Author: Rhys Gregory

Young Flintshire taekwondo stars looking to follow in the illustrious footsteps of double Olympic gold medallist Jade Jones are being given a helping hand – thanks to cash seized from criminals. The Deeside and Flintshire Taekwondo club has a long and proud history, attracting scores of participants to its classes, but the Covid-19 pandemic has had a massive impact. The club has been unable to run its regular training sessions at Deeside Leisure Centre and other venues across Flintshire during the past year. It has been a difficult time for long-serving chief instructor Darren Richardson and his team of coaches…

A project by the world’s first preserved railway in Mid Wales to buy three new train carriages has received a £300,000 boost from the Welsh Coastal Communities Fund. The £450,000 project will allow Talyllyn Railway, which runs from the coastal resort of Tywyn, to take 155-year-old original carriages out of daily service to preserve as much of their historic fabric as possible. The new carriages will offer wheelchair accessible compartments, which will allow more passengers with mobility issues to travel in comfort. Two of the carriages will also have upgraded first class accommodation. The original carriages will still be used…

Having already rescued nearly 14 thousand tonnes of food from being wasted, Oddbox is now offering people in the South West the chance to join its mission to fight food waste and climate change Oddbox, which rescues and delivers the delicious ‘too odd’ or ‘too many’ fruit and vegetables directly from growers, has announced its expansion into the South West, including Bristol, Cardiff and Gloucester*. Oddbox has been operating its weekly rescue missions in London and the South East for the last five years and has delivered over two million boxes of ‘odd’ produce (aka the stuff that’s ‘too big’,…

Poppy Evans is developing a promising career in local government thanks to a Higher Apprenticeship. After two years at university studying law, Poppy, 24, from Carmarthen, decided the course was not for her and set about making up for lost time by starting an apprenticeship with Carmarthenshire County Council as a business support assistant. Now she is progressing her career, having recently been promoted to digital family recruitment and engagement officer with responsibility for marketing and communications for the council’s children and family services. Her ambition is to progress to a senior management role. Poppy is working towards a Higher…

Detectives investigating the murder of Tomasz Waga in Cardiff, have released a photograph of a car they urgently need to find. Tomasz’s body was discovered by a member of the public at approximately 11.30pm on Thursday, January 28  in Westville Road, Penylan. He had been the victim of a sustained assault. Two men have already been charged in connection with his death and are remanded in custody awaiting trial. Three other three men wanted on suspicion of his murder are: Josif Nushi, 26 Mihal Dhana, 27 Gledis Mehalla, 19 A number of vehicles have been seized as part of the…

A 12-YEAR-OLD cancer survivor who is “thriving and happy” thanks to lifesaving treatment was the guest of honour at the opening of Cancer Research UK’s biggest shop in Wales. Lucas Hoare from Bettws arrived ahead of shoppers to cut a ribbon at the charity’s Newport superstore in Spytty Retail Park on Wednesday 14 April. Lucas’ mum Lindsay said he was “chuffed to bits” to be asked to officially open the superstore. Lindsay said: “He called his friend to tell him the news as soon as he found out. He couldn’t wait to cut the ribbon and it’s been something lovely for us to look forward to as a family.” Lucas rang the…

Picturing our Past / Fframio’n Gorffennol is a new app to be launched online on May 4 at a special event featuring Cornish-Welsh musician Gwenno, feminist filmmaker Michele Ryan and punk rocker turned S4C presenter Aled Samuel. A specially recorded trailer narrated by Cerys Matthews will be played during the event. The app encapsulates the milestones of Welsh filmmaking history, which respected historian Dave Berry, once referred to as “That fertile legacy”. The National Library of Wales Screen and Sound Archive has played a crucial role in the preservation of Welsh films and sound recordings and has now backed a bi-lingual product that breaks out of a book’s boundary, a unique combination of…

A new business loan facility has been launched by Go Business Loans, designed to help support small businesses seeking quick turnaround, short term lending. Go Business Loans will provide loans of between £2,500 and £20,000 to limited companies and LLPs in Wales and across the UK.   The new facility is bought to the market by an experienced team including Manging Director David Viera, who has spent over a decade in senior roles within the finance industry, and Head of Investor Relations, Max Woodman, who has a strong banking and investment track record including time at Barclays and Catalyst Finance. The…

All those who cannot work from home are being encouraged to access lateral flow self-test kits as they are rolled out across Wales. The rapid coronavirus testing kits will be available to collect from local test sites across Wales from Friday (16 April) this week. The Welsh Government is also looking at other collection venues for test kits to be made available, as well as being directly delivered to people’s homes. It is hoped that improving the availability of lateral flow tests will make regular asymptomatic testing for coronavirus more convenient and accessible for people not covered under existing schemes…

Bridgend town centre will host a community testing centre between Wednesday 14 – Tuesday 20 April. Based at the Evergreen Hall in Angel Street, the centre will be available between 9.30am and 6.30pm. No appointments are necessary, and the free walk-in service is available to all residents of the county borough. Designed to help identify people who may have Covid-19 without displaying any signs of illness, the community testing is aimed at residents who are aged 11 and over, are not displaying any symptoms of coronavirus, and who feel otherwise fit and well. Because it is possible for people who…