcuoglu will study state-building and control in the war-torn region in the south-east of the Turkish state. Hosted by the Department of International Politics in Aberystwyth, Dr Okcuoglu’s research is financed through the UK Guarantee funding for Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships. Speaking about her project, Dr Okcuoglu said: “My research examines the everyday lived experiences of people in the remote and mountainous…

Supporters of Swansea charity Faith in Families have raised over £30,000 in a 100km trek in Jordan. Faith in Families CEO Cherrie Bija was joined on the challenging Wadi Rum trek by 15 supporters, including her son Ellis Taylor, and members of the business community across Wales – Caroline Platt, Bev Garside, Ceri Potter, Caludia Whittaker, Gilli Davies, Jane Storer, Jordan Wilcox, Linda Fox, Marcus Elphick, Mark Bowden, Phillipa Fraison, Sue West- Jones, Beth Thomas and Iwan Griffiths. Wadi Rum, also known as the Desert of the Moon, is a spectacular granite sandstone valley in Jordan made famous by the…

A Rhondda Cynon Taf man and a woman have been banned from keeping animals for 10 years after they failed to care appropriately for a marmoset monkey they kept as a pet – leading her to suffer from severe metabolic bone disease. Tragically, the white-faced marmoset – commonly known as a Geoffroy’s marmoset monkey – named Precious, was put to sleep on veterinary advice to prevent further suffering. Sadly, her two owners had not researched how to care for a marmoset before purchasing her and had been feeding her the wrong diet and had not been meeting her needs. Laura…

Careers Wales has launched a new resource to support primary school learners with careers learning. Careers City is an interactive map designed to support learners in years 5 and 6 to explore different careers and the world of work. Coming with supporting classroom materials and teacher notes, the resource will help teachers to include careers and work-related experiences (CWRE) in their curriculum. Through clicking on buildings and features on the map that represent different sectors, learners will be taken to an animation featuring an ‘unusual’ job within that particular sector, such as a teddy bear repair technician, a glaciologist, a…

This year’s free Swansea Christmas parade will feature more than 40 local community groups. They include performing arts groups such as Mellin Theatre Arts, The Rising Stars Theatre Company and the Bernadette Jones School of Irish Dancing. Sports clubs include Swansea Storm Basketball Club and Waunarlwydd RFC. They will be joined by a diverse range of local groups in officially marking the start of the festive season in the city. They include Bonymaen Kids Play Initiative, National Autistic Society Swansea, Fforestfach Scout Group and BMHS-BAME Mental Health Support. Collectively, these groups will ensure that hundreds of local residents of all…

Kits-n-Bits, a leading automotive technology firm in South Wales, is celebrating its 20th birthday this month, and the company is gearing up to mark this significant milestone with staff and customers. Established on 9th November 2003, the business supplies and installs aftermarket technology, including towbars, dashcams, parking sensors, alarms and immobilisers to private customers and also commercial products, including van racking, HGV strobes, spot lamps and more to commercial vans and HGVs. Kits-n-Bits has consistently provided high-quality products and exceptional customer service to its client base in South Wales, achieving a 4.9* rating of Excellent from loyal customers. The birthday…

An independent Welsh chocolatier has secured a listing for two of its products across all 56 ALDI stores in Wales. This comes after the chocolate brand scored highly during a consumer focussed supplier event held in Swansea and organised by the supermarket. Wickedly Welsh Chocolate will now be supplying its 90-gram Salted Caramel and Milk Chocolate bars to the 56 ALDI stores after the supermarket supplier event saw the products so highly rated. The product scoring was across areas such as flavour, taste, pricing and likely frequency of purchase, with over 16,000 pieces of data being recorded during the event.…

Swansea city centre has been praised as a place to work by a number of city centre businesses. As well as the closeness of Swansea Market and city centre restaurants, cafes and shops, city centre businesses say the availability of activities there is great for exercises like teambuilding. The number of new or forthcoming office developments has also been given the thumbs-up. These include the 71/72 Kingsway scheme being developed by Swansea Council at the former Oceana nightclub site. The praise follows-on from the launch of a Swansea Council campaign called Enjoy Your City Centre, which is aimed at raising…