Author: Rhys Gregory

SWANSEA Council is set to invest a massive £59m building new homes and improving hundreds of others in the coming year. Under proposals being considered by Cabinet next week, the council is looking to spend more than £7m during 2021-22 building a new generation of homes including in Hillview Crescent and West Cross. More than double that – £16m – is also being earmarked to insulate and weatherproof hundreds of existing homes making them warm and efficient. The Council will also trial the introduction of renewable technologies to selected properties as part of its ambitions to make home more efficient, reduce…

In a new  TV series Pizza Boys, two Welsh pizza chefs set off on an epic adventure across Europe on route to the biggest challenge of their lives: competing in the Pizza World Championships in Parma. Travelling in their old Italian pizza van ‘Smokey Pete’, best mates Jez Phillips and Ieuz Harry eat and cook their way across the continent sampling some of the best food and culture it has to offer. Their stop offs include San Sebastian, Bordeaux, Monaco, Bardi, Rome and Naples. Jez said: “It was the ultimate road trip, driving our teeny-tiny van across Europe, eating, drinking…

Swansea University is spearheading the fight against online child sexual exploitation after securing major funding for an innovative new project focused on online child sexual grooming. The two-year Project DRAGON-S (Developing Resistance Against Grooming Online – Spot and Shield) will see experts develop vital Linguistics and AI tools to help identify online grooming. This project is financially supported by the End Violence Fund, which has invested $44 million in 52 projects dedicated to preventing and ending online sexual abuse across the world. The project will also relay specialist knowledge through a learning portal and chatbot to strengthen child safeguarding professionals’…

A food delivery service set up to support the local community in Aberystwyth has been named a Small Business of 2020 by Lloyds Bank after proving invaluable to its customers during the pandemic. Racoono was set up by Rob Groocock, Elinor Evans and Meleri Evans after they realised local people who were stuck at home during lockdown were struggling to get essential deliveries. Despite working full time for their other professions, they decided to start a delivery service for the community, initially with a range of just four products and a borrowed van. But word quickly spread and Racoono now…

A Product Design & Technology graduate of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) is helping students and businesses bring ideas to life. Ken Pearce, who graduated from UWTSD in 2020 with a first-class degree, set up Lunia 3D after discovering the versatility of 3D printing while he was a student. In April 2020 he and his girlfriend Georgia Hatton started 3D printing face shields to protect local care-workers from Covid-19. “Doing this made me realise that I was passionate about 3D printing how beneficial it could be,” he says. “I decided to start my own business, Lunia 3D. Here…

Two men have been arrested in connection with the murder of 23-year-old Tomasz Waga have been charged and will appear before Cardiff Magistrates on Friday morning (12 February). Damjano Velo, 23, from Whitchurch, Cardiff has been charged with murder. Behar Kaci, 29, of no fixed address, has been charged with drugs and money laundering offences. Tomasz’s family has been updated and continue to be supported by family liaison officers. Detective Chief Inspector Mark O’Shea who is leading the investigation said: “The charging of these two men is a significant step in the investigation into the murder of Tomasz Waga but…

Researchers at Aberystwyth University have launched a new digital platform providing detailed chronological information for all Anglo-Norman words for the first time ever online. Anglo-Norman came over to the UK from France with William the Conqueror and his followers in 1066, laying the foundations for present day English. It was the main written language of the British Isles until the middle of the thirteenth century and was still being used for complex administrative matters as well as affairs of state well into the fifteenth century. With funding from the UK Research and Innovation Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC), members…

The RSPCA is searching for the owner of a budgerigar found in a back garden off Clarmuir Road in the Splott area of Cardiff. Officers from the animal welfare charity were alerted after a member of the public had found the unexpected visitor in their garden, before transferring the budgie to a veterinary practice. The bird – who has an overgrown beak, and a few missing feathers – is largely white and blue in colour, and came into the RSPCA’s care on Sunday (7 February). RSPCA Cymru suspect the budgie may have escaped, and say the incident is a reminder…

First Minister Mark Drakeford today praised the thousands of NHS staff and volunteers vaccinating people for their phenomenal effort as the first milestone in Wales’ vaccination programme was reached. As the final appointments are arranged for the weekend, Wales will achieve the milestone of offering everyone in the first four priority groups a vaccination. Arrangements are in place to make sure no one is left behind – if someone missed an appointment because they were ill or maybe they changed their mind about having the vaccine, a new appointment will be made for them. First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “Vaccination…

Construction of the new £46m Dyfi Bridge near Machynlleth is set to begin in March, Economy and Transport Minister Ken Skates said today (Friday, 12 February) The scheme will improve road safety, strengthen links between communities, provide active travel opportunities and build resilience against flooding, as well as improve transport connectivity to help stimulate further economic development in this part of Wales. The new development will be a viaduct across the floodplain and a river bridge across the Afon Dyfi approximately 480m upstream of the existing bridge The current 19th century bridge is frequently closed due to flooding, an occurrence…