Author: Rhys Gregory

New measures will be introduced from 6am on Boxing Day to help keep Wales safe. The measures are a revised version of alert level two to respond to the new omicron variant and are designed to help keep businesses open and trading and protect customers and staff. The regulations bring back protections in hospitality businesses, including licensed premises, and in cinemas and theatres when they re-open after the festive period. Strengthened guidance will be issued to help people stay safe in their own homes and when meeting others. £120m will be available for nightclubs, retail, hospitality, leisure and tourism businesses…

Swansea rainforest zoo Plantasia has received renewed support from Welsh financial services company Admiral to bolster the venue’s educational animal conservation programmes. Plantasia on the Road is a schools programme that takes the rainforest zoo experience to local schools and communities, delivering workshops in the classroom that feature animal handling and virtual tours. The aim of the initiative is to show children how they can positively affect our planet. The programme, which has been running for nearly two years, has enabled over 5,000 children to acquire subsidised learning, with over 12,000 set to have access to the scheme in 2022.…

The three-day Welsh International Culinary Championships (WICC) is set to return in February next year. The event will be held from February 22-24 at Grŵp Llandrillo Menai’s campus in Rhos-on-Sea and will run alongside the National and Junior Chef of Wales contests. The event includes competitions to suit every level of experience, covering omelettes to Welsh Lamb, vegetable cuts to Ultimate Cupcakes. In addition, the WICC plays host to the Major International Challenge and, for the first time, the Riso Gallo Young Risotto Chef Challenge. The competitions for chefs and front of house learners traditionally attract students from colleges across Wales…

The Youth Work Excellence Awards are an opportunity to recognize and celebrate outstanding Youth Work projects, Youth Workers and those involved in Youth Work across Wales. The Welsh Government has celebrated excellence in Youth Work since 1993 and the awards are now in their 27th year. Ceredigion Youth Farmers Club was successful in winning the ‘Demonstrating Excellence in Partnership Planning and delivery at a local level’ category, bringing home the award to Ceredigion. The awards were premiered on 09 December via Youtube and although the ceremony was held online, Youth Workers and organisations across Wales tuned in to celebrate excellent…

Patients in Western Vale will be able to get their booster vaccination closer to home this week, thanks to a partnership with Well Pharmacy. Cardiff and Vale University Health Board will be utilising the Well Pharmacy mobile unit in which will be based in the Town Hall car park in Cowbridge. This unit will improve access for the population and increase the number of booster vaccinations given. This will in turn reduce the length of time for residents in the Western Vale area to travel to receive their vaccination as the vaccines are brought closer to home. The mobile unit…

Analysis from ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and The Corporate Finance Network that SMEs across Wales are worryingly reliant on short-term financing like business overdrafts with uncertainty affecting growth plans. Data from the latest edition of the ACCA UK and CFN SME Tracker shows that accountants report that 1 in 5 Welsh SME clients (20%) have not returned to pre-covid levels of productivity and turnover. While this is comparatively positive against UK totals (1 in 4 failing to recover), there is further evidence that Welsh SMEs were reluctant to take a longer term view. Fewer than 20% of…

Rail passengers are being asked to check before they travel as Transport for Wales introduces an emergency rail timetable from Wednesday 22 December. This is to prepare for an expected rise in staff shortages due to the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and to ensure the company can continue to provide a reliable service throughout this latest stage of the pandemic. TfW and Network Rail have already seen a significant increase in staff absences since the beginning of December and this has started to impact rail services. Absences are expected to continue to rise sharply over the coming…

A college learner from Caerphilly, is one step closer to achieving her dreams of becoming a screenwriter after securing a place on a prestigious writing programme held at a world-renowned literature festival. Coleg y Cymoedd learner Cerys Baker, 16, is one of only twenty learners to have been selected to take part in the Beacons Project – a specialist writing programme for 16-18 year old aspiring Welsh writers and journalists held at Hay-on-Wye’s famous Hay Festival. Hundreds of learners from schools and colleges across Wales applied to take part in a programme of creative workshops, discussions and events aimed at…

More than 20 Welsh artists have started to unleash their creativity on their giant Snoopy sculptures, which will be featured in next year’s A Dog’s Trail with Snoopy – a public art trail that will see 40 Snoopy sculptures take over the streets of Cardiff, Caerphilly and Porthcawl to raise vital funds for Dogs Trust. The Snoopy sculptures have been temporarily homed in a dedicated painting space at Cardiff Bay’s waterfront dining and shopping centre Mermaid Quay, one of the trail sponsors. Mermaid Quay centre manager, Simon Whiting said: “We are delighted to welcome the A Dog’s Trail with Snoopy…

Leftover turkey and the trimmings from across Wales and south west England will be put to good use this Christmas, helping to produce enough green gas to heat more than 150,000 homes, new data shows. In a report released by Energy Networks Association (ENA), as part of its first ever annual Britain’s Green Gas Scoreboard, the data shows that enough biomethane green gas, produced from food waste, along with cow-dung and household sewage, is now being produced from Wales & West Utilities network to supply over 150,000 homes, whilst also supporting greener electricity production by displacing natural gas. This is…