Author: Rhys Gregory

Councils in Wales will receive an additional £5.5m to help them fund the increasing demand on the Welsh Government’s Council Tax Reduction Scheme, Finance Minister Rebecca Evans announced today. The Council Tax Reduction Scheme has been providing support to hundreds of thousands of households with their council tax bills since it was introduced almost eight years ago. But with many more people facing reduced income or unemployment as a result of Covid-19, the CTRS has received a significant increase in applications. In the last year the Welsh Government has provided local authorities with almost £11m in additional funding to help…

Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board has confirmed the latest arrangements for mobile coronavirus testing facilities in Bridgend County Borough. A new drive-through mobile testing facility will open on Friday 5 February at the Halo Swimming Pool on Marshfield Avenue in Pyle (CF33 6RP). It will be open daily from 9am until 4pm and booking is essential. The drive-through facility currently available at the site of the former Revlon/Cosi factory off Oakwood Drive in Maesteg will close at the end of tomorrow (Thursday, 4 February). A walk-through testing facility remains in place at the Bowls Hall car park off Bridgend…

The site has been chosen for Merthyr Tydfil’s new single all through 3-16 Voluntary Aided (VA) Catholic school. The County Borough Council’s Cabinet has approved the land south of the ‘Greenie’, west of Galon Uchaf Road as the preferred site, but will hold further consultations with residents, school communities and the Archdiocese of Cardiff as the design progresses. Further investigations will now be carried out, including traffic monitoring, drainage and ground investigations, ecology surveys and licensed drone surveys of the site and surrounding areas. To ensure suitable traffic management, drop-off/parking and sports facilities, the current upper Bishop Hedley High School…

Cardiff Works, the Council’s in-house temporary employment agency which offers jobs across a wide range of the council’s services, has developed the new site to raise awareness of opportunities in the authority and to support individuals into positions where they can build skills and confidence to secure sustainable employment. The team works side by side with the Council’s Into Work Advice service, who can ensure candidates have access to all the employment guidance and expertise they need to equip them for roles they are interested in with Cardiff Works. The bright and attractive new site features the latest temporary vacancies…

With the Coronavirus flames razing the entire world in 2020, most countries imposed measures to minimize the spread of that global pandemic. This impacted a significant blow on most businesses as management considerably reduced the operational hours, and some companies shut down completely. There were a few who saw an increase in their sales and users. For example betting UK and many other online stores saw a boom in their sales. The above resulted in many people losing their jobs because of reduced revenue generation for physical work Companies. The affected companies could no longer retain employees since there was…

Mitral valve insufficiency is a heart disease in which there is a reverse movement of blood from the left ventricle to the left atrium during contraction of the ventricles of the heart due to incomplete closure of the valve leaflets. Nowadays mitral valve repair is no longer an invasive open surgery – the intervention may be endovascular or percutaneous. Symptoms of mitral valve insufficiency Symptoms of mitral valve insufficiency may include: Cough Shortness of breath Cyanosis of the lips Rapid heartbeat, a feeling of irregular heartbeat, heart palpitations Pain in the heart area  General weakness Dull, aching pain in the…

Christ College Brecon is celebrating after receiving offers to study at Oxford University for two of its students. Faye Fallon has received an offer to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Brasenose College while Sam Kang received an offer to read Physics for a four-year Masters course at Corpus Christi College. Competition for the coveted places is strong with over seven applications received for each available place in 2019. As long as they meet the conditions of their offer, Faye and Sam will join 3,300 undergraduates from across the globe starting their university life at Oxford this September. …

Domino’s, the UK’s best loved pizza company, has made it even easier to snap up special collection-only deals, with their latest In Car Collection innovation. The pizza giant has rolled out a new hassle-free way to collect piping-hot orders in eleven more stores across Wales, so you don’t have to leave the comfort of your own car. In Car Collection has already been trialled in a handful of stores in Wales in late 2020 and after some great customer feedback, the technology is now being rolled out in another eleven stores – Cardiff Llandaff, Cardiff Cathays, Cardiff Penarth, Barry, Bridgend…

Swansea Council has started the search for an experienced contractor to transform the city centre’s historic Palace Theatre building. It is expected that the business selected will have a track record of working with heritage buildings. The flatiron-shaped 133-year-old Palace is a grade two listed building that once staged performances with the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Sir Anthony Hopkins. The council acquired the six-storey High Street building from private owners around a year ago. Although sound on the outside, it is dilapidated inside. It is to be transformed sensitively into a home to tech, start-up and creative businesses. Planning…

The exploits of British Armed forces veterans from Wales during National Service 60 years ago are front and centre of an innovative new heritage project. Elwyn Davies, 83, from Hollywell (originally from Conwy), who served in Egypt and was stationed at Caterham in Surrey, is one of 18 former servicemen included in a National Lottery-funded project called National Service Remembered. It’ s 60 years since National Service ended in the UK and the campaign, run by the not-for-profit organisation Same but Different, captures an important period of the country’s cultural history through the eyes of the men who served. Ceridwen…