Author: Rhys Gregory

Local Cardiff charity, City Hospice, is holding its annual Light Up A Life Remembrance Service to remember and celebrate the lives of loved ones. The free service will take place on December 1 in the grounds of the hospice in Whitchurch and will feature a variety of Christmas carols, performances and readings from local schools and organisations before the Christmas tree lights are switched on. Performers will include Llanishen High School Choir, Côr Caerdydd, CytSain Choir and Perfect Pitch, a string quartet featuring students from year eight upwards from Howell’s School, Llandaff. During the evening, those attending will have the…

DIY Pigs in Blankets have hit supermarket shelves in Wales thanks to the country’s best known butcher teaming up with the UK’s biggest grocer. The succulent combination of sausages wrapped in streaky bacon is a highlight of the festive feast and now making your own has never been simpler. Edwards the Welsh Butcher has come up with an easy to assemble kit of ten premium quality tasty pork sausages and ten slices of streaky bacon and the marriage of the two is made in heaven, according to the firm’s founder and chairman, Ieuan Edwards. He has even given a video…

Willy Russell’s legendary musical Blood Brothers is playing at the Wales Millennium Centre and it’s one you won’t want to miss. I can’t believe it has been three years since the multi-award winning musical has been seen on a Cardiff stage; last at the New Theatre in 2019 to now centre stage of the Donald Gordon Theatre in Cardiff Bay. Considered to be one of the best musicals ever written, Blood Brothers, written by renowned playwright Willy Russell has triumphed across the Globe. Scooping up no fewer than four awards for Best Musical in London and seven Tony Award nominations on…

A daredevil Parkinson’s nurse has completed a skydive in memory of her late father, who was diagnosed with the condition. Cheryl Williams, 45, from Caerphilly, plummeted towards the ground at 135mph after jumping from a plane with Skydive Swansea above the stunning Gower Peninsula, to raise money for Parkinson’s UK Cymru. The mother of two, and Nan of one, took on the challenge with her husband, Dean, and together they raised £1,385 for the charity, as a tribute to her dad, Graham Booth, who passed away at the age of 69. The dedicated health worker, who works across Gwent with…

As part of celebrating its 100th year in business, iconic Welsh brand, Joe’s Ice Cream, has shown its commitment to the local community by planting 100 trees in Pellergare Woods, Swansea, on Saturday 26th November. The event was a multi-stakeholder effort by Penllergare Trust, Swansea University Tree Society, Centenary Forests and Joe’s Ice Cream, with a focus on rejuvenating conservation land and encouraging biodiversity by planting trees that are native to the local area. Amongst those in attendance were Dominic and Adrian Hughes, the great nephews of the company’s founder, Joe Cascarini, and Lucy Hughes, Joe’s great-great niece and current…

Wales’ biggest festive light trail is back and bigger than ever this winter – with a specially composed soundtrack and a UK premiere in cutting-edge lighting design as its grand finale. Visitors to Christmas at Bute Park 2022 will be the first in Britain to see the brand new iridescent light orb experience ‘Prismatic’, designed by one of the UK’s foremost lighting designers, DBN Audile. It is among a host of new installations being introduced in the event’s second year, alongside a magical ‘Light Canyon’ awash with a thousand mesmerising stars, a lake of light created by hypnotic lasers to…

Christmas 2022 is officially underway in Wales after its premier festive lights trail opened its doors to the public for a second year, with a host of new sights in tow. Christmas at Bute Park is back and brighter than ever this winter, with a specially composed soundtrack and a UK premiere in cutting-edge lighting design as its grand finale. A host of familiar faces have joined visitors in becoming the first people in the UK to witness the brand-new iridescent orb experience ‘Prismatic’, created by leading lighting designer DBN Audile, during the course of its opening weekend in Cardiff…

Groups and organisations with great ideas for how to improve the wellbeing of their local communities are invited to apply for a grant from the new 2023 Community Changemakers Fund created and administered by South West Wales Connected Community Rail Partnership (SWWCo). Now in its third year, the Community Changemakers Fund supports innovative ideas to improve the places in the South West Wales rail network. Applications are open to any group of local residents, community organisation, charity, community interest company or micro-SME that is based within 10km/6miles of a train station on the network, which covers the counties of Neath…

A college in south Wales has launched a scholarship fund for young refugees as part of a national charity Christmas challenge, which will see all donations matched pound for pound. UWC Atlantic in Llantwit Major has been selected by The Big Give, the UK’s largest matched funding campaign, to feature in its annual Christmas fundraiser alongside other UK charities. The south Wales college aims to raise £34,250 in just one week, as part of a scheme to provide education opportunities to refugee children. The internationally-renowned UWC Atlantic, founder of the UWC global education movement, will use the funds to support…

Age Cymru volunteers linked to our HOPE project (Helping others participate and engage) were recently recognised for all their hard work and achievements in the Gwent area at the GAVO 2022 awards ceremony.  The HOPE project uses volunteers to support older people and their carers in their local community to have their voices and wishes heard and to achieve their personal aspirations and goals.  They also help people with their issues or concerns and help them to resolve similar issues themselves in the future.  Initially volunteers were trained to undertake face-to-face support with clients at home for low level advocacy…