Author: Rhys Gregory

Twinkle-toed residents at a care home danced their way through the decades at a surprise concert courtesy of an award-winning painter. After the long months of lockdown, Pendine Park’s Hillbury Care Home in Wrexham opened its doors to The Adderbury String Quartet for an afternoon concert, much to the delight of residents and staff. The performance was funded by talented artist Angela Scott who hosted a charity art exhibition in honour of her sister, 91-year-old resident and former Mayor of Knutsford Jenny Holbrook, who suffers with dementia. The watercolour painter, who lives at Sodylt Home Farm, Ellesmere, Shropshire, was joined…

It’s ‘go, go, go’ for Hope House Children’s Hospices as it will appear on some of the country’s most famous racing tracks thanks to Ferrari racing team WalkerSport. The Llanymynech-based team will now carry its local children’s hospice’s branding across its car alongside some of its famous sponsors, including Pirelli. Tim Walker, race driver, race instructor and owner of WalkerSport says he is honoured to carry the name of the hospices on tracks such as Brands Hatch, Silverstone, Oulton Park and Donnington. “Hope House is an incredible local charity and we are proud to be associated with them and represent…

A 24-year-old business owner is hoping to make his new leisure venue all the rage in Swansea Matthew Griffin, 24, opened the first Lumberjack Axe Throwing on Catherine Street, Cardiff in July, 2019 aged just 21. Now, thanks to a £35,000 micro loan from the Development Bank of Wales, Matthew has opened a Lumberjack site on Dilwyn Street, Swansea. As well providing a venue for axe throwing – an increasingly popular indoor sport – the new venue will see the addition of Wales’ first permanent “rage room”, which gives customers the chance to work out their stresses by freely smashing…

The UK arm of global packaging specialists, Tri-Wall, are continuing their ambitious expansion programe with the acquisition of The Corrugated Case Company, a Derbyshire-based sheet plant manufacturer. Tri-Wall UK Ltd, with its HQ in Monmouth, has signed a deal to take over CCC located in Chesterfield, with a clear intention to expand operations, invest in equipment and grow jobs. Founded in 1996, The Corrugated Case Company has become one of the UK’s leading specialists in the design and manufacture of corrugated packaging products. With a frim reputation of quality, innovation and delivering value for its customers, CCC is a great…

The hunt is on for one very lucky person who has just won £2,000 by playing the Crackerjackpot lottery which supports Tŷ Hafan children’s hospice.   The winning ticket – number 000074 – for the weekly Crackerjackpot Jackpot draw was bought in Tŷ Hafan’s shop on High Street, Lampeter, on 29 July at 11:46. The buyer paid cash and also bought an item of jewellery from the shop at the same time.   The lucky winner has 12 months to come forward and claim their winnings before the ticket expires and the prize is lost.  Matt Bolger, Lottery Manager for Crackerjackpot, said: “This £2,000 prize is a substantial amount of money and could make a…

On Friday 19 August Lloyd Rees from Brecon will attempt to break the British shearing record by shearing over 873 lambs in just nine hours to raise funds for Parkinson’s UK and the Wales Air Ambulance. Lloyd, aged 28, has been shearing since a young age, having been brought up on a sheep and beef family farm in Llandefalle. Since then, he has entered many competitions, such as the Young Farmers’ Club county rally machine-shearing and hand-shearing competitions, and travelled to New Zealand to pursue his shearing career. In 2019, Lloyd sheared 725 lambs as part of the four stand team…

Age Cymru is urging older people in Wales who are living on a low State Pension to check their eligibility and apply for pension credit before 18 August 2022 to receive the £650 cost-of-living payment scheduled for this coming autumn.  The £650 payment, announced by the UK Government back in May, will be paid to those who receive Pension Credit in two lump sums of £326 and £324. The first was due to be paid last month and the second in the autumn. New, successful applicants will receive the full £650 payment.  To receive the extra payment, older people must have…

Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board is opening six new community vaccination centres (CVCs) to help deliver this autumn’s COVID-19 booster programme. The Health Board currently has three CVCs in Llantrisant, Merthyr Tydfil and Bridgend.  Those three are being handed back to their local authority owners, and will close as vaccination centres today (Friday, August 12).  In the case of Llantrisant and Merthyr Tydfil, both of which are leisure centres, it means they can now be returned for the community to use for their original purpose. The six new CVCs are in Health Board buildings, and open next week (Monday,…

Following last week’s warm weather, it’s all about to change with a yellow weather warning from the Met Office for thunderstorm this week. Whilst some places will miss them, thunderstorms and areas of heavy rain seem likely to develop quite widely on Tuesday across parts of England and Wales. 20-30 mm of rain is possible within an hour, but where areas of thundery rain become slow-moving, some places could see 50 mm in less than three hours. There is a low probability that higher totals could occur in a few spots over the course of the day, while hail and…

Swansea Council has transformed a hillside in the city, into an exciting and picturesque walking and cycling route. The site, known locally as the Ravine, in the Townhill community, has been reclaimed by the new route which was funded through the Welsh Government’s Active Travel initiative. Surrounded by trees and green landscape, the 1.4km shared use route zig zags down a steep embankment, linking Gors Avenue to Gwent Road. Walkers and cyclists of all ages can now easily travel between both roads avoiding main roads and also enjoying the views across the city while they travel. Andrew Stevens, Cabinet Member…