Author: Rhys Gregory

A new rugby academy has been launched at a South Wales college to provide aspiring players with the chance to join a Super League team. Salford Red Devils – a professional rugby league club in Greater Manchester, has partnered up with Wales Rugby League and Coleg y Cymoedd to create a talent pathway and coach development programme for Welsh players. The club has a long history of recruiting Welsh players dating back to the 1890s and spanning 147 sportsmen, including rugby league stars Rhys Williams and Elliot Kear. The new academy will look to continue this illustrious legacy of Welsh…

A family cared for by City Hospice during a difficult chapter in their lives is supporting the charity’s new Forever Flowers campaign. Forever Flowers provides the public with a rare opportunity to remember cherished family members, friends and loved ones. A unique and lasting tribute, supporters are invited to purchase a limited-edition flower which will feature in a striking display at Cardiff Castle from Saturday July 24 to Sunday August 8. Rebecca Bullen and daughter Ffion, 4, are supporting Forever Flowers to help City Hospice following the loss of husband and dad Carl in June 2019. Carl was sadly diagnosed…

Gwynedd Council is launching a grant scheme to renovate empty houses, to increase opportunities for people to have an affordable home within their community. The grant will be for first time buyers who have a local connection to the area where the house is located. The purpose of the funding will be to assist first time buyers to renovate empty houses to an acceptable standard of living. It will be possible to apply for up to £15,000 towards costs such as rewiring, central heating re-plumbing, damp-proofing, external windows and doors, re-roofing or rendering. Councillor Craig ab Iago, Gwynedd Council’s Cabinet…

Former European, Commonwealth and World Champion 400m sprinter Iwan Thomas MBE completed the biggest challenge of his life on Saturday (12 June 2021), beating all the odds as he reached the finish line of the Centurion Running South Downs Way 100, a gruelling race with over 3,800m of elevation, raising over £20k for Group B Strep Support, the world’s leading charity working to eradicate Group B Strep infection in babies. The event, which fell on the hottest weekend of the year with temperatures reaching a whopping 29 degrees, saw entrants complete the race with several unfortunate runners succumbing to heat…

A Welsh construction firm will be safeguarding approximately 6,500 Welsh construction jobs as it prepares to begin a series of new projects. Bodelwyddan-based Wynne Construction has secured £85m worth of projects to be delivered over the next two years, with orders showing an increase in demand for services from pre-COVID levels. On the list of contract wins for the firm is the £22m design and build of a new special education needs (SEN) school in Newtown, Powys, and a £5m extension and redevelopment at Ysgol Uwchradd Aberteifi in Cardigan, Ceredigion. Eight new major projects form part of the company’s £85m…

Family-owned Montgomery Waters has been given a significant boost after securing listings for three exclusive new mixers in Tesco stores across Wales. The three new Stretton Hills lines – a Tonic Water, a Light Tonic Water and a Soda Water – are now available in one litre bottles in 50 large Tesco stores across the nation. Made with natural flavours and bottled at source in Churchstoke, the new mixers are packed responsibly in 51% recycled plastic bottles with 100% recyclable packaging. Montgomery Waters has worked with Tesco on own-label products for many years, but this is the first time that…

A former railway line in the north of Swansea is set to be transformed into a new walking and cycling route. Swansea Council is looking to extend its active travel network even further by creating a new 1.6km route which follows the path of an old railway line between Grovesend and Pontarddulais. The railway line has long since gone and the route has become overgrown and inaccessible to the public, but the Council has ambitious plans to open up the path with a new shared use walking and cycle route. The Council received more than £3million of Welsh Government ‘Active…

Merthyr County Borough Council is consulting residents on plans to improve the safety of and environment for pedestrians and cyclists using a busy town centre section of the Taff Trail. The proposal is to create a shared route for pedestrians and cyclists running alongside Bethesda Street, from the pelican crossing near the Red Spice public house to the traffic-signalled junction with Swansea Road. The existing footway would be widened, with the introduction of a planted verge.  The right turn lane and associated traffic islands would be removed and the lane widths of the carriageway reduced to significantly lower the current…

Caerphilly County Borough Council Cabinet has approved two building investments totalling £472K to support the provision of a Youth Service base in the Caerphilly basin; to increase capacity for the most vulnerable learners through in-house EOTAS (Education Other Than At School) provision and to provide additional capacity for learners accessing Trinity Fields provision. The significant investment at Virginia Park in Caerphilly will be used to develop a site for the Youth Service and EOTAS provision, while the investment will also provide a second satellite class for Trinity Fields on the St Cenydd High School site. The estimated £300k at Virginia…

A recent public consultation over a proposed new £8.5m school for Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Llyn-y-Forwyn in Ferndale has shown local support for the investment plans, which will be considered by Cabinet shortly. A report to the RCT Council Cabinet meeting on Thursday, June 17, presents the outcome of the extensive public consultation, which took place from March 1 to April 30 this year. The report recommends that Members agree to progress the proposals, which would see the new school and community facilities delivered by 2024 – through the publication of an appropriate Statutory Notice. The proposals for YGG Llyn-y-Forwyn aim to…