Author: Rhys Gregory

All GP practices across Bridgend county borough have offered to take part in delivering the coronavirus vaccine programme. The AstraZeneca vaccine, which is easier to use in care homes and GP surgeries as it is stored at normal fridge temperatures, began to be rolled out in the county borough this week with some of the first doses given at Oak Tree Surgery in Brackla. Other surgeries will soon start to give the vaccine to priority groups, which initially includes residents aged over 80. Residents and staff at Picton Court Care Home in Porthcawl and Brocastle Manor Care Home have also…

Hospitality, tourism and leisure businesses across Merthyr Tydfil are being urged to act quickly to apply for grants of up to £20,000 to help them bounce back from Covid-19. Pubs, restaurants, cafés, hotels and B&Bs, and sports and leisure, religious and other community building owners can apply for a share of £3 million Welsh Government funding being made available to local authorities to support smaller town centres within the Valleys Taskforce boundary to respond to pandemic regulations. Funding from the Transforming Towns Programme will cover up to 100% of project costs – but it must be applied for before 20…

RCT Council is consulting residents about a proposed scheme to improve road safety throughout Cilfynydd – and those interested in sharing their views are invited to do so before the process closes on January 15. The proposed Safe Routes in Communities scheme for Cilfynydd could include a number of improvements – including the upgrade and relocation of the pedestrian crossing at Cilfynydd Road, alterations to footways to improve walking provision, and a 20mph speed limit introduced throughout the village. Local residents received a letter on December 21 to inform them about the proposals, share details about the consultation and explain…

Newport City Council is asking the public to have their say to inform the content of the latest Local Development Plan (LDP). The LDP is the development plan for Newport.  It is the basis for land use planning within the council’s administrative area and will run from 2021 to 2036. On 14 October 2020 the council agreed to begin the formal review process of the LDP and consultation is now taking place on two key LDP documents – theReview Reportand theDelivery Agreement. Councillor Deb Davies, cabinet member for sustainable development said: “The local development plan is an important document that…

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board is opening additional mobile Covid-19 testing units in the Lliswerry and Rogerstone areas of Newport. If you have any symptoms of Coronavirus (Covid-19) – a new continuous cough, high temperature or loss of taste and/or smell please book a test as soon as possible. Call 119 or visit www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test If you have symptoms, you and any household members should isolate immediately. Your whole household should continue to isolate until the test result is received. If the test is positive, all household members and close contacts should continue to isolate for 10 days as per current guidance. Even…

The region’s first coronavirus local testing site became operational in Rhymney at the weekend to help combat the spread of the virus within the community. The facility replaces the existing mobile testing unit (MTU) which has been operating at the former Aldi site on Old Brewery Lane in Rhymney over recent weeks. The local testing site is a walk-through coronavirus testing facility and forms part of the Government’s UK-wide drive to improve the accessibility of coronavirus testing for communities. Anyone with coronavirus symptoms, however mild, can get a free swab test that takes less than a minute. Tests should be…

Numbers play a significant part in our lives. We use them every day—from the ever-reliable alarm clock you pound every morning at 6 a.m., to your car’s license plate, to the hours you clock in at work. They’re the digits you dial on your phone and the quantity of followers you have on your social media account. But there are some significant figures that have a greater impact on your life, particularly your finances. One of these is your credit score—the three-digit number that is the highlight of an annual credit report. It combines your spending and borrowing habits to…

The north section of Churchill Way will be closed on Monday, January 11th, for up to three weeks so that ground investigation assessments can be carried out underneath the road, as part of the proposed plan to re-open the dock feeder canal. The road will be closed in both directions from 8am from the junction with North Edward Street up to the hammerhead that meets Queen Street. While Churchill Way is closed, bus and taxi operators will have to divert down North Edward Street and all businesses, deliveries and emergency vehicles will have to access Queen Street via the bollards,…

The Lakeside Wing, based on the grounds of the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) site, accepted its first patient as of 27 December 2020. The patient was transferred across from the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board’s main Hospital site to the Lakeside Wing to start their rehabilitation as they enter the recovery stage of their treatment. To date, 56 patients are currently being cared for at the new surge facility, undergoing essential rehabilitation after a period of acute illness, which may not necessarily be Covid-19. As the Lakeside Wing adopts a multi-disciplinary model of care, staff including physiotherapists, occupational…

As we head into the future, we start to depend less and less on face-to-face interactions when it comes to running a business and meeting our customers’ needs. A few decades back, if you were to ask any sales representative what they think about closing deals without meeting their prospects, they would’ve probably thought you’re joking. This is quite understandable given that the general consensus was to read your prospect effectively through interacting with them in real life, and the thought of people spending a good portion of their time on the net was nothing short of a fictional dream.…