Author: Rhys Gregory

IN ITS latest overview of the UK’s defined benefit (DB) pension scheme sector, The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has reported a 12% increase in the probability of it being able to pay all benefits due with the assets it holds, plus future returns. The reassuring ‘probability of success’ figure now stands at 95%, up from 83% in 2020. The announcement was part of the PPF’s annual ‘Purple Book’, which uses data collected over the year to 31 March and identifies trends and developments and forecasts possible implications going forward. Speaking about the latest report, Senior Consultant and Actuary at Quantum…

While Christmas is often referred to as the most wonderful time of the year, the festive period can be extremely overwhelming for people on the autism spectrum. Autism affects 1 to 2% of the UK population, with around 700,000 adults and children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. For those living with autism, Christmas can feel like an attack on the senses with new smells and sights, as well as loud noises, heightening sensitive sensory needs. Dr Vaughn Price, Principal Clinical Psychologist at Beechwood College, has offered advice on how to effectively prepare an autism-friendly Christmas for yourself or a…

Roy Williams OBE, one of the most sought-after playwrights of his generation, has joined the Royal Welsh College as its Writer in Residence. Roy’s role will include writing one of the four plays in RWCMD’s ground-breaking NEW writing season, mentoring and teaching playwriting as part of the acting course’s acclaimed solo written projects, and contributing to the department’s regular Creative Forum discussions about repertoire and programming, as well as to the general cultural life of the College. Roy came to the College last week to meet the students and start to get to know them, especially the final year students…

Domino’s has opened a new store on Port Road, Newport welcoming 40 new jobs to the area, including pizza chefs, in store team members and delivery drivers.    Alongside firm Domino’s favourites, including Pepperoni Passion and Vegi Supreme new additions include items from the recently launched festive range, The Festive One and Cookies with After Eight®.    To celebrate, we’re offering customers Any Size Pizza for only £8.99 when you collect until the Sunday 2nd January 2022.  Naveed, Area Manager at Newport Domino’s said: “We’re excited to have opened a third store in Newport allowing us to deliver our delicious menu of…

Cadw has submitted the full plans for Caerphilly Castle enhancement works, which will see the medieval monument benefit from extensive conservation, renovation and construction works. With details of the project first announced in June 2021, the £5m plans aim to cement Wales’s largest Castle as a world-class heritage attraction by 2023 — welcoming visitors from across the nation and beyond. Plan submission marks the start of the ambitious programme of works that will begin this month, with conservation work to the Inner East Gatehouse. In spring 2022, further development and enhancement work will begin, including construction of a new visitor…

The headline NatWest Wales Business Activity Index – a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of the region’s manufacturing and service sectors – registered 57.6 in November, down from 61.5 in October, to indicate a sharp expansion in business activity across the Welsh private sector. The rate of growth was in line with the UK average despite easing from October’s marked upturn. The increase in output was often linked to a sustained uptick in client demand. That said, the expansion was reportedly weighed down by material shortages. Welsh private sector firms signalled a further…

Ramblers Cymru’s community led Paths to Wellbeing £1.2m funded project is seeking to transform walking and nature across 18 areas, by helping people to develop their path network and improve their local green spaces. Supported by 6 regional officers, Ramblers Cymru will give volunteers the tools and training needed to find and design new routes and improve existing ones. This will help provide important spaces to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of the communities. Sophie Jenkins, who lives in one of the selected areas, Brynberian, said: “We’d love to engage local families and children in the project, inspiring them to take ownership of their local ‘milltir sgwar’ (square mile) and conserve it for generations to come. The benefits would also be felt by our local wildlife, and we would hope to go some way…

Guinness World Records™, the global authority on record-breaking, today announces that two GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS titles have been broken. Sylvia Pope from Swansea, Wales has achieved the Guinness World Records title for the Largest collection of Christmas bauble ornaments – 1,760 and Adam Wide from Hastings, England has achieved the Guinness World Records title for the Largest collection of Christmas brooches –7,929. Sylvia Pope, 79 from Swansea, affectionately known as Nana Baubles has collected an incredible 1,760 Christmas ornament baubles and is confident that after this year’s shopping trip her collection will top 2000. A visit to Nana Baubles is…

Brave staff at a housebuilding company have bared all to raise funds for a national cancer charity. Men and women from Bellway’s divisional office in Cardiff have posed for a semi-naked calendar in aid of Cancer Research UK, the national housebuilder’s nominated charity. The 2022 calendar was produced after 13 employees from Bellway Wales posed for a series of photographs in a state of undress at one of their developments. The company has had 200 of the calendars printed and they are on sale for £10 each. Carly Maidment, Sales Manager for Bellway Wales, said: “I am big fan of…

A woman from South Wales is organising a variety of ‘hat-tastic’ events for Brain Tumour Research after being diagnosed with the deadly disease. Beth Harris, 31, from Ammanford in Carmarthenshire, was diagnosed with a glioma in October 2019 after suffering three seizures in a row. Beth, who is mother to four-year-old Elis, and a former employee at Ammanford and Carmarthen Leisure Centre, had no symptoms prior to her shock diagnosis. After taking part in a parkrun on the morning of 26 October 2019, Beth appeared ‘zoned out’ during the car journey home. She said: “When I got home, I went…