Author: Rhys Gregory

Denbighshire Housing is starting construction on four, one-bedroom apartments on the site of the former Bodnant School canteen on Caradoc Road. The low carbon apartments, which will be built and certified to the energy-efficient Passivhaus standard, are part of the Council’s target to provide 170 more council homes by 2022 and their construction is being part funded by the Welsh Government through its Innovative Housing Programme. The work, which started on January 25, is being undertaken by North Wales based Peter T Griffiths Building Contractors and is expected to be completed by the end of September. Cllr Tony Thomas, Denbighshire…

Welsh rugby fans are being given the chance to win their story on a seat at the nation’s home of rugby, the Principality Stadium. Principality Building Society, title sponsor of the stadium, is launching a competition to coincide with the Guinness Six Nations to find Welsh rugby fans’ best memories and unique stories from over two decades of games at the stadium. A panel of judges – including Wales’ top try-scorer Shane Williams – will choose up to 12 of their favourite stories. The winners will be awarded with their own personal sign that will be fixed to a seat…

Grŵp Llandrillo Menai has published proposals to bring a £11.2m Engineering Centre of Excellence to its Coleg Llandrillo, Rhyl Campus. Currently in the pre-application phase, the new centre will become a hub for delivering world-class education and training for the engineering sector. The centre will enable learners to develop skills supporting the future needs of industry, including those critical to the renewable energy sector, additive manufacturing and the digital transformation of industry. A new Institute for Renewable Energy Technology will be part of the new development providing the opportunity for learners from across the region to upskill, retrain and be…

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board is preparing to implement a new clinical trial that will grant blood cancer patients access to a promising, active lower intensity treatment option. The VICTOR clinical trial, which is funded by Cancer Research UK, and led by Dr Richard Dillon from Guy’s Hospital, London, will examine the efficacy of venetoclax-based treatment in treating certain groups of older patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). If found to be effective, the treatment could spare future patients some of the more toxic effects of traditional intensive chemotherapy. The Health Board will be delivering the trial as part…

Fashion retailer, Primark, leaped to the support of children’s charity, Noah’s Ark, after being inspired by the plight of a three-year-old girl called Eden.  As a result, the charity is now able to provide essentials packs for children who, like little Eden, are admitted to hospital in an emergency during the Covid-19 pandemic. The move is the latest activity in a long-standing partnership between Noah’s Ark and Primark’s store in Cardiff. In addition, to date, Primark has raised close to £800,000 in funds to support the charity’s work through the retailer’s bag levy. Eden was rushed to the Noah’s Ark Children’s…

This week, thousands of children will be taking place in BookTrust Cymru’s annual Big Welsh Rhyme Time. The week is a celebration of sharing rhymes, songs and poems in the early years. With increasingly concerning reports emerging about the impact of successive lockdowns on families and the widening development gap for some children, the charity has designed this week to engage families, teachers and early years practitioners in fun activities that can help develop language, social and communication skills as well as improving wellbeing. The Big Welsh Rhyme Time is the latest in the charity’s initiatives to support children and…

With Apprenticeship Week 2021 already in full swing, Future Generations Commissioner, Sophie Howe, explains why she encourages her children to consider becoming apprentices and what she believes makes apprenticeships a prosperous route into work for future generations to come. Apprenticeships are an innovative solution to secure the skilled workforce of the future – by Future Generations Commissioner Sophie Howe More than ever before, there’s an increasing anxiety amongst young people about their career decisions after leaving school. The impact of Covid-19 on the economy has resulted in many re-evaluating their options, creating apprehension not only for them, but also for…

Welsh Strictly Come Dancing pro Amy Dowden is calling on her fellow countrymen to join together to find out How Welsh Are You Anyway? in a quiz for a leading end of life care charity. Amy, the only British female professional on the hit BBC show, had recorded a special themed quiz for Marie Curie, to help the charity and its supporters mark St David’s Day on March 1. The quiz was developed as part of the organisation’s Great Daffodil Appeal – its largest annual fundraiser – which has been hit with challenges due to ongoing lockdown restrictions. Ordinarily, thousands…

The FUW is pleased to announce a new role – FUW (Farmers’ Union of Wales) Group Managing Director, who will oversee the Union’s work on behalf of the agricultural industry and its successful insurance services, FUWIS (Farmers’ Union of Wales Insurance Services). Following an appointment process, jointly administered by FUW and FUIWS, Guto Bebb was appointed to the post. Guto Bebb has been the Managing Director of FUWIS since April 2020. Mr Bebb, who lives in Caernarfon, is the ex-MP for Aberconwy, former Under Secretary of State for Wales, and former Procurement Minister with the Ministry of Defence.  As a…

Detectives investigating an incident in which gun shots were fired in to an address in the Cynon Valley have charged two men with attempted murder. Oliver Pearce, 30, from Rhydyfelin, and Ricky Webber, 28, from Porth, were charged on Friday night and have been remanded in custody. They were due before Cardiff Magistrates’ Court this morning. They are also charged with possession of an firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, possession of a weapon with intent to endanger life, and possession of a weapon in a public place. Officers are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the incident,…