Author: Rhys Gregory

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…

Have you made the switch to an EV but not sure how your battery will perform in cold weather? Here are CarFinance 247 co-founder and COO Louis Rix’s top tips for caring for an electric car in winter. Most of us don’t perform at our best in cold weather and electric cars are no exception. While EVs are improving and the latest models aren’t severely affected by a drop in temperature, the cold can still slow the movement of lithium ions in the battery. This means it won’t work as efficiently as normal and could limit the range of your…

Homeowners in Wales can take advantage of a range of measures to help energy-proof their homes this winter. This includes cost-effective and simple home improvements through more extensive upgrades requiring sometimes significant investment. There is also advice and support from the Welsh government to help homeowners with rising energy costs this winter. The Welsh Government has a Warm Homes programme offering funding for eligible households to help with energy efficiency improvements plus there is free and unbiased advice available to all households. This support is offered by a scheme called Nest which was previously called Arbed. Nest is aimed at…

Neath Port Talbot councillors are being asked to approve a £4.2m programme of ‘clean up and green up’ improvements to towns, valleys and villages over the next 18 months. The spending reflects one of the earliest priorities of Neath Port Talbot Council’s Rainbow Coalition – to improve the “public realm” throughout the county borough. The proposed programme will see £200,000 spent on improvements at public toilets, £445,000 on cleanliness (involving new electric street vacuums and sweepers), £142,000 on improved grass mowing, £800,000 on improved playgrounds and green spaces and £300,000 on improved bus shelters. A further £344,000 will go on…

Neath Port Talbot councillors have opted to retain Cefn Coed Colliery Museum with a view to growing it into a major heritage attraction. Museum and culture expert Chris Delaney was brought in to look at options for the future of the site with one being to hand back the lease to the Welsh Government/Cadw and another being to use the site for non-heritage purposes. But his recommended third option, for the council to retain the museum and make it a visitor attraction and gateway to the local area as part of its developing Heritage Strategy, has now been adopted by…

ncouraging safeguarding professionals and practitioners to engage with and listen to children and young people was at the heart of an event hosted by the Mid and West Wales Regional Safeguarding Board for children, as part of its National Safeguarding Week activities and program for 2022. The event which took place on November 18th at Parc-y–Scarlets stadium in Llanelli, was attended by professionals who play a key role in safeguarding children, including police officers, nurses, social care staff and education professionals, and by children and young people from across the region, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Powys. A safeguarding training resource…

Visitors to Newport city centre on Saturday 3 December can look forward to some festive fun while supporting local businesses. Newport City Council has hired some street entertainers in support of Small Business Saturday campaign. The nationwide annual campaign highlights small business success and encourages consumers to “shop local”. Although it puts the spotlight on one day, the campaign aims to have a lasting impact on small businesses. Councillor Jane Mudd, Leader of Newport City Council, said: “It is vital that we support our small businesses and the “shop local” message has never been more important. “This year’s major events,…