Author: Rhys Gregory

Rhondda Cynon Taf Council is investing a further £40,000 in its red dog waste bins and is improving the availability of ‘doggy’ bags in a bid to help irresponsible dog owners. The majority of dog owners across the County Borough are responsible, but those that are not, are leaving their mess behind them for others to step in – or worse. There are over 1500 red dog waste bins across the County Borough all situated in well-known dog walking locations and hot spots. The latest investment will now see more bins installed or replaced where needed and the addition of…

Pembrokeshire Communities are being invited to apply for a ‘Happy to Chat’ bench to help tackle loneliness and isolation. ‘Happy to Chat’ benches feature a simple sign which reads ‘Sit here if you don’t mind someone stopping to say hello.’ The benches are being made available thanks to an Age Friendly Communities grant. Pembrokeshire County Council’s Older Person’s Champion, Cllr Simon Hancock, said: “Some people may go days or even weeks without the simplest of human contact and are living in increased isolation so the ‘Happy to Chat Bench’ seeks to break down that social barrier and encourage conversation. “As…

The regeneration of Swansea is benefiting with funding of £740,000 this year from a grant scheme managed by Swansea Council. It’s helping businesses and other organisations invest in local areas thanks to money from the Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns “placemaking” programme. The funding helps revitalise town centres across Wales with schemes such as creating new homes above commercial premises, upgrading vacant commercial units to bring them back into use and creating biodiversity projects such as green walls and green roofs. Swansea Council projects aided by Transforming Towns this year include the creation of the popular new Market Garden at the…

Bridgend County Borough Council’s cabinet have approved a three-year strategic plan for children’s social care in Bridgend. The plan sets out the purpose of children’s social care in the county borough and emphasises the importance of culture, behaviour, and values in delivering that purpose. The purpose in the plan is: Working together to enable better outcomes for children, young people and their families via strong relationships, effective practice and timely and responsive services, which support children and families to live together (wherever possible) work on difficulties and safeguard children from harm’ The strategic plan sets actions for the next three…

Bridgend County Borough Council will contribute funding and officer support towards the Senior Open Championship when it visits Porthcawl in 2023. It was announced last year that the Senior Open – Europe’s only senior major championship golf tournament – would return to the Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in 2023. The tournament first visited Bridgend county borough in 2014 and saw more than 43,000 visitors travel to Porthcawl to watch Germany’s Bernhand Langer, the most successful player in Senior Major Championship history, triumph by an incredible 13 shots ahead of Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie. Today, Cabinet approved a £50,000 contribution towards the…

The very first Parc Margam 10k run raising money for the Mayor of Neath Port Talbot’s Charity Fund is to get under way in the beautiful surroundings of Port Talbot’s Margam Country Park on Sunday, March 13th. Entrants can choose between 10k and 5k routes and as well as enjoying the run through the historic park, they will help raise funds and awareness for the two very worthy causes chosen by Neath Port Talbot Mayor Cllr John Warman’s Charity Fund this year  – the Neath Port Talbot Cancer Challenge and British Heart Foundation Cymru. The brand new event is being…

Wales has today become the first nation in the UK to require all of its licensed commercial fishing boats are fitted with a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS). Boats 12m or more in length were already required to have such a system in place, but an Order coming into force today means those under this size, more than 350 boats, must have a VMS device. The under 12 metre fishing fleet makes up around 97% of Welsh registered fishing boats. The VMS will transmit the geographical position, date, time, speed and course of a boat, at least once every 10 minutes,…

The Welsh Government has announced a package of expanded measures to help people with the cost-of-living crisis, including a £150 cost-of-living payment to be paid as soon as possible and an extra £200 for low income households through the Winter Fuel Payment next winter. The funding package is significantly larger than equivalent support provided by the UK Government in England. Rebecca Evans, Minister for Finance and Local Government, said the support reflects the Welsh Government’s priority of “creating a fairer Wales in which no-one is left behind.” She announced the funding as she publishes the supplementary budget later today (15…

Thousands of people in Wales will have access to a new antiviral medicine which can significantly reduce their risk of being admitted to hospital with COVID-19. People who are at the greatest risk of becoming seriously ill if they test positive for the virus include people with cancer, people with Down’s syndrome, people who have had a transplant and people who are taking medicines that suppress their immune system. New COVID treatments have been available in the community since December to help prevent this group of people developing more serious disease if they contract coronavirus. To date, more than 700…

Board management software helps organizations improve the efficiency of their internal operations by automating routine tasks. Additionally, it allows directors to focus more on governance responsibilities rather than worrying about minute details. Here is a list of the top 10 nonprofit virtual board software that are known for exemplary performance. 1. BoardPro BoardPro is software that centralizes all the organization’s data in one secure location so that workers can quickly find and share information with colleagues. With BoardPro, managers no longer have to scramble to find the files they need before meetings or waste time scanning and uploading documents after…