Author: Rhys Gregory

PLANS to preserve the heritage of a North Wales railway that inspired Thomas the Tank Engine and Brecon’s 1,000-year-old cathedral have taken a step forward. It’s thanks to over £250,000 in developments grants that have been awarded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The Talyllyn Railway in Tywyn is getting a £110,000 award for its ‘Talyllyn Railway: Preserving Our Past Building Our Future’ project. And Brecon Cathedral has secured £158,297 for its ‘People, Passion, Priory: Brecon Cathedral, The Heart and Soul of Community’ project. The grants will allow the Talyllyn Railway Company and Brecon Cathedral to draw up detailed plans…

Swansea Building Society has donated £12,500 to its official staff charity, Maggie’s Swansea, presenting a cheque at the charity’s annual ball, held at the Brangwyn Hall, Swansea, on Friday October 7, 2022. In total, the event raised almost £70,000 for the cancer charity’s Swansea Centre. This donation adds to the previous sum of £2,500 given earlier in the year at Swansea Building Society’s AGM, where a pound was donated for every vote cast by its members. The cancer support charity was chosen as Swansea Building Society’s official charity for 2022, following a ballot by its staff, with funds being raised…

One of the UK’s leading independent insurance brokers, Towergate Insurance Brokers, has renewed their sponsorship deal with the Cardiff Devils for a further two years. The agreement coincides with the start of the new season and sees Towergate Insurance Brokers’ branding featured across the Devil’s hockey kit, the team’s website, programmes and rink-side at Ice Arena Wales. Towergate Insurance Brokers, which has over 100 offices nationwide, has a strong Welsh presence and a strong relationship with ice hockey, having been one of the Devils’ key sponsors since 2019. Gary Stevens, Area Managing Director for Towergate Insurance Brokers in Wales, said:…

A £10.000 donation by kind hearted trailer makers can help the Wales Air Ambulance save five lives, according to the charity. Long-term supporters Ifor Williams Trailers kicked off the fundraising at the Urdd National Eisteddfod in Denbigh where they had a stand. They converted one of their trailers for use in the  rugby line-out throwing competition with cut-out holes for targets in its tilted bed. Entrants paid £1 for each go and they raised around £4,000 which the company matched pound for pound and then rounded up the total to £10,000. The money was presented to Debra Sima, the Wales…

Arriving in Wales for the very first time, sourdough pizza pioneer, Franco Manca, has announced the opening of a new Cardiff pizzeria, on Church Street. Opening to the public on 24th October, Franco Manca is celebrating the launch by offering 50% off all food for four days from opening until Thursday 27th October. Iain Cross, Operations Manager at Franco Manca said: “We couldn’t be more excited to finally open the doors to our very first Welsh home in the heart of Cardiff. Cardiff is a truly wonderful city with a lively food scene, and we’re so excited to bring our…

A Caerphilly-based marine engineering firm has expanded and acquired new premises with the support of a £2.25million finance package from Lloyds Bank.  Edwards Diving Services has purchased a state-of-the-art 32,000 sq ft property on Treforest Industrial Estate to support its next phase of expansion. The move will help to facilitate the firm’s future growth ambitions and doubles its footprint in Wales, giving it more headroom to diversify and maximise new customer opportunities.   Established in 1992, Edwards Diving Services provides a wide range of complex and bespoke underwater engineering services for public framework and private sectors clients including the RNLI.…

A Swansea-based kidney charity, Popham Kidney Support, has recently unveiled an exciting new initiative for businesses: an opportunity to become associated partners with the charity. This new initiative has been created to develop mutually beneficial relationships with businesses throughout Wales to support the charity’s aims of improving the lives of Children, youths and adults with Kidney Disease in Wales, while also aiding with its effort to raise £130,000 for the refurbishment of the Children’s Kidney Centre at Cardiff & Vale University Hospital by March 2023. Popham Kidney Support is extending this opportunity to businesses throughout from any industry, and all…

A new £50 million collaboration is set to help develop a world-leading hub for innovation across TV, film, and the wider media industry in Wales. Media Cymru will help develop businesses and individuals within the sector with a series of funding rounds, training, research, and opportunities over the next five years which will revolutionise the media landscape in the Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) and secure a status of global excellence. The collaboration aims to strengthen the economic contribution of media activities in the CCR, creating millions of additional turnover across the next five years, hundreds of jobs and supporting the…

Hywel Dda Health Charities has funded over £30,000 worth of items and equipment for the new Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) in Glangwili Hospital. The new unit, which officially opened in January this year, cares for some of the most vulnerable newborn babies and serves families across mid and west Wales. The state-of-the-art unit has been purpose built to meet the needs of new-born babies and their families, as well as the neonatal team who cares for them. Karen Jones, Senior Nurse Neonates, said: “We would like to thank families who have kindly donated money to enable us to purchase…

Two major research bodies will join a Development Bank-led research partnership to provide new insights and data-backed perspectives on the Welsh business environment. Economic Intelligence Wales has welcomed the addition of Bangor Business School and the Enterprise Research Centre to its unique partnership. Led by the Development Bank of Wales, Economic Intelligence Wales was launched in 2018 to gather and produce analysis on Wales’ economy. The new members will join existing partners the Development Bank of Wales, Cardiff Business School, and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to produce reports and develop further insights into the real-time issues affecting the…