Author: Rhys Gregory

A housing association’s welfare team has secured its tenants an additional £1m of household income as well as the reassuring support of avoiding possible evictions over a 12-month period. Grŵp Cynefin’s report also highlighted that for every £1 it spent on the service, there was a social return on investment (SROI) of £14.10, with tenants accessing vital benefit support including universal credit, housing benefits and council tax reductions. The SROI figure includes £985,301 financial gains for 278 tenants in addition to a social and emotional support value to tenants. These included relief from stress and anxiety, feeling financially comfortable, independence…

With families across the UK facing stricter lockdown measures, online toy retailer Bargain Max recently launched a Halloween inspired competition for kids.  In what has been a spooky and creative competition for youngsters across the UK, Bargain Max has now announced the final 10 shortlisted entries, including brother and sister Ethan Fish (aged 8) & Megan Fish (aged 4) from Pontypridd, Wales. The competition asked children across the UK to recreate their favourite Halloween character or film scene using toys around the home, as well using other materials to bring their vision to life. The competition saw more than 50…

NEW laws banning smoking in schools and playgrounds could play a major role in reducing youth smoking prevalence in Wales as new figures reveal 81% of the country’s 467,000 smokers were under 18 when they tried their first cigarette.  The regulations, which were debated in the Senedd yesterday (October 20th), will come into force on March 1st as part of the Public Health (Wales) Act 2017 and are the latest in a raft of Welsh Government measures to de-normalise smoking, reduce prevalence, and protect non-smokers. There is an urgent need for action to tackle youth smoking in Wales where 9%…

A Sony UK Technology Centre apprentice has claimed a prestigious industry title at the 2020 Make UK Manufacturing Awards. 26-year-old Saulius Paltanavicius has won the Welsh Engineering Apprentice of the Year: Rising Star Award. Originally from Lithuania, Saulius, who has been working at Sony UK TEC for three years, is one year away from completing his Higher Apprenticeship with the tech giant. Before embarking upon his apprenticeship, Saulius studied BTEC Engineering in Hereford College of Technology before moving to Cardiff to study BTEC Electrical and Electronic Engineering Level 3 Extended Diploma at Cardiff and Vale College. Following this, he started…

A world-renowned expert is backing calls for a pilot scheme in North Wales to give prescribed heroin for free to drug addicts. The idea is the brainchild of the region’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Arfon Jones, who says the introduction of Heroin Assisted Treatment (HAT) would save lives, reduce crime, cuts costs and interrupt the illicit drug market. Mr Jones, a former police inspector and long-time campaigner for drug reform, is organising a virtual conference on November 2 to seek support for the pioneering programme, with Deeside in Flintshire being a potential location. Among the guest speakers will be Professor…

THE new head of a leading land-based college plans to grow their offering at the heart of the rural community. Elin Roberts, site lead and Assistant Principal of Technical Studies at Coleg Cambria Llysfasi, has spent her life in agriculture. Having been raised on her family’s farm in Cwm Pennant, Gwynedd, she now farms alongside her husband Emyr at Melin y Wig, Corwen Elin was a county organiser for the Young Farmers Clubs before joining Llysfasi at the turn of the century, spending many years as a lecturer. A spell as the Learn Welsh Manager at Coleg Cambria Yale in…

A food distribution company has written to the First Minister warning that jobs will be at risk because a national “firebreak” in Wales and rolling local lockdowns in England will cost them £2 million. Andrew Foskett, the joint chairman of Harlech Foodservice, based in Criccieth and Chester, revealed, the company had already been forced to place staff on short-time,  resulting in a 40 per cent pay cut for the workforce and the company’s directors. The company’s main client base was in the hospitality sector and had seen 95 per cent of its business “fall off a cliff” during the first…

The managing director of Traveline Cymru has been crowned the winner of the Women in Transport award at the 2020 Wales Transport Awards. Jo Foxall, from Cowbridge, has been recognised for her tireless dedication to the organisation over the last 16 and a half years. Originally joining the public transport information provider in the role of Marketing Assistant, Jo has progressed within the organisation to her current role of Managing Director, which she had for the last three years. Jo sits on the Board of Directors and is responsible for developing the overall strategy for the business, leading the day-to-day…

Cardiff based Inter Vehicle Group (IVG) has strengthened its position as a leading voice in the electric vehicle future with the news it has become a franchisee of LEVC (London Electric Vehicle Company), covering all of Wales. The news will mean direct availability in Wales for the first time of LEVC’s iconic TX electric taxi and its VN5 electric van and will deliver 15 new jobs at Inter Vehicle Group’s operations in Cardiff through a £150,000 investment in specialist equipment and training. This will also see IVG take new commercial space of 27,000 sqft in Cardiff Bay to operate the…

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts in Wales, BAFTA Cymru, has revealed the names of the presenters and other special guest taking part in this Sunday’s British Academy Cymru Awards, which is being streamed at 19:00 online. Television presenter Alex Jones (The One Show) was previously announced as the host for the ceremony and will be joined by video-link by awards presenters, including: Alexandra Riley (The End of the F***ing World, In My Skin), Amber Davies (Love Island, 9 to 5 The Musical), Asif Kapadia (The Warrior, Senna, Amy), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago, The Mask of Zorro), Dafne Keen…