Author: Rhys Gregory

The Welsh Government has invested a further £18.7m to extend incentives to support businesses in recruiting apprentices in Wales. The Employer Incentive Scheme, which will now run until 30 September, is a key part of the Welsh Government’s Covid commitment to support businesses and workers in recovering from the impacts of coronavirus. Launched in autumn 2020, the incentives have already seen more than 1,300 new apprentices recruited. Today’s news means businesses will be able to claim up to £4,000 for each new apprentice they hire under the age of 25. This is an uplift from the previous £3,000 grant that…

History was made in Wales yesterday evening (Tuesday, March 9) when the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Bill reached its final stage before being passed into law. Members of the Senedd voted to pass the final text of the Bill meaning the Curriculum for Wales will now be introduced in 2022. Education Minister Kirsty Williams said: “This is an historic day for Wales and another significant milestone in our national mission. The new curriculum has been developed to ensure that our children and young people in Wales have the best opportunity and support in life to ensure that they are all…

Health Minister Vaughan Gething has announced an extra £50m to allow health boards to extend contact tracing over the summer. The additional funding, on top of £10m previously agreed, will keep the current contact tracing workforce until the end of September 2021.  It will also support and enable continued improvements of the contact tracing digital system. The Health Minister has also announced today that people who are close contacts of someone who has tested positive and have been asked to isolate by contact tracers will now be offered a coronavirus test. Close contacts will be asked to take a test…

The steps of the Oval Basin in Cardiff Bay are being fenced off to discourage people from gathering in groups at a time when Covid-19 restrictions are still in place. The fences, which will be in place ahead of the weekend, are being put in place by Cardiff Council following discussions with South Wales Police. Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, Cllr Peter Bradbury, said: “The improving weather over the last couple of weekends has seen increasing numbers of people congregating in Cardiff Bay. “The vast majority of people are continuing to obey the rules, but it’s really important that…

Record-breaking Swansea athlete Cyril Cupid is to have his name immortalised as part of the Copr Bay regeneration of the city centre. Record-breaking Swansea athlete Cyril Cupid is to have his name immortalised as part of the Copr Bay regeneration of the city centre. Hundreds of thousands of visitors a year to the new Swansea arena will walk along the newly-named Cupid Way between the city centre up to the new landmark gold-coloured bridge before arriving at the new arena. Sprinter Cupid was the first Welshman to do the 100-yard dash in under 10 seconds and gained recognition in the…

Slots are no doubt the top favorites among casino games, both in online and land casinos. You will see generous promotions offering up to 100 free spins for signing up. There are hundreds of free slot games you can play in different casinos. Online slot games are loved because they are easy to play. Unlike card games like blackjack, or table games like craps, you don’t need to remember any strategies. But casino slot games have also generated different myths that attract or repel players depending on what they hear. Here is to debunk a few common myths about these…

To extend the life of the siding and preserve the aesthetic appearance of the exterior, you need to learn how to clean vinyl siding from dust and dirt. You must take care of the tidiness of cladding at least once a year, treating it with protective agents. Therefore, inspect your facade, assess the level of dirtiness, and choose the right strategy for cleaning vinyl siding. The main reason for deep cleaning usually are: your house is located near the high-traffic road, so soot and exhaust gases constantly settle on the surface of the facade; such dark marks will greatly affect…

Welsh sports stars are renowned for being loyal servants to their beloved national sports. This means that very few ever compete outside of rugby union, football, or boxing. However, there are a select few figures who down through the years at least pitched themselves into other sports, some in which their existing skills were expected to serve them well, and others not so much. Here are some of the Welsh sportsmen who having found fame in their native Wales, went on to try and crack the US via leagues like the NBA, NFL, and MLB. With its similarities to rugby union, it…

Experts involved in a unique Covid-19 study at Morriston Hospital had to go to extreme measures while recruiting patients to the cause. They went way beyond the clichéd image of researchers as people in white coats peering down microscopes in laboratories. Instead, two of the team from the hospital’s Welsh Centre for Emergency Medicine Research donned PPE gear to go into Covid hotspots including the emergency department and intensive care. There they screened patients to check whether they were suitable and willing to take part, and took blood samples if they were. They then set up a kind of human…

THE ANNUAL Oswestry Balloon Carnival is to return this summer after it was postponed due to Covid-19 restrictions last year. And it will be the first face to face fundraising event for Nightingale House Hospice in 18 months. Following the Government’s recent announcement to lift lockdown measures, the Oswestry Balloon Carnival in aid of Nightingale House Hospice is due to take place on 21-22 August 2021. Extra safety measures are being introduced because of the pandemic to ensure this year’s family fun event can go ahead safely. The hospice is synonymous with the Balloon Carnival, held in association with Oswestry…