Author: Rhys Gregory

Powys County Council’s new Progressive Partnership has this week published its draft budget for 2023/24. It balances the need to deliver sound services at an affordable cost and protects the most vulnerable in society, while continuing the council’s journey towards its goal of net zero carbon by 2030. Council Leader, Cllr James Gibson-Watt said: “This has been the most difficult budget-setting process the county council has ever experienced.  The impact of over 10% cost inflation, the consequent need to increase staff pay to meet the cost of living crisis and a huge increase in demand for social care as a…

Welsh Government has appointed four new expert members to the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority including from Black, disability and LGBTQi+ backgrounds to ensure its plans ‘represent all voices’ and that action to tackle the climate and nature emergencies is taken ‘in togetherness’ In the foreground of south Wales’ highest mountain peak, Pen-y-Fan, Minister for Climate Change Julie James met the new appointees to set out her expectations and hear the vision of the Authority which has set out five missions at its core: climate, nature, water, people and place. Having recently returned from UN global biodiversity talks, COP15, in…

Mark Williams rolled back the years in 2018 with a magical performance to win his third World Championship. The Welshman recorded the longest gap between world titles by achieving the feat after last winning the crown in 2003. Williams almost called time on his career after failing to qualify for the World Championships in 2017 but bounced back to form to produce a thrilling run to the final before edging out John Higgins. The 47-year-old’s form since then has been encouraging at The Crucible, reaching the semi-finals in 2022 where he was narrowly beaten by Judd Trump. He was a…

The recent upward trend of unlicensed casinos poses a great risk to inexperienced players who might mistake them for the real deal. Unlicensed casinos, also known as “rogue” or “black market” casinos, are online gambling sites that operate without proper licensing or regulation. These venues are famous for offering irresistible bonuses or games unavailable within licensed casinos. Your wallet, your time and your mental integrity might be endangered by the illegal practices of unlicensed casinos. Since they activate within an unregulated environment, they are not subject to the same rules and regulations that licensed casinos must follow. Here’s a selection…

When it comes to the development of video games, traditional attention goes to the likes of America, Japan, and England. The last few generations have challenged this former status quo, however, with a wide range of different countries getting dipping their toes into the water of gaming. Wales is one such place, where gaming has expanded rapidly in terms of both player base and development studios. From gambling to casual and hardcore play, Wales contains a significant modern market, and it’s only going to get bigger. As a Game Producer According to a Clwstwr Wales game survey performed in 2021,…

Betty Campbell MBE has been awarded a posthumous honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt) from the University of South Wales. This is the first posthumous honorary degree that has been awarded by the University. Betty Campbell was a pioneering educationalist, community leader, and activist. Born and raised in Butetown, Cardiff, to a working-class family, Betty grew up determined to become a primary school teacher. After having her first three children, she was one of the first nine women to attend Cardiff Teacher Training College after it lifted its gender ban. She went on to teach, and then in the 1970s became…

School pupils across North Wales have raised more than £100,000 for Hope House and Tŷ Gobaith’s children’s hospices by taking part in the charity’s Dragons’ Lair Challenge. The Welsh Baccalaureate-accredited scheme not only helps to raise money to support seriously ill local children but also helps students across the region to use creativity and teamwork, enhance enterprise and employability skills as well as counting towards their qualification. Small groups of Year 10 pupils are given the opportunity to create a fundraising idea to grow £10.00 into vital funds for Hope House and Tŷ Gobaith and then pitch their idea to…

Construction activity in Wales slowed at the end of last year according to The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Construction Monitor, and Welsh respondents expect overall workloads to fall during 2023. However, there is a mixed picture at a sub-sector level, with aspects of the industry including infrastructure and public housing remaining more positive at present. The net balance for overall workloads in Wales was +11% in the latest quarter, down from +15% in Q3 and +37% at the beginning of 2022. The most significant contributor to the slowdown comes from the private industrial sector, where workloads slipped to…

A nurse who has offered a lifeline to families of people living with dementia is has vowed to carry on after reaching her 70th birthday. Maggie Langford is a much loved figure at the Pendine Park care organisation in Wrexham  where, for more than two decades, she has been a lynchpin for relatives having to witness loved ones go through the emotional and physical trials of dementia and other illnesses. Having reached the age of 70 at the end of 2023, she has decided to stay on offering the support and inspiration that so many families and her fellow staff…

Swansea Building Society, with branch offices in Swansea, Mumbles, Carmarthen and Cowbridge, has appointed a new Non-Executive Director to its board – Sophie Thomas. Thomas comes to the role with over 13 years as a practising solicitor, specialising in commercial litigation with additional significant experience in property law. The majority of Thomas’s legal career has been spent with JCP Solicitors in Swansea, where she is currently Director and Joint Head of Commercial Litigation. This role sees her lead a team providing a service to lenders recovering secured and unsecured business lending from companies and individuals across the UK. Thomas is…