Author: Rhys Gregory

The Summer season is stepping up, as the latest round of tickets for The National Lido of Wales, Lido Ponty are now on sale. Lido-lovers can now purchase tickets for all sessions happening from June 4 – June 30, including the new additional daytime swims. During half term, Lido Ponty is open seven days a week for two early morning swims, followed by six family fun/casual sessions where the inflatables and activities are out and the splash pool with fountain is on. From Monday, June 5, the summer timetable is in place, which will see on weekdays: Two early morning…

Two members of the Empty Homes Team at Caerphilly County Borough Council have been recognised at this year’s national Empty Homes Network Awards. Jamie Wagenaar received the Rising Star Award in recognition of his dedicated approach, positive attitude, and awareness of the positive difference his work makes to local communities. Oliver Denton was highly commended in the Empty Homes Practitioner of the Year category for his dedication and tenaciousness to progress the most difficult cases in the Caerphilly borough to resolution. Jamie and Oliver work as part of the team responsible for tackling the issue of empty privately owned homes…

A spectacular Woodland Play Tower has been completed in Neath’s Gnoll Estate Country Park – the early 18th Century landscaped attraction which covers around 100 acres. The children’s tower will add to existing features including lakeside and woodland walks, restored formal cascades, a grotto, a coarse fishery, ponds, play areas including an adventure playground and a visitor centre. The development of the Play Tower is part of a £4.2m programme of ‘clean-up and green up’ improvements to towns, valleys and villages approved by Neath Port Talbot Council’s Rainbow Coalition. The programme includes £200,000 for improvements at public toilets, £445,000 on…

The first Child Friendly Cardiff Awards will take place this July to celebrate and recognise children, young people and organisations that have championed children’s rights in their community, every-day life and workplace. Organised by Child Friendly Cardiff, members of the public can nominate people and organisations before Monday 12thJune, with the winners being notified by Monday 3rdJuly and the winners being presented with their award at a ‘Rights Fest’ event on Tuesday 11thJuly at Cardiff City Stadium. Child Friendly Cardiff has been supporting the Council in embedding children’s rights into its policies and strategies,and delivering projects aimed at upholding rights…

Clayton Hotel Cardiff is partnering with Food Cardiff, the city’s rapidly growing food partnership, to help fund its Community Food Retail Network – supporting people who are struggling to access food or under pressure from the cost of living. The hotel has secured more than £3,000 via the M&G plc Community Fund which Food Cardiff will now use to support the 2,000+ beneficiaries of its Community Food Retail Network.  Community Food Retail projects are not-for-profit, charity or social enterprise initiatives rooted within a local community, with a strong social mission to tackle food related issues. The Cardiff Community Food Retail Network is a…

Two leading businesspeople have praised the ongoing regeneration of Swansea. Rowland Jones, Director at RJ Chartered Surveyors, and Carwyn Davies, Managing Director of Hacer Developments, think the scale of development work in the city augurs well for a bright future. Schemes led by Swansea Council include the Copr Bay district, with Swansea Arena, the new bridge over Oystermouth Road and the new coastal park having now been open for over a year. Projects where construction work is continuing include the 71/72 Kingsway office development at the former Oceana nightclub site that will provide space for 600 workers in sectors like…

Wagonex, a platform for car subscriptions, recently added two new members to its product development team. Joel Livermore will serve as Head of Product, while Claude Compere will take on the role of Lead Software Engineer. Joel is head of the product team at Wagonex and has six years of experience in developing products for various sectors, such as consumer, financial, and real estate. He is currently leading the development of Wagonex’s next generation car subscription platform and has created a product strategy and roadmap to ensure its excellence. Previously, Joel worked at Rolls-Royce, as a continuous improvement engineer where…

A Cardiff social housing provider has doubled the space it holds in a local community allotment after realising the positive mental health and financial benefits for its residents. Taff Housing, based in Canton, purchased 15 plots in the Leckwith council-run allotment back in 2019. However, after receiving positive feedback from residents has managed to secure additional space, enabling more people to enjoy its many benefits. Studies show that seeing and being around plants and greenery helps us to feel calmer and more relaxed, which consequently decreases levels of anxiety. Nurturing and caring for plants has also been proven to reduce…

A Bridgend man has appeared in court to face over 100 charges of child sexual offences as part of an investigation by the South Wales Police Online Investigation Team. The investigation started when police received intelligence about suspicious online activity, involving the downloading of indecent images of children from the dark web. The offender was confirmed as 23-year-old Lewis Edwards from Bridgend and identified as a serving police officer. Following his arrest, Edwards was immediately suspended from duty and resigned. An accelerated misconduct hearing was held which delivered the sanction of dismissal. He has been added to the barred list,…

A warzone nurse from Merthyr Tydfil has completed nearly a million steps on the road back to fitness after treatment for breast cancer. Andrea Davies-Tuthill, 52, who was keen to regain her strength as she’s unable to exercise like she used to , was one of the stars of the popular S4C show, FFIT Cymru. Her battle to get fit and maintain healthy eating habits are not helped by the long shifts she works at the hospital and gruelling tours of duty with the Army which have included visits overseas to war-torn Afghanistan. Over seven weeks Andrea and the four…