Author: Rhys Gregory

A coalition of Welsh organisations have joined forces to call on the UK Government to end the freeze on the Local Housing Allowance. Members and supporters of the Homes for all Cymru coalition have called on the UK Government to end the freeze on the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) at its upcoming spring budget. The LHA is designed to provide people with enough support through the benefits system to afford the cheapest 30 per cent of housing in an area, adjusted for household composition. With LHA having been frozen since 2020, however, this is far from the case. New research…

On International Women’s Day 2023 (Wednesday 8 March), Aberystwyth University announced it is renaming one of its flagship academic buildings in honour of the first Welsh woman to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). Professor F. Gwendolen Rees (1906–1994) was a leading zoologist and a pioneer of parasitology at Aberystwyth. She also featured in British Vogue magazine in 1975 in a celebration of influential women in society. Her name will appear on the former Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) building on Penglais campus, now home to the Department of Life Sciences (DLS) which was…

On behalf of Marston’s PLC, business property adviser and pub specialist, Christie & Co, has been instructed to market a selection of 61 freehold pubs in England and Wales from the national pub company’s estate. The assets, which are a selection of Marston’s non-core properties, include a mix of leased, tenanted, retail and managed pubs, and are available to purchase individually, in small groups or as a group package. Noel Moffitt, Senior Director – Corporate Pubs & Restaurants at Christie & Co, who is managing the sales process comments, “This is a fantastic opportunity for individuals and multiple operators to…

​​​​​​​A number of treasures from the vaults of Swansea Council’s libraries service will on public display this week. They’ll include items from the service’s historical collections including materials from the founding collections and the 1887 opening of the Alexandra Road Library by four-time Prime Minister William Gladstone. There’ll be works from historically significant local writers such as 19th century novelist Ann of Swansea and novelist and businesswoman Amy Dillwyn. Other items will include a Dylan Thomas Omnibus illustrated by artist Ceri Richards, newspapers and historical maps and wartime memorabilia. Swansea Central Library’s Tales from the Vaults event will celebrate the…

The date has been set for the second annual Mayor of Neath Port Talbot Citizen Awards! Following 2019’s hugely successful inaugural event, the awards ceremony, which recognises unsung heroes from across Neath Port Talbot, will take place at Margam Country Park’s beautiful Orangery on Friday, April 21st, 2023. The event’s return was held up by the Covid pandemic but with headline sponsors Tata Steel UK and John Pye Auctions plus other sponsors on board, a call is now going out to those who know of deserving groups or individuals and would like to nominate them for awards to contact us…

The next stage of Pembroke’s South Quay redevelopment project is set to take place in the coming weeks. The Henry Tudor Trust and Pembrokeshire County Council are working in partnership with the aim of delivering a high quality visitor attraction and community hub at the historic and prominent South Quay site, which is adjacent to Pembroke Castle. The new facility will comprise a fantastic new attraction for visitors and local people, exploring the story behind the birth of the world-famous Tudor Dynasty, within a stone’s throw of the birthplace of its first king, Henry Tudor. It will also include a…

Pupils and staff at Ysgol Llandudoch in St Dogmaels are all safe and well, following an evacuation of the school premises this lunchtime due to a strong smell of gas in the area. The 80 children and 10 staff have been evacuated to St Dogmaels Memorial Hall. All children and staff are safe. Parents are advised that between now and the end of the school day children can be collected from the Memorial Hall. A gas leak was identified at Maeshyfryd road, and Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, Dyfed Powys Police and Wales and West Utilities are…

Caerphilly County Borough Council’s first event of the year took place in Blackwood Town Centre last weekend, Saturday 4th March. Blackwood welcomed an exceptional 8,058 visitors with 1,197 being the peak attendance at midday. It was the busiest day of the year so far, with 3,160 more visitors in the town compared to the previous Saturday. There was a whole host of food and craft stalls, a funfair, and plenty of activities and street performances, which kept everyone entertained! It was a great start to the year; the town centre, retailers, and the community were hugely benefitted. Hear what local…

Plans to modernise taxi services across Wales have been outlined in a white paper on the Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle (Wales) Bill published by the Welsh Government today (Thursday 9 March). The proposals will deliver on a Programme for Government commitment to modernise the taxi and private hire vehicle sector and are intended to make services safer, greener and fairer. Taxis and PHVs play a vital role in making public transport a more practical choice by providing people with connections for the first and last mile of journeys as well as alternatives when other transport services are either not…

Free school meal holiday provision will continue to be available to children from lower income families for the Easter and Whitsun school holidays, the Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles, has confirmed today (March 9th). The funding is an agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru. With the cost-of-living crisis continuing to have an impact on families across Wales, £9m has been provided to offer eligible pupils a free school meal up until the end of May half term holiday, including all bank holidays during this period. The announcement comes on International School Meals Day on 9th…