Author: Rhys Gregory

Online shoppers are being encouraged to consider buying a holiday, short break, visitor experience, craft items or food and drink products from Mid Wales tourism and hospitality businesses as Christmas presents this year. The call comes from MWT Cymru, which represents more than 600 tourism and hospitality businesses in Powys, Ceredigion and South Gwynedd. The company has created a new page on its Visit Mid Wales website – www.visitmidwales.co.uk/christmas – to promote gift ideas in the run up to Christmas. Gift ideas range from animal, falconry and pottery experiences to rides on narrow gauge railways and a selection of Mid…

Rugby legend Phil Bennett has pledged his support to Hywel Dda Health Charities’ Christmas fundraising campaign this year. Felinfoel-born Phil, 72, says, “The NHS is dear to us all and over the years myself and my family have all relied upon the fantastic service it provides. At the end of a challenging year I would encourage everyone to try and do their bit and if possible give something back to help raise vital funds for our local NHS charity this Christmas.” Hywel Dda Health Charities is the official charity of Hywel Dda University Health Board. The charity aims to make…

Elfyn Evans’ dreams of becoming the first Welsh driver to win the FIA World Rally Championship were dashed when he crashed out of the title-decider in northern Italy. The 31-year-old from Dolgellau arrived at the ACI Rally Monza holding a 14-point advantage over his Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Sébastien Ogier and, despite some atrocious weather conditions, at the mid-point seemed on target to become only the third British driver to lift the WRC crown after Colin McRae and Richard Burns. The championship favourite, however, was then caught out by the tricky conditions in the Italian Alps. On treacherous snow-covered roads,…

A Cardiff woman is taking on a 24-hour walking challenge to help raise funds for her friend’s seven-year-old son. Nia Thomson, 38, a production manager with the National Theatre Wales met Kasia Thompson, 38, at Freshers Week at the University of Aberystwyth in 2001 when they both joined the karate club. Kasia’s son Leon, 7, from Codsall, West Midlands, lives with cerebral palsy, global development delay and sensory processing issues as well as being non-verbal. Over the last few years the Thompson family and their supporters have raised over £80,000 for a selective dorsal rhizotomy operation carried out at Alder…

British Food delivery company Deliveroo is continuing its UK expansion, launching today in Bridgend. This means that locals can now order food from a range of restaurants and grocery retailers in the area. Deliveroo is an app and website that enables Brits to check out the very best local food in their area. The British company has seen great success and is now available in 12 different markets across the world. Deliveroo works with both the best independent restaurants like  The Chipyard and The Golden Well Restaurant, well-known high street favourites like Wagamama and KFCas well as grocery retailers and…

Julie Parker 65, from Pontyclun, had to have open-heart surgery in June, while the country was going through the first coronavirus lockdown. Julie, a former chartered loss adjuster, needed surgery to replace an aortic valve. She had experienced heart palpitations, breathlessness and coughing for many months before her diagnosis of aortic stenosis (AS). This is a common condition that causes a narrowing of the heart valve, restricting blood flow out of the heart. Across Wales, more than 118,000 people over the age of 65 are thought to suffer with moderate to severe heart valve disease. Julie’s open-heart surgery took place…

A Powys gardener told she would never garden again after an accident a day before her husband’s funeral has defied the doctors – and seen the garden featured in a new charity film. Val Brown was airlifted to hospital after she badly dislocated her right shoulder and damaged her right arm in a fall just a day before her beloved husband Dave’s funeral in June 2017. Medics initially told Val, who spent more than a decade developing Japanese stroll garden Tranquility Haven with Dave, that she would never garden again due to the level of nerve damage. But with the…

Fast-growing Welsh medtech firm Bond Digital Health has received a further £1.2 million in equity funding to cap a hugely successful year. The Cardiff-based company received £1 million from Wealth Club, the high-net-worth investment service, and £200,000 from the Development Bank of Wales. The money will fund further business growth, product development and expansion into new global markets. Earlier this year Bond received £700,000 in equity funding from the same two organisations and was later awarded more than £200,000 in government grants. Bond used the funding to expand its team, creating five new high-value tech jobs to help develop its…

The International Centre for Policing and Security (ICPS), based at the University of South Wales (USW) has been awarded three Jean Monnet (Erasmus Plus) grants from the European Commission to boost research into counter-terrorism and hybrid security. They are receiving €300,000 to establish the EU counter terrorism network EUCTER involving international academic collaborations to advance blended learning formats with a strong policy relevance in the area of the EU counter-terrorism. A further €100,000 is for a partnership with the University of the West of England (UWE) Bristol to progress research into European co-operation on security, crime and counter terrorism under…

The first 166 beds are available to accept patients at the UHW Lakeside Wing, a temporary surge facility based at the University Hospital of Wales site, as of this week. On Friday 4 December, 166 beds that make up the ‘Northern Wing’ of the UHW Lakeside Wing will be available to accept patients who need rehabilitation and are recovering from a long period of acute illness. The UHW Lakeside Wing will be adopting a multi-disciplinary model of care, ensuring staff such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dieticians, pharmacists, healthcare support workers and registered nurses will be collaboratively working to provide patient…