Author: Rhys Gregory

Cardiff Council in partnership with Cardiff University, is providing children and young people with a unique and innovative opportunity to help shape the future of Cardiff by using a virtual game platform. ‘Craft Your City’ is a Child Friendly Cardiff initiative which aims to engage young people in a range of strategic developments by using Minecraft Education. Developed by Cardiff’s Education Service and Cardiff University School of Computer Science and Informatics, the digital approach sets a series of real-world challenges and provides a way for young people to share their ideas of how they would like Cardiff to look in…

PROSPECTS of a full national economic recovery post-pandemic could be fuelled by the relaxation of financial regulations on defined contribution (DC) pension schemes. Governor of the Bank of England (BoE), Andrew Bailey, recently stated that the relaxation could allow investments in higher, long-term productive investments, such as infrastructure projects, to accelerate the rate of recovery. Paul Francis, Principal Investment Consultant at Quantum Advisory, believes the move could be the catalyst needed to help boost the economy, but that it should not distract trustees from putting members’ interests first. Paul said: “Although this notion would only be relevant to the…

LEADING Welsh transport provider Adventure Travel has announced a shortlist of 28 charities as voting begins for its inaugural ‘Charity of the Year’. Adventure Travel, formerly NAT Group, is asking passengers and the public to participate in the online vote which will close on January 31. The shortlist features a range of causes including community organisations, health and children’s charities. To help voters make a decision, each charity and a synopsis of their work will be featured on the company’s social media during the voting period. The public transport operator has donated thousands of pounds to different charities and good…

THE Cardiff Business Club held its latest virtual event featuring guest speaker Neil Johnson OBE talking about post-Brexit trade deals, the impact of COVID-19 and national security. Chairman of security and defence contractors QinetiQ and former Army Colonel, Mr Johnson, used military analogies to declare that the UK must adapt in order to succeed and thrive in a post-Brexit and post-COVID world. Mr Johnson said: “Following the global transformation that has occurred in the past five years, we must be willing to recalibrate our thinking and change established mindsets when it comes to policies, in particular defence, security…

Taco Bell, the world-famous Mexican-inspired restaurant brand will open its second restaurant in Wales on Monday, 1st February in Swansea. The launch will mark the brand’s 54th UK restaurant opening. Local Swansea residents are invited to say ‘hola’ to Taco Bell with a free taco offer when customers download the Taco Bell UK app. Renowned for its craveable, customisable and quick-service Mexican-inspired classics; Taco Bell has been serving tasty tacos, bursting burritos, yummy nachos and its famous quesadillas to hungry UK fans since November 2010. The Swansea restaurant will be the second restaurant in Wales, joining the Cardiff restaurant which opened…

A woman from North Wales has reached the final in a national competition to find young adults who have helped in their communities during the 2020 pandemic. Hattie Guy, 27, lives in Trelawnyd and grew up in Penyffordd. She was nominated for the Urban Jungle’s Heroes 2020 competition by her sister-in-law, Rose Guy. Rose said: “My sister-in-law, Hattie, has had a true community spirit over 2020. “She lives in a small village and is a nurse and, even after she finishes some truly difficult work shifts caring for patients, she throws herself into her community. “She helped out as a community warden, taking care of those…

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and Hijinx are launching a new series of training videos online to help train health and social care staff to effectively communicate with, appropriately care for, and support people with learning disabilities and/or autism. Extracts of the film will be shared at a virtual screening and webinar on 27 January 2021. The full-length films will then be available online for anyone to access. With funding from the Cardiff & Vale Health Charity and Arts & Business Cymru, the Health Board was able to commission Hijinx to develop a series of short films filmed on…

Aldi has recognised the amazing contribution of its store colleagues by giving them a New Year’s pay rise and increasing its minimum hourly rates from 1 February 2021. All of Aldi’s 1,000 Welsh Store Assistant colleagues will benefit from the pay rise, with Aldi paying a minimum hourly rate of £9.55, up from £9.40. The new rates of pay are also boosted by the fact Aldi is still one of the only UK supermarkets to pay for breaks taken during  shifts, which means Aldi colleagues remain the best-paid in the sector. When paid breaks are included, Aldi’s minimum hourly pay…

Plans by Grŵp Llandrillo Menai to relocate its Bangor campus to Parc Menai could lead to investment of around £11m in modernising the learning and training facilities available locally for young people. The Grŵp is proposing to move Coleg Menai’s existing provision from the Ffriddoedd Road and Friars site to the iconic Tŷ Menai building on Parc Menai, which has stood largely empty in recent years. If granted change of use permission by Gwynedd Council, this would see the creation of cutting-edge, hi-tech facilities for students at Tŷ Menai, as well as strengthened links between further education and future employers.…

Denbighshire County Council’s Cabinet has approved its budget for the 2021/2022 financial year, with an increase of 3.8% in council tax for the county’s residents. The draft settlement announced by Welsh Government in December showed an increase of 3.6% in the budget for Denbighshire and in cash terms this means an increase of £5.4 million. The budget still has to go to Full Council for approval on January 26. In setting the budget, councillors have considered the fact that there are £10.6 million budget pressures facing the authority, including continued pressure on social services, education, schools and waste service. In…