Author: Rhys Gregory

The £132 million Swansea Bay City Deal Campuses project has been approved by the UK Government and Welsh Government.  With £15m secured to develop sites in Morriston and Singleton, this project will promote innovation and business growth in the expanding Medical Technology and Sports Technology sectors. The project is led by Swansea University, in partnership with Swansea Council, Swansea Bay University Health Board, Hywel Dda University Health Board, A Regional Collaboration for Health (ARCH) Partnership and key private sector partners. It’s planned to generate over 1,000 jobs in the Swansea area and will be worth over £150 million to the…

Barratt Developments South Wales has donated over 300 re-plantable Christmas tree saplings to pupils at St Mary’s RC Primary School in Chepstow and Castle Park Primary School in Caldicot — encouraging families to enjoy a greener Christmas this year. By planting the saplings this festive season, it is hoped the trees will grow to be enjoyed as family or school Christmas trees for years to come. Not only will this prevent future cutting of more trees, but for each one planted, more carbon dioxide will be removed from the atmosphere. What’s more, each pupil has also received a list of…

Morrisons is giving away 10,000 wonky British carrots to customers who want to leave out refreshments for Father Christmas and his reindeer on Christmas Eve. The wonky carrots – which are oversized, misshapen and scarred, but still taste delicious – will be handed out in bags labelled ‘Carrots for Rudolph’ from the entrances of our 498 Morrisons stores across the UK from Wednesday 22ndDecember. The move aims to introduce children to wonky veg and encourage families to buy large, misshapen or slightly scarred carrots. During the festive period, our carrot sales soar, from a typical 500k bags-a-week in Morrisons to…

A VIBRANT pop-up retail and advice hub for independent producers provided shoppers in a coastal town with plenty of Christmas cheer. Love Live Local @ Rhyl has been home to artisan creators, food and drink makers and craft companies over past weeks. A hit with customers in the White Rose Centre, the 3,000 sq ft unit – supported by Antur Cymru, Denbighshire County Council and the Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns Coastal Communities Fund – has also been offering Business Wales support and guidance to the traders, who all hope to go on and have their own premises in the future.…

227,000 families and individuals across Britain are experiencing the worst forms of homelessness, new research from homelessness charity Crisis reveals today. This includes people sleeping on the streets, stuck in insecure accommodation like B&Bs, or forced to sleep in cars and sheds because they don’t have a place to call home.  The research, led by Heriot Watt University, shows 227,000 households on any given night are without a home to call their own. Most of these households are in England, not just because of the larger population, but also because there are higher levels of homelessness than in Scotland and Wales: 0.86% of all households in England are experiencing homelessness on any given night, compared with 0.69% in Wales and 0.57% in Scotland. These different rates of core homelessness across the three nations are due to the different housing and homelessness policies…

This December, a group of National Lottery winners have joined forces to support a Welsh pet food bank as they gear up for a busy festive season. The millionaire team, made up of dog-loving winners from across Wales, jumped at the chance to spend the day with National Lottery funded community interest company Cariad Pet Therapy, and meet some of the doggy volunteers. Volunteers for the day, the National Lottery winners donated lots of pet supplies to the pet food bank and were able to see for themselves how the organisation operates and learn more about their beneficiaries. The National…

Monmouthshire’s residents, staff and companies have pulled out all the stops and come together in true Monmouthshire style to support the council’s Christmas Wishes appeal for 2021. The campaign, which is organised by the Children’s Services Team, has raised over £5,000 and will go towards gifting around 300 vulnerable children and young people in the county with either a voucher or a gift this Christmas. For many, these gifts and vouchers will be the only gift they receive but it’s hoped the generosity of so many can help bring some festive cheer to families who need it the most. The kind…

Founded by Jim and Joan Johnson in 1982, Johnsons’ Delicatessen was once a haven of Italian meat, cheese and sweet-treats in Merthyr Tydfil — operating for more than a decade. Now, nearly 40 years later, the much-loved local venue has re-opened its doors in the town centre — with thanks to the original owners’ granddaughter, Jessica Howells, who ‘grew up’ on the original shop floor. Open as of Saturday 04 December, the deli’s grand return has been made possible by an investment from Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council and its Meanwhile scheme — which supports new enterprises to open in…

Planned consultations to close three small primary schools in north Powys will not take place, Powys County Council Cabinet has agreed. Powys County Council is looking to reconfigure and rationalise the primary school provision in the county as part of its Strategy for Transforming Education in Powys 2020-2030. Earlier this year, Cabinet agreed to start the statutory process to close Llanfechain Church in Wales School, Llangedwyn Church in Wales School and Ysgol Bro Cynllaith. Cabinet also agreed to start the development of a business justification case for a new extension to Llansantffraid Church in Wales School and to start to…

A report released by Welsh Government and Fly-tipping Action Wales revealed that Caerphilly are one of the top performing councils for issuing fixed penalty notices to tackle fly-tipping in Wales. A total of 25,047 waste enforcement actions were recorded by local authorities in Wales over the 12 months, between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021. These include prosecutions, fixed penalty notices, investigations and stop-and-search checks. To continue efforts across Wales in the long-term fight against waste crime, Fly-tipping Action Wales is calling on Welsh homeowners to ensure that they are disposing of their excess household rubbish responsibly, by following…