Author: Rhys Gregory

Education Minister Jeremy Miles has praised the achievements of students all over Wales as 2021 A, AS, VQ and Skills Challenge Certificates results are published. The total number of A level entries in Wales this year was 35,867, an increase of 14.5% relative to 2020, reversing the decreasing A level entries since the summer of 2015, and resulting in an extra 4,500 A levels being awarded to Welsh learners this year. Results for Wales show that 99.1% of learners achieved A* – E grades, up from 97.6% in 2019, with an increase at A* with 21.3% of candidates achieving this grade.…

15 million trees have been planted in Uganda as part of a Welsh Government initiative to help tackle the climate emergency, with ambitions to plant 25 million trees by 2025. The Mbale Trees project – funded by the long-standing Wales and Africa programme – aims to plant over 3 million trees a year in the hilly, heavily deforested area of eastern Uganda in a bid to increase community resilience to the impacts of climate change. Working with Size of Wales and the Mount Elgon Tree Growing Enterprise (METGE), free tree seedlings are distributed to local people to be planted on…

Rural Affairs Minister Lesley Griffiths has congratulated Gower Salt Marsh Lamb as it becomes the first new product to be awarded UK Geographical Indication (UK GI) Status, the highly sought after award, which will give the Welsh delicacy international protection. The UK GI scheme was established at the beginning of 2021, following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. The scheme ensures certain food and drink products can continue to receive legal protection against imitation and misuse. Gower Salt Marsh Lamb is the first new product to achieve the UK GI status and becomes the 17th member of the Welsh GI…

Servicing your boiler annually ensures your heating system is in good working condition throughout the winter. Of course, boilers deteriorate over time, but when kept well maintained, you should expect your boiler to last between 10-15 years.  Whilst you can perform boilers checks by yourself from time to time, the annual service should be performed by a qualified Gas Safe engineer. The best time to service your boiler in the UK is during the summer months. It’s better to guarantee your heating system will be ready and in working order before the cold winter months arrive.  Something else to consider. If you fail…

More and more people begin trading cryptocurrencies as it has become a lucrative venture, although still risky. There are reportedly over 100 million crypto traders around the globe, including Wales. The rave of cryptocurrency began in 2017, with the issuance of Bitcoin. At the time, for most people, it was a foreign technology difficult to understand, while others saw the potential and got in early. With it, a bunch of skeptics considered the innovation a hype that would soon fizzle away like smoke. Today, the industry has over 10,000 cryptocurrencies, with more still making entry into the space. Down from…

Most of us have woken up with a sore neck more than once in our lives and have just thought we’d slept funny and never considered that the pillow could actually be the reason why. A good night’s sleep has mostly been attributed to the right mattress, the quality and quantity of light in the room, and some peace and quiet. Hardly has the type of pillow one is using been a big issue yet, according to clinical evidence, two-thirds of middle-aged persons suffer from neck pain caused by the pillow they sleep on. As you sleep, the position of…

The Welsh Grand National is the largest race held in Wales and is popular with UK and Irish horse racing fans.  The popular race is run at the Chepstow Racecourse. The Welsh Grand National is now traditionally held one day after Boxing Day, December 27th. Wales’ most famous race has a long and storied history. The race was first run at Ely Racecourse in Cardiff. After World War II, it was moved to Caerleon before moving to Chepstow in 1949 after the closure of the Caerleon course. The Welsh Grand National is one of the most competitive betting heats of…

A new poll commissioned by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) suggests the Covid-19 pandemic has proved to be a time of career contemplation and change for young people. There are around six million 16 – 24 year olds in the UK, and ACCA polled over 1,000 to better understand their views about jobs. While before the pandemic 21% wanted to pursue a professional career like accountancy, that figure has now increased to 30%. Being on furlough has offered a lot of people already in work the chance to reassess and aim to take new qualifications to target a…

Two Gwynedd schools have had success in the final round of a national competition held by the Books Council of Wales. The task this year was for year 3 and 4 pupils to discuss a book of their choice from the reading list and present a performance to attract others to read the book. The judges this year were the presenter, Mari Lovegreen and Llinos Penfold. Following the keen competition, they both decided that the group from Ysgol Felinheli deserved the top spot with Ysgol y Gelli a strong second. Huge congratulations to both schools. Ysgol y Gelli also came…

The global Covid-19 pandemic has forced the cancellation of a prestigious four-day culinary event that was set to attract the world’s best chefs to compete in Wales in October. With pandemic restrictions continuing to impact countries around the world, the Culinary Association of Wales (CAW) had no other choice than to call off the Worldchefs Global Chefs Challenge, scheduled for the Celtic Manor Resort, Newport from October 23-26. This major Worldchefs event comprises three competitions and chefs were set to fly in from countries worldwide. However, due to pandemic travel and quarantine rules in their own countries, many finalists and…