Author: Rhys Gregory

It’s National Careers Week and the perfect opportunity for parents, guardians and carers to discuss the topic with young people in their care. With different options and route to choose from, from college and university through to apprenticeships and work experience, young people have big decisions to make. Parents and carers are huge influencers in the lives of young people and can make positive contributions to these choices. But what is the best way to do this? Whilst speaking to young people about their futures and the world of work can be a daunting task, it doesn’t need to be.…

An entrepreneurial Aberystwyth academic has been granted funding and mentoring support to develop a new app for Spanish language learning. Head of Modern Languages, Dr Guy Baron, is the first Aberystwyth academic to be accepted onto the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator Programme. The programme is designed to help academics and researchers from arts, humanities, and social sciences (SHAPE) disciplines to develop ideas based on their research into businesses or ventures to help people, society, and the economy. Dr Baron will work with Dr Edore Akpokodje and students in the Department of Computer Science at Aberystwyth University, to develop his…

The housebuilder is currently building nearly 300 new properties at Carn y Cefn on the former Ebbw Vale Comprehensive School and College site. A total of 55 of the properties will eventually be available for social rent with not-for-profit housing organisation United Welsh for prospective tenants on the Blaenau Gwent Council Common Housing Register. Representatives from Persimmon Homes East Wales and United Welsh were recently joined by Blaenau Gwent’s Cabinet Member for Place, Cllr John Morgan, to mark the latest handover of four properties at the development. Further homes will be transferred by Persimmon to United Welsh later this year.…

THE team behind a transformative jobs and education programme are encouraging businesses to attend a free careers exhibition for 16 to 24 year olds. The Conwy Careers Fair will be held at Eirias Events Centre in Colwyn Bay on Thursday March 23 from 11am to 4pm. Conwy Employment Hub has already signed-up leading names from across the region and is calling on more to help ease the nationwide recruitment crisis in multiple sectors. The Hub – which oversees Communities for Work Plus – organised the event in partnership with Working Wales, which is delivered by Careers Wales, the DWP (Department…

A homebuilder is contributing almost £5 million into services in and around Cardiff as part of planning agreements for three of its developments. Bellway is constructing hundreds of homes at schemes in the area including Longwood Grange in Lisvane, Coed Derw in Llantwit Fardre, and Rhiwlas at Plasdŵr, in Cardiff. Developers commit to contributing money for amenities as part of their legal agreements when the local authority grants planning permission for a new scheme. And between them, these Bellway schemes are generating developer investment in services ranging from travel to waste management. Billie Oaten, Sales Director for Bellway Wales, said:…

The Corwen Partnership aims to sell 2,500 £200 shares to purchase and refurbish the magnificent building which was already over 70 years old when Glyndwr raised a revolt against the occupying English in 1400. They have launched a share issue this month (Wednesday, March 1) to buy the Grade Two-listed hotel which stands on the A5 London Road opposite the statue of the original Owain Glyndwr whose manor house was five miles east at Glyndyfrdwy and who would have known Corwen well. David Counsell, the Chair of the Partnership, said: “We need to raise £310,000 to buy the hotel with…

A warehouse and distribution firm in North Wales has clinched a new long term deal with a global packaging company. Wrexham-based McCarthy Group has signed a three-year extension to its contract with Wipak UK, which has a manufacturing base in Welshpool where it makes packaging films for preserving and protecting food products. Wipak, which has 11 factories world-wide, is part of a large, family owned conglomerate called Wihuri that’s headquartered in Nastola, two hours north of the Finnish capital, Helsinki. The company opened the Wipak factory in Welshpool in 1996 and recently invested over £5 million in a new state…

Talented chainsaw sculptor Paul Morris has completed the mammoth task of carving a nine feet tall grizzly bear. Weighing in at three quarters of a ton, the giant creature will take pride of place at  the Pendine Park care organisation in Wrexham where Paul, 59, is a long-standing member of the gardening and maintenance team. Over the years he’s carved nearly 150 sculptures – mainly of animals, birds and insects – out of naturally fallen timber. It’s helped him create a charming menagerie, including an owl, a squirrel and a gorilla in Pendine’s 11-acre grounds on Summerhill Road. But the…

A fund supporting Welsh communities with the spiralling cost of living has received a donation from a Mold-based specialist onshore wind and solar energy developer. Wind2 contributed £10,000 towards the ‘Our Communities Together’ appeal, a collaboration between Community Foundation Wales and media company Newsquest. The appeal will lead to the launch of a grant programme, where organisations who need it the most, can apply for funding up to £1,000. Donations could support a range of initiatives including keeping community venues open and warm to support the most vulnerable people as well as providing access to IT services for job hunting…

Smokers are being urged to use this No Smoking Day, March 8th, to stub out stress after research showed quitting can make you happier and be as good as antidepressants on symptoms of anxiety and low mood. A national drive by charity ASH Wales and Public Health Wales aims to dispel the myth that smoking effectively deals with stress and encourages smokers to take up free NHS support. The latest YouGov survey for Wales shows over 50% of smokers, including those with mental health problems, would like to quit. Thousands of smokers across Wales will use No Smoking Day as…