Author: Rhys Gregory

Caerphilly Youth Service LGBTQ+ group #GGNP has been shortlisted for an award in the ‘Equality and Diversity in a youth work setting’ category at the Youth Work Excellence Awards. The Youth Work Excellence Awards are held every year in Wales. The national awards are an opportunity to recognise and celebrate outstanding youth work projects, youth workers and those involved in youth work across Wales. This group is a unique initiative within Caerphilly County Borough’s Youth Service which supports young people aged between 11 and 25 years who are LGBTQ+. Over the past 4 years it has been established, it has…

Collections for garden-waste across Cardiff are to be suspended for four months in order to help the Council deal with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and to ensure general waste, recycling and food waste collections can continue to take place. The once-a-month, garden waste collections, which normally take place in November, December, January and February will be halted, although residents will be able to have Christmas trees collected between January 4th and January 11th. October’s fortnightly garden waste collections will continue as normal. This should allow residents to remove any autumn leaf fall and clear any garden waste before winter. Spring collections…

First Minister Mark Drakeford has further strengthened the Welsh Government’s response to coronavirus by realigning key Ministerial portfolios. Minister for Health and Social Services Vaughan Gething will focus solely on Wales’ twin priorities of responding to coronavirus and NHS performance and delivery. And as cases of coronavirus increase across Wales, Eluned Morgan will take on a new role as Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing and the Welsh Language, acknowledging the longer-term impact on the virus on people’s mental health and wellbeing. She will assume Ministerial responsibility for mental health services, dementia, autism, substance misuse, veterans’ health, patient experience and the…

Rhug Estate is ingeniously using the organic wool from its flock of sheep on the farm to make high quality, sustainable, protective packaging for its new Wild Beauty skin and body care collections. Wool from the farm is also used to produce luxury duvets and mattress toppers. This week is a time to celebrate the versatility of sheep’s wool as it is #WoolWeek. This year is the tenth anniversary of HRH The Prince of Wales’ Campaign for Wool. Rhug Estate was granted a Royal Warrant of Appointment to HRH The Prince of Wales two years ago. Lord Newborough, owner of…

People showing symptoms of Covid-19 in Swansea are to have access to a seven-days-a-week walk-in Local Testing Site (LTS). It will be based at the city centre’s Grand Theatre and will soon be open 8am-8pm every day. This is in addition to mobile testing units already rolled out across Swansea and Neath Port Talbot and drive-through testing facilities at the Liberty Stadium and Margam. The Grand LTS will offer pre-booked walk-in appointments. Appointments must be made via the Welsh Government website https://gov.wales/apply-coronavirus-covid-19-test. Anyone booking a test will need a mobile phone number or email address as they will receive a…

A number of Welsh University towns and cities are set to benefit from a new walk-through Local Testing Sites (LTS). In September the first LTS opened in Pontypridd near the University of South Wales. Each of the new Local Testing Site’s will provide access to testing for both the returning students and the local populations. Today (8 October) the Minister for Health and Social Services Vaughan Gething and Minister for Education, Kirsty Williams confirm more Local Testing Sites will open this month in Swansea, Cardiff, Bangor and Aberystwyth. These sites are part of a Welsh Government agreement with the UK…

Morrisons is today launching a service aimed at ensuring customers who are self-isolating can get a delivery of food to their doorstep. With coronavirus cases rising, Morrisons wants no customer to be left behind and the ‘doorstep delivery’ service will offer all customers who are self-isolating a next-day food delivery (from 10am-6pm). Customers simply have to ring the doorstep delivery service where they can choose the items for their emergency delivery. The service was previously only available for elderly and clinically vulnerable people. Now anybody who is self-isolating can: Phone 0345 611 6111 and select option five. Choose from a…

Wales’ largest coworking space, the Welsh Innovation Centre for Enterprise (ICE) has launched a new platform that will take its community online, as the business pivots during lockdown.  With businesses having to operate in a limited capacity during the COVID-19 Pandemic and a further local lockdown, there was a strong demand from the community to maintain business support and the collaborative ethos of ICE, despite restrictions. Businesses at ICE have, on average, a 77% survival rate for three years or more, which is higher than the UK average of 61%. CEO of Welsh ICE, Jamie McGowan attributes this to the…

Homelessness charity, Llamau, has been awarded a £5,000 grant from the B&Q Foundation. The charity is one of the first in the UK to receive a grant from the Foundation – which has so far raised a total of nearly £500,000.  Llamau will use the money towards expanding its Domestic Abuse services by building three new, private and soundproofed consultation rooms at its Multi-Agency Centre in Caerphilly, enabling the charity to provide more essential 1-2-1 support for victims of domestic abuse.  Demand for their service is high, and the charity has seen a significant increase in people seeking help as…

Morale-boosting support and collaboration are helping Welsh food and drink companies overcome the challenges of Covid-19 and maintain their winning ways. Despite a turbulent six months, a host of Welsh producers have proved the excellence of their products with a ‘galaxy’ of stars in the Great Taste awards. Many of the winners have been supported by Food & Drink Wales and its Cluster initiative, which fosters connections between businesses in the sector. Both the Fine Food Wales Cluster and the Seafood Wales Cluster are facilitated by the Cywain project. Delivered by Menter a Busnes, the Cywain project supports the development…