Author: Rhys Gregory

The annual Christ College Brecon Invitational Sevens Tournament took place on Sunday, 27 February with twenty of the top teams from across Wales and England taking part. Storms and rain subsided for a pleasant day which saw Ysgol Glantaf lift the all-important Cup, with Brentwood School securing the Bowl and Cardiff and Vale College picking up the Plate. In its 32nd year, the tournament was sponsored by Vale Veterinary Centre and hosted by Christ College Brecon on its top-class sports grounds in Powys. Teams from across the country took part, including Llandovery College, Hartpury College, Clifton College and Millfield School,…

A catering assistant at a care home has been hailed a budding Picasso after creating a “fantastic” portrait of his late grandad who was one of their much loved residents. Jack Skinner’s captivating artworks have touched the hearts of residents and staff at Pendine Park’s Hillbury Care Home in Wrexham who say they’re blown away by his incredible artistic talent. His skill was unknown to co-workers until Jack set to work on the portrait of his beloved grandfather, Frank Thomas, who died, aged 78, on December 22. The stunning result surprised and inspired them and he’s now been dubbed the…

Tears of joy flowed as women from across Conwy saw their highly personal artworks go on display at an exhibition at a library. The show, Emerging Woman Art Journey, features 13 paintings produced by talented tenants of the Cartrefi Conwy housing association over the course of the last three years. The courses were conducted by the acclaimed Shropshire-based artist Lisa Lochhead. The women attended courses organised by Cartrefi and now Llandudno library, in the town’s Mostyn Street, is staging the month-long exhibition which also features a short video in which the embryo artists talk about their work. Watching the video…

A stunt mouse with “star quality” that’s appeared in a blockbuster Netflix show and EastEnders is making her debut in a Welsh language TV comedy series. Tipper, the talented brown rodent, will feature in a key scene in one of the episodes in the second series of the award-winning sit-com, Rybish (Rubbish), on S4C. Produced by Caernarfon-based Cwmni Da, filming took place at a real-life recycling centre in Blaenau Ffestiniog. The first episode will be broadcast on S4C at 9pm on Friday, April 1. The plotline involving Tipper is being kept under wraps but it is known that she will…

The relocation of the dairy herd in 2020 gave father and son David and Tomos Adams of Llanfrynach Farm quite a conundrum.  But it gave light to a new business venture –launching their zero-mile Milk Shed – a vending machine on the outskirts of Cowbridge in the middle of a trio of storms. “Relocating was quite a challenge to start but it’s transformed our way of farming, possibly having the only off-grid milking robot in the UK, our cows now decide when they want to be milked each day in a robot powered standalone renewable energy system using solar power…

Cardiff Council will be engaging the publicon how the city can improve the transport network using data and technology to reduce congestion, improve bus travel and incentivise cycling and walking. Using real-time information an ‘intelligent transport system’ could use a range of measures to help people take decisions about the best way to move around the city on a given day or time, including: Having a transport user app for the public Ensuring that the new bus interchange is integrated into Cardiff’s highway network Developing integrated ticketing between different forms of transport Implementing SMART corridors to improve bus journey times…

The Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing Lynne Neagle has confirmed an additional £7.7m in funding to continue providing SilverCloud Wales – the free online mental health support tool for a further three years. The work will be overseen by Powys Teaching Health Board. SilverCloud Wales is a free online therapy service designed to help people who experience mild to moderate anxiety, depression or stress, manage their mental health and wellbeing. Following an all-Wales pilot scheme launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, the service has helped people access online mental health support. As we move out of the pandemic the…

An ambitious plan to build more than 4,000 high-quality homes across the city and tackle a range of issues, including fire safety, repairs and homelessness, is at the heart of one of Cardiff Council’s latest core initiatives. The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan for 2022-2023, which will be considered by the council’s Cabinet on Thursday March 10, outlines a series of wide-ranging objectives including: Building new council homes; Investing in existing homes and community facilities; Preventing homelessness; Tackling poverty and supporting people into work; and Moving towards zero carbon. The key proposal is a commitment to build more than…

The stand on gambling and casinos varies in different parts of the world. On the one hand, you have countries like the UK and US where casinos are thriving and have even created a culture—take Las Vegas, for instance. In other countries, gambling might not have been popular, but it’s slowly starting to rub off on people. In Canada, the uptake of casinos is a bit slow, but in states like China, more people are joining in on casino entertainment and cities such as Macau, “the Vegas of the East” are coming up. Some nations such as Qatar, UAE, and…

Denbighshire Leisure is lighting up its buildings in Ukraine’s flag colours of yellow and blue to show solidarity. Famous landmarks in countries across the world are being lit up to show support to Ukraine following the Russian invasion. Rhyl Pavilion theatre, 1891 restaurant and bar, the Ruthin Craft Centre, The Sky Tower in Rhyl, as well as bus stops and shelters across the coast, will be lit in yellow and blue this week. Jamie Groves, Managing Director of Denbighshire Leisure Ltd, said: “The thoughts of the whole company are with those affected by the situation in Ukraine. We wanted to…