Author: Rhys Gregory

A new suite of apps is helping vulnerable adults and individuals with special educational needs and disabilities to adapt their lives to meet the challenges posed by coronavirus. With Welsh Government support, the ‘COVID-19: Staying Safe’ apps have been created to help adults with additional requirements to become accustomed to face coverings, social distancing and health and wellbeing so that they can live independently in a safer environment. The apps, which are unique in being able to be customised for each individual user’s needs, have been created by tech start-up Starfish Labs, which is based at AberInnovation, the Welsh Government-backed…

Two Merthyr Tydfil businesses have spent more than £15,000 on 70 new laptops for pupils at five local primary schools. Abox Storage Solutions supplied 50 Lenovo tablets and Raynes Scaffolding & Groundworks provided 20 Chromebooks to Pantysgallog, St Aloysius, St Illtyd’s, Gwaunfarren and Gellifaelog primary schools. The companies contacted the County Borough Council’s education department to ask if schools could nominate families likely to benefit from the computers. Huw Davies, Managing Director of Abox, which is based at Goatmill Industrial Park said: “As a local business, it means a lot to us to give support when needed. We have previously…

A colourful new lighting system has been installed at Cardiff Castle as part of plans to improve the street scene, reduce energy use and costs, as well as helping generate additional income. The Phillips ‘Colour Kinetics’ dynamic lighting system, versions of which are currently being used to light 14 bridges across the River Thames in London as part of a multi-million pound public art commission, is powered by highly efficient, long lasting, environmentally friendly LEDs which can be programmed and controlled to create a variety of colourful visual effects. https://twitter.com/cardiffcouncil/status/1359955445704765443 The new system replaces the existing 15 year old, high…

Spire Cardiff Hospital has donated food worth over £778 to Cardiff foodbank, to help those most in need for 2021. Colleagues at the hospital, which has been helping the NHS in tackling the pandemic, raised £528.70. A Christmas jumper day, raffle and cake sale helped raise these funds with a further £250 donated by the company. Spire’s food supply partner Bidfood then supplemented this with a generous donation of food. This means that food worth significantly more than £778 has been donated to Cardiff foodbank. Cardiff foodbank is part of the Trussell Trust network. The Trussell Trust supports more than…

With the pandemic highlighting the importance of having a diversified income, more and more people began getting into investing over the past year. In fact, there are now an estimated 6.6 million personal investment accounts in the UK, and trading levels are three times the normal activity level. Even Vanguard UK reported a three-fold increase in the number of new accounts opened in the first quarter of 2020 alone. Apart from providing financial security in times of great economic downturn, investing spells a lot of benefits. For instance, putting your money into different types of investments can help you attain your financial…

If you are currently in the market for a new set of wheels, then you may be feeling spoilt for choice when it comes to finding the right car for you. From various makes and models to the added mod cons that are popular on modern cars, there is a lot to choose from. However, if you are considering getting a 4X4 then it is crucial that you do some research before you go ahead with anything, so you know exactly what you are signing up for. Most of us are aware that a 4X4 vehicle is a tall, big,…

Did you experience any troubles sleeping lately? If yes, find out that you’re not the only one. Many Brits report insomnia caused by lockdown and the pandemic. As Coronasomnia phenomenon continues to affect Brits’ sleep quality, the National Health Service shares advice on falling asleep faster and getting better sleep.  Life in lockdown has changed a lot of things in our lives- our jobs, relationships, social lives, and for many Brits, it has also changed how they are sleeping.  The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown restrictions have triggered a major increase in anxiety-related sleeping problems among Brits. Data have shown…

TRADERS at Swansea’s award-winning indoor market are to benefit from another substantial cash injection to help tide them through the current lockdown. Cabinet next week (Feb 18) is being asked to approve a package of measures that involves rent subsidies of up to 70%, which would be backdated from the middle of November 2020 and run to the end of the financial year. It follows cancellation of rent payments and other subsidies totalling more than £600,000 since the pandemic started last March. Robert Francis-Davies, Cabinet member for Investment, Regeneration and Tourism, said there was probably no council-operated indoor market in…

David Attenborough has announced a partnership with the company, https://www.factory42.uk/, that will make exotic plants and animals much more accessible to people from around the UK. According to https://www.bbc.co.uk/, the Green Planet AR app has received £2.3 million in government funding and is expected to be released in 2022, alongside a BBC show that Attenborough will narrate.   With the help of augmented reality (AR) and 5G, users will be able to see super-imposed, detailed graphics of British plants, animals and beauty spots on their phones. Wales is due to be on the list thanks to the principality’s incredible natural diversity, but which…

Dangerous driver jailed for causing the death of a mother and seriously injuring her daughter A man who admitted causing a mother’s death after his car ploughed in to hers at high-speed on a country road has been jailed for four years and 11 months. Jeanette Macdonald, also known as Jeanette Preece, was driving her teenaged daughter home from a dentist appointment on the evening of July 3, 2019, when her vehicle was involved in the fatal collision as she pulled on to the B4265 near Fonmon in the Vale of Glamorgan. Cardiff Crown heard a blue BMW driven by…