Author: Rhys Gregory

What does it mean to be a business for good? Many businesses of a certain size will subscribe to some concept of Corporate Social Responsibility – but is it any more than lip service?  Recently, those organisations who pledge to do more for their planet and communities than simply turn a profit are being celebrated as part of B Corp Month.  There are over 6,300 certified B Corps worldwide, all of which have met strict criteria and been officially recognised for their commitment to making a positive difference, but it’s hoped that celebrations throughout March will have inspired many more…

Development work will give Llangollen’s Riverside Park a refreshing new look. Contractors are working on a raft of new features for the Llangollen site. The work has been made possible through the Welsh Government’s Brilliant Basics funding round for 2022/23 that is available to enhance parks and recreational spaces. Brilliant Basics is a fund to deliver basic small-scale tourism infrastructure improvements across all of Wales in order to ensure that all visitors have a positive and memorable experience throughout all aspects of their stay. A new 9-hole bespoke mini golf is due to be finished end of March with holes…

Cardiff Bay’s leading entertainment venue The Red Dragon Centre is hosting a free Spring Safari Trail this Easter holidays. A menagerie of wild animals will take over the Centre between 30 March and 16 April, with grass sculptures of giraffes, rhinos and more spotted around the mall, along with fun facts to learn about the animals. As well as being able to take photos with the animals, visitors are also being challenged to take part in a free prize draw by spotting the letters hidden on each of the characters and unscrambling them to find a mystery word. The winner’s…

The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) in Machynlleth is hosting a series of family-friendly events throughout the Easter holidays (01 – 16 April) — designed to help visitors celebrate spring, connect with nature and learn more about helping wildlife thrive. A variety of activities will take place each day — from hunting for fascinating facts about pollinators along the bee trail and identifying pond creatures with CAT’s wildlife rangers to helping create a ‘tiny garden’ that will support wildlife at CAT for years to come. There will also be opportunities to take part in a woodland bird survey, join a…

National Lottery funding has helped to set up Wales’ first community dodgeball club for children in Pontypridd.The Rhondda Dragons Dodgeball Club have had an adults team for the last five years, but the club has now branched out to cater for the large numbers of children who would like to play dodgeball outside of school.The club were awarded £770 from Sport Wales’ Be Active Wales Fund – which uses National Lottery funding – to help the new junior section become established. As a new club, they were eligible for funding to pay for ten weeks’ worth of sports hall hire…

Carmarthen Hwb, a wellbeing and cultural centre housed in the former Debenhams store in the centre of Carmarthen, has been given the go ahead. A Notice of Commencement was issued on 13th March 2023 and works at the former department store on St Catherine’s Walk will start. Bouygues UK is the preferred bidder for the project, which is a collaboration between Carmarthenshire County Council, Hywel Dda University Health Board and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD). Funded by the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund, the Hwb will be a public space which will promote preventative health care and…

Thrive Women’s Aid, which supports victims and survivors of domestic abuse in Neath Port Talbot, has appointed Liz Downie as its new Chief Executive Officer. Liz joins Thrive from Valleys to Coast Housing Association, where she worked as its Corporate Director of People, Culture and Organisational Development. Liz takes over from Lucy Reynolds, who left Thrive to become CEO of Chwarae Teg. A fellow of the Chartered Institute of Professional Development, Liz has worked as an Executive Director within the Housing Sector for the past five years, during which time she volunteered in several non-executive positions including as the Chair of…

A new and independent body that will strengthen the power and influence of people’s voices in shaping health and social care services across Wales is launching this week. From 3 April 2023 Llais will replace the work of Wales’s seven Community Health Councils which have supported the interests of people using NHS services for nearly half a century. Llais will transform the way that service users are heard and valued. Working locally, regionally and nationally across social care and health care together for the first time, it will offer the people of Wales a way to have their say in…

More than six hundred native broadleaf tree saplings have been planted in fields in Monmouthshire with help from the Wye Valley AONB’s Nature Networks Project, and volunteers from Coed Cadw, the Woodland Trust in Wales. Coed Cadw also contributed trees to the project. TV presenter Kate Humble used the Nature Networks project to plant hundreds of trees in two fields at her working farm in Monmouthshire. She explained her motivations, saying: “A year ago, I was suddenly hit with the feeling that our north-facing field – which is bordered by ancient woodland – could be doing something a bit more…

Teachers in Wales have access to a series of new bilingual resources on refugees and asylum seekers, thanks to work by Aberystwyth University. Developed by academics from the Department of International Politics with funding from the Welsh Government, the suite of new educational resources ‘Understanding sanctuary, refugees, conflict, and Russia’s war in Ukraine’ are suitable for primary and secondary school pupils and teaching staff. Focusing on key issues such as sanctuary in Wales, war and conflict, and refugees and asylum seekers, the resources aim to provide educators with the tools to discuss sensitive and contemporary issues with a range of…