Author: Rhys Gregory

A new Deputy Chief Executive of Caerphilly county borough council has been appointed to help deliver an exciting programme of change and improvement across the organisation. Dave Street, the council’s former Director of Social Services, has been formally appointed to the role yesterday (Thursday 18th May) and is looking forward to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. “I’m delighted to be offered this key position, which will help shape the direction of the council in future,” said Dave Street, “I’ve worked for Caerphilly for over 27 years and my experience in social care means that I know our county…

A county councillor from Presteigne has been appointed the new Chair of Powys County Council. Cllr Beverley Baynham, who represents the Presteigne ward, was elected chair at the council’s annual general meeting on Thursday, May 18, succeeding Cllr Gareth Ratcliffe, local member for Hay-on-Wye. Cllr Baynham, who was elected as a county councillor for the Presteigne ward in 2017, held the position of Chair of Powys County Council during 2019/2020. Elected Vice-Chair of the council at the same meeting was Cllr Jonathan Wilkinson, local member for Llangyniew and Meifod, and Cllr William Powell, local member for Talgarth, was elected Assistant…

Funding worth more than £620,000 has been awarded by Swansea Council over the last year to organisations across the city which help tackle poverty and the cost of living crisis. Thanks to Welsh Government funding, organisations and schools to have benefited include those that provide period dignity support in Swansea by providing free products. Also thanks to Welsh Government funding, there were 150 successful applications to the household support and direct food support grant schemes for organisations which tackle food poverty and food insecurity. Between April 2022 and March 2023, organisations have also benefitted from other Welsh Government funded schemes…

Voting is now open to decide on a shortlist of potential bands to open Green Man’s  iconic Mountain Stage in August. Welsh bands Hyll, Mellt, SHLUG, Rona Mac and Papa Jupe’s T.C. have made the long list of 23 potential finalists in the Green Man Rising emerging artist competition and it’s now down to you to vote on who makes the shortlist of five final acts. All five finalists will record a professional session ahead of the live streamed virtual final, which will run across Green Man’s digital channels in the summer. Green Man Festival has a worldwide reputation as…

A PIONEERING ice cream parlour and pizzeria is encouraging businesses to share its appetite for a net-zero future.  In partnership with sustainability experts Greener Edge, Glaslyn has a vision to work with farmers, suppliers, and the community to make Eryri/Snowdonia National Park a carbon-free area. The Beddgelert venue managed to achieve net zero status while retaining the skilled, traditional methods that made its popular ice cream a multi-award winner, including two titles at last year’s Great Taste Awards. Following an initial assessment by Stu Meades, managing director of Greener Edge – also based in the Gwynedd village – they came…

Aimee Hill was six months pregnant when she was diagnosed with a rare cancer behind her eye. 34-year-old Aimee had no symptoms and found out she had the disease after a ‘freckle’ was spotted in the back of her left eye during a routine optician’s appointment. Further scans showed the mum-of-one had ocular melanoma – an eye cancer found in around 750 people in the UK each year  In January 2021 Aimee from Port Talbot started treatment at St Paul’s Eye Clinic in Liverpool. She had plaque radiotherapy – a high dose of radiation to a small area. A small…

Ian Woosnam, the 1991 Masters Champion and 29-time DP World Tour winner, will return to his Welsh roots when he tees it up in The Senior Open Presented by Rolex at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club from July 27-30. The South Wales venue will host Europe’s only Senior Major Championship for the third time, having welcomed the event in 2014 and 2017, and Woosnam will join already-announced fellow Major winners Darren Clarke and Pádraig Harrington in the field at Royal Porthcawl. The 65-year-old is Wales’ most successful golfer of all time with 52 professional wins to his name during a glittering…

Clinical trials of an easy-to-use home therapeutic treatment for SARS-CoV-2 (coronaviruses) are underway following a £1.52 million investment led by the Development Bank of Wales alongside Science Angel Syndicate members and the KBA Group, an angel consortium of high net worth individuals co-led by Dr Nikolaos Kostopoulos and Paras Barot. Based on world-class research carried out at Bristol University, Halo Therapeutics was established as a spin-out company in 2020 by Dr Daniel Fitzgerald, Professor Christiane Schaffitzel, and Professor Imre Berger. Halo Therapeutics has been attracted to Wales following an £1,000,000 equity investment by the Development Bank of Wales and will…

Hundreds of thousands of trees have been planted across Wales thanks to the Welsh Government’s My Tree Our Forest project, delivered by Coed Cadw, the Woodland trust in Wales, and Llais y Goedwig. In 2022, My Tree Our Forest was launched to help mitigate the effects of climate change with trees available through a number of routes. The project saw thousands of households across Wales collect a tree to plant at home, free of charge, helping to kickstart a National Forest for Wales. In a pilot phase in March 2022, five collection hubs facilitated by Coed Cadw and Llais y…

HUNDREDS of customers and special guests attended the grand opening of a much-anticipated pet store. PetPlace unveiled its revamped 25,000 sq ft Llangefni site at the weekend. There was plenty for curious canines and their two-legged friends to enjoy including an obstacle course, face painting, free ice cream, special offers, micro-chipping clinics, brand discounts and a host of games and activities. World-renowned animal psychologist Roger Mugford – who trained the late Queen’s corgis – held free behaviour sessions, and the RSPCA and independent businesses and suppliers were on hand to share information and showcase unique products, centred on health, wellbeing,…