Author: Rhys Gregory

Casting has been announced for Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World, which will be visiting Wales Millennium Centre from 17 – 21 January 2024 as part of a UK tour. Remarkable – and often forgotten – women from history are lifted from the pages of Kate Pankhurst’s beloved picture book and brought gloriously to life on stage, including Rosa Parks, Amelia Earhart, Marie Curie, Mary Seacole, Frida Kahlo, Jane Austen and Pankhurst’s own relative Emmeline. When inquisitive heroine Jade breaks away from her school trip to the local museum to peek at the Gallery of Greatness, she meets iconic…

Aldi store and warehouse colleagues in Wales are to get a pay rise, which will see Aldi become the first supermarket in the UK to guarantee store and warehouse colleagues pay of at least £12 an hour. The move makes Aldi the first supermarket to offer rates in line with the Real Living Wage that was set by the Living Wage Foundation in October this year. Store Assistants’ pay will rise further to £12.95 nationally, and £13.85 within the M25, based on the length of service, as part of Aldi’s £67m investment into colleague pay. Aldi is also the only…

12-year-old tennis ace from Cardiff, Niall Pickerd-Barua, recently claimed back-to-back victories at Tennis Europe’s boys under-14 cup championships in Norway and Finland. These recent wins top off a year of successes for Niall, following the under-14 Championship titles earnt at the Lexus Junior National Championships and the 2023 Scottish Junior Open in the summer — demonstrating his potential as a future star of British tennis. Not only has Niall dominated the singles category, he’s also been successful when paired with fellow tennis talent — taking the doubles crown at the Scottish Junior Open in the summer and reaching the doubles…

Carmarthenshire has invested £1m in rolling out an extensive network of electric vehicle charging points across the county in a bid to ensure the sustainability of the tourism sector. There are now 130 charging stations throughout Carmarthenshire, which run across key rural routes used by visitors exploring the county – 43 of those are rapid charging points, which is more than any other rural Welsh county has available and ensures drivers are able to charge their vehicles at a much faster rate. Carmarthenshire has already surpassed the Welsh Government’s target of introducing an EV charging point every 20 miles across…

Cai and Celyn Llewellyn, a brother and sister from Pembrokeshire, have received prestigious recognition at an award ceremony in London. The pair were awarded a British Heart Foundation Heart Hero Award on 6th December after their father, John, had suffered a cardiac arrest at their home in Fishguard in November last year. John’s life was saved by the quick thinking of his two children who carried out CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). The British Heart Foundation’s Heart Hero Awards is an annual event to honour incredible people who’ve shown remarkable bravery and gone above and beyond to help others while coping with…

Visitors enjoying Wales’ flagship Christmas lights trail were treated to the ‘ulti-mutt’ festive experience when a group of ‘Santa’s little yelpers’ stopped by to wish them a ‘Happy Howl-iday’ after this year’s event opened to the public. Christmas at Bute Park 2023 really is turning out to be a ‘hairy and bright’ one after the volunteer pooches and their owners stopped by to raise vital awareness of their work with Guide Dogs Cymru, wearing festively lit collars and with their own troop of helpers in tow. As one of more than 40 charities that Christmas at Bute Park is set…

Bridgend based multi-award winning Hawkstone Commercials launches the Hawkstone Commercials Scholarship Scheme. Hawkstone Commercials has partnered with the University of South Wales to create a £500 scholarship scheme to help a student with their studies. The scholarship can be used for anything that is required to complete their course. Oliver Lewis, Co-director of Hawkstone Commercials said, “The University South Wales shares the same approach that we do. They have a global view of the world, education, and the commercial sector but at the core, their roots are deep within the community of South Wales. I’m proud that we can launch…

Paul Popham Running Club (PPRC) marked a triumphant milestone at its eighth Annual Christmas Awards Night, hosted at Morgans Hotel, Swansea on November 24. This year’s fundraising efforts reached an unprecedented total of £4,330, taking the club’s cumulative total to over £15,000 since its inception in 2016. The funds raised will be utilised to provide a memorable experience for children and their families battling kidney disease on December 17, 2023, when 50 kidney patients will experience a performance of Aladdin at the Wales Millennium Centre. The Annual Christmas Awards Night showcased the club’s commitment to acknowledging member achievements and also…

West Wales pet food business Burns Pet Nutrition has been acquired by Assisi Pet Care in a multi-million-pound deal. The exact value of the eight-figure deal, which sees Mr Burns retiring from the Kidwelly-based company that he set up 30 years ago, has not been disclosed. Burns Pet Nutrition was advised by Lexington Corporate Finance. Assisi itself was recently acquired by US private equity firm Wind Point Partners with investment to support an acquisition strategy. In its last financial year to the end of July 2023, Burns Pet Nutrition, which employs just under 100 people, posted revenues of £23.6m. As…

In a bid to address climate change, as well as increase woodland and habitat connectivity at the top of the Ogmore Valley, the council aims to plant over 10,000 trees, with a habitat mosaic scheme being proposed for Aber Fields, also known as the ‘Planka’. A phased project, the first phase of the programme will comprise of planting over 5,500 native tree species; stages two and three will focus on creating a wildflower meadow.  The final step of the initiative will involve the removal of non-native tree species, such as the cherry laurel and western red cedar, in an attempt…