Author: Rhys Gregory

Parents whose children were involved in antisocial behaviour while also in breach of coronavirus legislation were among those fined in south Wales over the weekend. As Wales headed in to the second weekend of the national firebreak, calls to South Wales Police spiked at almost 1,500 on Saturday, October 31, with more than 200 of those calls relating to concerns about Covid breaches and Halloween concerns. Calls reported a range of concerns from youths congregating and engaging in antisocial behaviour, house parties, suspected breaches by licensed premises which should be closed, failure of Covid-positive individuals to self-isolate and gatherings at…

Work has started on building the ‘Christmas at the Castle’ attractions in the heart of the city as Sayers Events and Cardiff Council create some much-needed seasonal cheer. Running from Thursday, November 12, to Sunday, January 3, Christmas at the Castle is being managed according to rigorous safety standards designed to allow visitors to enjoy themselves in a COVID-safe, socially-distanced environment. Sayers Events, the operator of the famous Cardiff’s Winter Wonderland, are once again involved in adding sparkle to the city with a variety of outdoor festive features in and around Cardiff Castle that will enhance the Castle’s planned activities…

Age Connects Cardiff & the Vale is delighted to announce that the National Lottery Community Fund #National Lottery have provided a grant to support the charity’s Engagement Project: Building Resilient Communities. The grant will build on previous engagement work and support our volunteer programme that has been providing vital help for older people who have been shielding and self-isolating. The COVID pandemic has highlighted the difficulties some people have when they don’t have family and friends they can turn to for that little bit of help. The loneliness and isolation felt by so many is heart breaking, but the issue…

The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has given a cautious welcome to the decision to extend the role of the Trade and Agriculture Commission and place it on a statutory footing, describing it as a welcome step towards addressing concerns over substandard food imports. The UK government announced on November 1 that it had decided to extend the commission past its previous fixed term and give it a more active role through a new legislative underpinning, to be reviewed every three years. Under the new plans, the commission will produce a report on the impact on animal welfare and agriculture…

More than 1500 wildflowers have been delivered to a Denbighshire community as part of a biodiversity project. As part of Denbighshire County Council’s Bee Friendly project, 1500 wildflowers were delivered to the Llanbedr Dyffryn Clwyd, Llanferres and Maeshafn community councils to develop their own wildflower habitats. The wildflowers were grown at Bodfari Woodland Skills Centre and were sourced from seed gathered from Denbighshire County Council’s network of roadside nature reserves. Each of the new sites will become a seed bank of local provenance seeds to be gathered, grown on or sown on new sites across the county as the project…

Following the successful launch of the Ceredigion Adult Carers Card launched at the beginning of October, Ceredigion is proud to be the first county in Wales to launch a Young Carers Card as part of the Welsh Government National ID Card initiative. The aim is that each area of Wales will have a Young Carers ID Card by 2022. The development of this card has involved working in collaboration with partners in the Welsh Government, Carers Trust Wales, as well as Young Carers. A Young Carer is someone who looks after a friend or family member who cannot manage on…

A civil engineering contractor carrying out emergency repair works on a road near Knighton, Powys, has been praised as it reaches the half-way point. Ruthin-based Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK was engaged by Powys County Council after a stretch of the B4355 suffered significant damage caused by flash flooding and further storms. The road collapsed in three separate locations, all within one mile of each other, in August. Jones Bros installed a temporary bridge to reopen the road for commuters and local residents, which coincided with the start of the school term, while designs were finalised. The civil engineering company…

A mum-of-seven revealed her violent partner tried to kick and punch her baby out of her womb when he discovered she was pregnant after finding a scan in a drawer. Gloria, 38, not her real name, was rushed to hospital but thankfully the unborn baby survived the brute’s assault which left the mum black from bruising from head to toe. An escape route was provided by  Clwyd Alyn Women’s Aid (CAWA) which receives funding from the North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, Arfon Jones. CAWA moved her into a refuge and gave her the support she needed to get her…

FinTech Wales, an independent membership association and champion of the FinTech and Financial Services industry in Wales, has named Sarah Williams-Gardener as its first CEO. A former Director of Public Affairs at Starling Bank, Sarah joins FinTech Wales just a few months after its first birthday. Sarah spent 17 years at IBM, latterly as Government Affairs Director working with Government departments, as well as working on commercial and innovation projects. Sarah was also a founding member of the team behind the challenger bank Starling. Since leaving Starling in June 2019, Sarah held an interim CEO role at charity Hope for…

The team behind the highly successful Oasis One World Choir, a musical project for refugees, asylum seekers and the wider community that runs out of the Oasis Centre in Cardiff, is to launch a Community Interest Company (CIC) to lead the choir into an exciting new era. A CIC is a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are reinvested in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit. Project Manager Tracy Pallant, facilitator Laura Bradshaw and choreographer June Campbell-Davies have formed the new entity to ensure a sustainable future for the project, which they describe…