Author: Rhys Gregory

As this summer’s Tokyo Olympic Games gets closer, Calon Wen, a Welsh farmers’ co-operative based in Pembrokeshire supplying milk, butter and cheese, has already secured a gold medal position by being the only European cheese certified as organic by the Japanese Government. Calon Wen, a group of 25 organic family run farms across Wales which produce organic dairy products sustainably, has been exporting its products to Asia with the help of the Mineichi Group since 2017. Riding the wave of the Rugby World Cup 2019, which was hosted in Japan, Calon Wen and Mineichi saw the opportunity to venture into…

The International Choral Festival Wales, the brain child of former Llangollen Music Director Eilir Owen Griffiths, will be welcoming the international choral world back to Wales in October – virtually! The online competition will take place on 30 October 2021 and will be the third iteration of the festival – the first two events being held in person in the Wales Millennium Centre in 2018 and 2019. The timing of the announcement is significant, too, as Eilir Owen Griffiths explains: “We had hoped to be able to restart the festival in person this year, and our opening concert was scheduled…

Zip World, the adventure company behind the fastest zip-line in the world, has launched their Tower Coaster, the first rollercoaster of its kind in Europe. The latest announcement follows the hugely successful launch of Zip World Tower, which has already welcomed over 10,000 visitors since it opened in April 2021. Zip World Tower has already created 56 new jobs in the local area and with the impending launch of Tower Coaster, the company plans to recruit around an additional 25 new staff this summer to add to the growing team. The Tower Coaster is an industrial style toboggan rollercoaster that…

ONE day Llyr Rees was running 10 miles and preparing to enter triathlon competitions. The next he was fighting for his life. Headteacher at Ysgol Gynradd Bontnewydd, near Caernarfon, Llyr was a fit and healthy 50 year-old when struck down by a ruptured aorta just nine months ago. The aneurysm and resulting aortic dissection left him close to death, with doctors fearing he would not even survive the ambulance journey from Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor, to Liverpool’s Broadgreen Hospital, having been rushed there from his Anglesey home. It was four year-old daughter Catrin who found him clutching his heart on the…

The talent, skill and ambition of South Wales’ female property and construction student undergraduates has been celebrated recently at a virtual Women in Property Student Awards event, representing Universities across the region. Families, friends and professionals from the built environment industry all celebrated the achievements of the seven regional student finalists, at the event which was held on Zoom for a second year running.  The winner, a Cardiff Metropolitan University student, will go through to the UK national final, to be held at Claridge’s in September. “A year ago, we wouldn’t have expected to be running our Student Awards event…

Installation of state-of-the-art gold coloured panels has now started at Swansea Arena. Each panel will be equipped with cutting-edge LED lighting technology, enabling the hosting of light shows around the outside of the attraction. Once the arena is complete and open, the panels could also be used to promote upcoming shows, concerts, conferences and other events. Over 1,600 gold coloured panels will be installed in total around the outside of the arena in coming months, complete with more than 95,000 LED lights. The 3,500-capacity arena is one part of the emerging £135 million Copr Bay phase one district being developed…

A COMMUNITY charity recruited a new Chief Officer following significant investment in a rural town centre. Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council (DVSC) will unveil a £50,000 revamp of the popular Naylor Leyland Centre in Ruthin this month. Match-funded by the Welsh Government’s Community Facilities Fund, the Well Street landmark has had a complete overhaul including internal redecoration, carpets and flooring, IT, electrics, and a refurbished exterior. Meanwhile, the nearby Grade 2-listed Market Hall is also undergoing a transformation and will open as a community market later in the year. DVSC has taken on administrative, creative and enterprise staff to add to…

Academics from Bangor University are sharing their expertise with collaborators at the Federal University of São Paulo(UNIFESP) in São Paulo State, Brazil, to address some of Brazil’s most pressing social and environmental problems. Bangor University is at the forefront of collaborative working across scientific disciplines to resolve major health and environment issues, and in merging healthcare, the arts and the environment. They hope that bringing experts from different subject areas together using different approaches and techniques will be key in developing new solutions to challenges under global agendas such as OneHealth, Agenda 2030 and the UN Ocean Decade. Brazilian policymakers…

Bridgend County Borough residents are being warned not to put anything which is highly flammable with their kerbside recycling or bin bag collections. The warning follows a small fire which broke out at the Kier depot in Tondu last night (Tuesday) and was attended by South Wales Fire and Rescue. The blaze occurred in the depot’s baling machine and was contained by Kier staff before firefighters arrived, causing a delay of more than an hour to operations. After clearing the damage, the fire was found to have been caused by a number of items which are highly flammable such as…

One of Swansea’s most historic buildings is to benefit from a £50,330 grant lifeline. The money has been awarded to Morriston Tabernacle to help it with the challenges of the pandemic. It will assist with the loss of income suffered as nearly all of the community groups have temporarily stopped meeting there and fund urgent maintenance work on the building. The grant was secured by the Tabernacle Morriston Congregation charitable incorporated organisation, working with Swansea Council officers to make the Tabernacle a community focal point for future generations. It was awarded to Tabernacle Morriston Congregation under the Welsh Government’s Cultural…