Author: Rhys Gregory

Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Engineering Projects Group has engaged Edwards Diving Services Ltd to undertake works to reinstate storm damaged stone cladding along the river training walls within the Bargoed Country Park. Funding for this work has been sought and obtained from Welsh Government.  Local restrictions to the pedestrian footpaths in the immediate vicinity will be enforced during this works in the interests of public safety. The works is planned to start 6 May 2022 and end 19 September 2022.

Newport City Council is joining forces with Job Centre Plus and Restart Newport to host a jobs fair in Newport Centre on 25 May. Employers are being invited to showcase their vacancies to residents looking for work, or new challenges, between 10.30am and 3.30pm. This will be the first “in-person” City of Newport jobs fair since before the pandemic began and previous events were extremely popular with both local employers and job seekers. More than 20 employers have already signed up to take part in this year’s event.

The mandatory housing measures for poultry and captive birds, which were introduced across the United Kingdom to help stop the spread of bird flu, will be lifted from 00:01 on Monday 2 May 2022, the Chief Veterinary Officer has confirmed today. Poultry and other captive birds will no longer need to be housed, unless they are in a Protection Zone, and will be allowed to be kept outside. While the risk of bird flu has been reduced to ‘medium’ for premises with poor biosecurity, the enhanced biosecurity requirements that were brought in as part of the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone…

Estyn will today publish a report for young people to support them to feel more confident about recognising and challenging sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour by other pupils. This youth-friendly report will support schools to recognise and challenge peer-on-peer sexual harassment and will help staff and pupils reinforce messages about what is and isn’t acceptable behaviour.   It follows a report published by Estyn in December 2021 which highlighted experiences of sexual harassment amongst secondary school pupils in Wales. The report, called We don’t tell our teachers – Experiences of peer-on-peer sexual harassment among secondary school pupils in Wales, contains…

AN INNOVATIVE new course will support company owners managing a remote or ‘hybrid’ workforce due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Level 4 and Level 5 programmes will be delivered by Northop Business School – part of Coleg Cambria – and are aimed at directors, senior leaders and HR employees who faced the unprecedented challenge of switching operations online during lockdown. Pre-Covid, less than 10% of the UK workforce worked remotely; now, up to a third of companies have introduced hybrid systems for all staff, meaning many will spend two to three days at home in a spare room or makeshift office.…

Fifteen of the regions’ best players from Gwent Hockey Club have been called on to represent their club on the international stage at the EuroHockey Club Challenge III taking place 8th to 11th June in Turkey. The club will face hosts Alanya Stars, as well as teams from Luxemburg and Gibraltar, plus local rivals Swansea who have also qualified for the competition. “We are thrilled to be represented by an outstanding team at this year’s competition,” said Tim Miller, Vice Chair. “I know the team are: training hard and preparing themselves for difficult matches under Turkey’s hot sun.” The club…

Following the lockdown pet boom, Uber has launched it’s brand new of-fur, Uber Pet, allowing you to sniff out an Uber that your furry friend can ride in worry-free Following successful trials across Europe, it will now be paw-ssible to bring your animal sidekick to ride alongside you with the same Uber comfort that we all know and love. The new service is being launched as an in-app offering allowing riders to select an additional surcharge that lets their pets join the ride. Selecting the Uber Pet option will notify the driver that there will be a pet riding alongside.…

Minolis of Machen has been crowned National Champions at the ice cream ‘Oscars’, the National Ice Cream Competition. This former dairy farming family has won this, the most coveted prize in the ice cream industry for the 4th time – and their delicious ice cream is served in their adjacent Basil & Rusty’s ice cream parlour and café based on the same farm – Gellwasted Farm, Machen just outside Caerphilly. “We are absolutely delighted to win this award,” said Geraint Richards, Chief Ice Cream Creator for Minolis, and co-owner with his wife Emma of the adjacent Basil & Rusty’s parlour…

Cardiff-based Pelican Healthcare Ltd, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of disposable stoma products in the UK and Ireland healthcare markets, has won a prestigious iF DESIGN AWARD for its latest innovative ostomy pouch range; ModaVi. Launched in Germany in 1953, the iF seal signifies good design for consumers and the design community. One hundred thirty-two high profile design experts from over 20 countries made up this year’s iF jury panelwhose task it was to find and award submissions with the greatest innovative power. A record number of 10,776 products and projects from 49 nations were registered for the iF…

Aldi helped local charities in Wales provide 18,250 meals to people in need over the Easter school holidays. The supermarket paired its stores up with local charities, community groups and food banks to donate surplus food, making the most of unsold fresh and chilled food throughout the Easter period. Around 105 tonnes of food were donated throughout the UK, with more than 187,000 meals expected to be donated to causes focused on supporting families and children. The donations followed research from Aldi and community-giving platform Neighbourly which found that 100% of food banks in Wales have seen demand soar since…