Author: Rhys Gregory

Azets, the UK’s largest regional accountancy firm and business advisor to SMEs, has announced two new appointments to the internal audit team. Gareth Campbell has joined the team as Assistant Manager and Debra Webb as Senior Internal Audit Manager – they will be working from the Cardiff office and covering internal audit clients across the South West and Wales. With over 20 years’ experience, Debra is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Internal Auditors (CMIIA) and a Lean Six Sigma Greenbelt Practitioner. Debra has worked across both the public and private sectors, most recently with Tata Steel Europe, delivering…

The film ‘Save the Cinema’ is a true story looking back at Liz Evans’s campaign to save the Lyric Theatre from closing in Carmarthen. Stars such as Jonathan Pryce, Samantha Morton, Tom Felton, Adeel Akhtar and Susan Wokoma feature in the film. As the production started, art director Gwyn Eiddior visited UWTSD’s Carmarthen Campus to see if there were any props or scenery he could possibly use for the film as it was being filmed in Carmarthen. After requesting on social media later that day for use of a workshop to build sets for the film in Carmarthen, Lecturer Dave Atkinson…

Wales’s newest private school is bringing a £6 million plus windfall to Denbighshire as it unveils plans for its latest expansion. Award-winning Myddelton College, Denbigh, which was only founded five years ago, is already up to 281 pupils and has announced plans to open Reception and Years One and Two classes from next September. That will mean the school will provide a full education for pupils aged from four to 18 and is likely to see numbers go through the 300 mark later this year. The annual budget for the school is £3 million which includes staff wages, food and…

SWANSEA icon and panto star Kevin Johns MBE is set to get Honorary Freedom of the City – oh, yes he is! Mr Johns is being honoured for his charity work and for being one of our city’s best-known ambassadors. A report going to Full Council next week will ask councillors to endorse the proposal. If they do Mr Johns will follow Catherine Zeta Jones, rugby legend Alun Wyn-Jones and a host of others who’ve had the honour down the years. Rob Stewart, Leader of the Council, said: “Kevin Johns is one of Swansea’s best-known and best-loved characters. “Kevin has…

Public feedback is being invited on an important document which aims to improve all aspects of well-being in Pembrokeshire. The Draft Well-being Assessment for Pembrokeshire, produced by Pembrokeshire’s Public Services Board (PSB), is online now at: The Well-being Assessment is a requirement set out in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act. The Act requires key public and third sector organisations to create a PSB and work together to improve the economic, environmental, social and cultural well-being of its area and communities. The Well-being Assessment looks at the key issues for people and communities in Pembrokeshire, across all aspects of…

A Pembrokeshire roofer who ‘could not care less’ about the faulty work he carried out at a disabled pensioner’s home has received a suspended prison sentence. Scott Keane, aged 41 and trading as Pembrokeshire Roofing Services, charged the victim £8,000 for work on her roof, but within weeks serious leaks were discovered. Following a complaint to Pembrokeshire County Council’s Trading Standards team, an expert was commissioned to examine the work. The subsequent report highlighted many serious faults with all aspects of the roof and recommended that it be replaced. Following an investigation, Keane, who advertised his services on Facebook, was…

Neath Port Talbot are the first local authority to sign a pledge ensure that care-experienced children and young people in their care have their precious belongings treated with dignity, care and respect whenever they move home. The ‘My Things Matter’ campaign, created by leading children’s rights charity NYAS (National Youth Advocacy Service), is calling for all local authorities across England and Wales to sign up to a pledge outlining five promises, when moving children and young people in care, so they don’t have their belongings moved in bin bags. Local authorities who do so will be eligible to receive free…

Conditional planning permission for a new development team to take forward the transformational Afan Valley adventure resort project has now been granted after the signing of a legal agreement. The project – the first of a planned series of UK leisure developments under the Wildfox Resorts brand – could create hundreds of jobs and provide significant social and environmental benefits for the Afan Valley and surrounding areas. Conditional approval for the Salamanca Group to progress the project to its next stages was granted by members of Neath Port Talbot Council’s Planning Committee on October 12th last year subject to the…

Residents are being invited to have their say on proposals for improvements to the local walking and cycling network between Caldicot, Portskewett and Caerwent/Crick. Monmouthshire County Council is currently working with Sustrans Cymru to make local active travel – a term used for journeys with a purpose – in the area accessible, more enjoyable and safer for the whole community, encouraging more journeys to be taken on foot or bicycle instead of by car. Two new traffic-free routes are being designed: one through Caldicot Castle Grounds and another along the old disused railway line from Portskewett to Caerwent and Crick,…

Last week, Kier Hardie’s Ty Enfys Dementia Day Care Unit received the ‘Meaningful Care Matters’ outstanding accreditation, a first to be awarded in Wales. The audit by Meaningful Care Matters (MCM) found the quality of life experienced by day care patients at Ty Enfys was at the highest level, with outstanding care provided by loving and engaged staff who really cared deeply for their patients whilst bringing joy, dignity and meaning to their care. The Ty Enfys capital project has seen integrated care fund capital of £1.6M utilised to completely transform the physical environment of a joint health and social…