Author: Rhys Gregory

The Football Association of Wales has launched its first ever sustainability strategy, ‘Cymru, well-being and the world’, outlining its vision for a “global, local Cymru”, using the power of football to improve the nation’s well-being. With the men’s national team heading to their first World Cup in 64 years, chief executive Noel Mooney said the organisation will put sustainability at the heart of all its decisions and encourage the whole football ecosystem – and the rest of the nation – to follow its lead. The strategy has been developed with the support of the Future Generations of Wales Commissioner, using…

BHF Cymru is appealing to the local community to get involved and donate the gift of time by volunteering in the Newport shop on Commercial Street. Head of BHF Cymru Rhodri Thomas visited the shop to thank members of Lloyds Banking Group Customer Service Team who took part in a volunteer day, meeting staff and regular volunteers who support the charity. Lloyds Team manager Emma-Jane Giles said: “We decided to volunteer for the British Heart Foundation as it is a charity that is close to a lot of our team and has impacted our own families. The work they do…

A woman whose ongoing migraines stopped after her twin sister was diagnosed with a brain tumour is fundraising to find a cure for the disease. Hilary Stockton of Prestatyn in Denbighshire was 18 when she began suffering with painful headaches and a change in vision. Simultaneously her identical twin Hayley Hinds was also suffering with migraines. Hilary went for an eye-test and was referred to HM Stanley Eye Hospital in Abergele and was sent on to Glan Clwyd Hospital A&E in Rhyl, where a scan showed a mass on her brain. She was diagnosed with a low-grade tumour. The next day…

New research has revealed the impact the Covid-19 pandemic had on senior staff in Welsh schools. According to a Swansea University report their wellbeing is not only lower than the UK average but senior leaders also experienced moderate to high stress with more than half displaying depressive symptoms. More than 170 senior leaders from schools across Wales took part in the Covid-19 School Leadership Survey which aimed at exploring the burden and stress that school heads and senior leadership staff experienced during Covid-19. Their responses have now formed the basis of a new report, led by Dr Emily Marchant, from…

A young entrepreneur from North Wales has drawn from her own personal experience to develop a bilingual book business that offers mental wellbeing support for people across Wales. Siwan Jones, originally from Bangor, is preparing to launch her bilingual book subscription service and monthly book club, Swyno, with the support of Welsh Government’s youth entrepreneurship service, Big Ideas Wales. Launching this month, Swyno encourages young people to explore their mental health by immersing themselves in relatable, bilingual literature. Each month Swyno’s book-loving founder Siwan carefully handpicks an English and Welsh read featuring key themes that she hopes people of all…

An ancient ice sheet once covering Britain and Ireland disappeared more rapidly than previously thought, experts at Aberystwyth University have discovered. Published in the journal ‘Boreas’, the research studied the last British-Irish ice sheet, which contained enough ice to raise global sea-levels by almost two metres when it melted. The researchers wanted to know how long it takes for such large ice sheets to disappear. As part of the £3.7 million BRITICE-CHRONO project, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, experts at Aberystwyth University used their luminescence dating techniques to track the advance and retreat of the ice sheet between…

Today (Tues 8 Nov), school leaders’ union NAHT Cymru releases findings from a survey which received responses from 670 school leaders in Wales, revealing the desperate cuts schools are having to make in the face of rising costs and government underfunding. The majority of schools in Wales report that they will have to make redundancies next year: Around three quarters (73%) say they will have to make teaching assistants redundant or reduce their hours More than half (61%) say they are looking at reducing the number of teachers or teaching hours Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary, said: “Schools are being hit by a perfect storm of costs.…

Award-winning bar The Botanist is launching an immersive game for its guests to play in celebration of Wales’ matches during the winter World Cup this November and December.   The prize for every winning player of the bar’s Champions of Beer is a free pint of Madri on the house, and there’s a 50/50 chance of winning every time. Guests must simply guess the correct winner of any Wales game to claim a free beer.  All you have to do to get involved is head to the venue to watch any of Wales’ games during the World Cup and buy a…

Globetrotting Jamie Tully has been appointed executive chef at a popular Mid Wales training restaurant with rooms just days after its four star grading by Visit Wales. Tully has joined Chartists 1770 at The Trewythen in Llanidloes where he is working closely with head chef Paul Fox and four other chefs, including three apprentices. One of his first jobs was to devise a mouth-watering Christmas menu which features traditional turkey as well as seasonal game dishes influenced by his trademark international flavours. Tully joins the restaurant with rooms from Teulu Restaurant at Caer Beris Manor Hotel, Builth Wells, where he…

A green-fingered gardener working in some of Cardiff’s most loved parks has been named ‘Apprentice of the Year.’ In 2018 Teaka Scriven was working as an engineer, enjoying looking after her back garden in the little spare time she had, and dreaming of a career change. That change came when her enthusiasm for taking on a new challenge bowled over the panel at interview and just four years later, she has been named the winner of the UK-wide APSE Environmental Services Apprentice of the Year award – something she says even she couldn’t quite believe. “When they called my name,…