Author: Rhys Gregory

The Welsh Government will today announce that increased incentives will be offered to attract more Biology teachers from next year. In the last five years, Biology has fallen into the bottom five subjects for the number of applications per teacher post. Trainee Biology PGCE teachers will be able to access additional support of up to £20,000, for graduates with a first class or a Master’s degree. Other subjects which attract the highest incentives include Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Welsh. The Iaith Athrawon Yfory incentive scheme, for Welsh-medium teachers, will also continue, offering incentives of up to £5,000, meaning trainee teachers…

Foals have announced that they will headline Swansea’s Singleton Park on Friday 4th June 2021. The extra Welsh date will take place the night before the band’s re-scheduled Cardiff Castle gig on Saturday 5th June 2021 (originally scheduled for 10th July 2020, but postponed due to Coronavirus). Foals are being brought to Wales by DEPOT Live, the live-events arm of the DEPOT brand. Robert Francis-Davies, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Investment, Regeneration and Tourism, said: “Last week we were pleased to announce that Olly Murs is to play at Singleton Park on Saturday June 5 and today’s announcement that we will once again be working with The DEPOT to bring…

Primary school pupils are being given the chance to learn more about local seafood and nutrition. Welsh food specialist Nerys Howell is offering free lessons on fish, shellfish and the importance of eating seafood as part of healthy, balanced diet. The Fish is the Dish project is being led by the Swansea Bay Fisheries Local Action Group which is managed by Swansea Council. It has been funded by the European Fisheries Fund through the Welsh Government. All interactive lessons – giving children across Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot, Burry Port and Bridgend the chance to taste local seafood species – are…

Changes to the way Nightingale House Hospice delivers its’ services to better cope with the impact from the coronavirus pandemic are having a positive effect on patient care. The changes were necessary to avoid additional pressure on the NHS and to enable patients to access hospice services earlier and quicker. The introduction of a direct referrals service for people with palliative care needs and conditions such as cancer, Motor Neurone Disease and heart failure, who require assessment or treatment by the hospice’s multidisciplinary team, was brought in at the start of lockdown to reach more people who may need the…

North Wales broadcaster and journalist Louise Elliott has been appointed Programme and Digital Editor at ITV Cymru Wales. Louise grew up in Llandegfan on Anglesey, attending David Hughes Comprehensive in Menai Bridge. She started her career in journalism as a teenage apprentice in the newsroom of the Bangor Chronicle. She worked in regional newspapers in Wales and the north west of England for ten years including many years at the Wrexham Evening Leader and the Daily Post before she was given her first break in broadcasting by HTV Wales in 1996. She also worked at the BBC, as a journalist…

Cardiff’s first eco-friendly hair salon is pledging to protect our oceans this month as part of #Unblocktober, and they’re calling on hairdressers and customers across the city to join their green revolution. Amaryllis directors Tiffany Hall, 30, and Rebecca Ryce, 34, were driven to call for change when they realised how much waste from the beauty industry ends up in Britain’s rivers and seas. “We were shocked to find out that almost eight million tonnes of plastic are dumped into the ocean every year,” said Tiffany. “Beauty and hygiene products, waste food and packaging all create huge problems when they…

 A newly-launched Welsh security fencing company has enjoyed a dream start – and is now planning to create up to 50 jobs as the business grows. Perimeter Fencing Solutions, which launched in February has already broken the £1 million turnover ceiling, and within five years is aiming to reach £4 million and employ 50, according to Directors Hywel Davies, Scott Thomas and Richard Salmon. The company’s order book is also strong with some £1 million of sales of future projects in Wales and around the UK. Earlier this year the venture raised  a launch package of £200,000, cornerstoned with a loan…

A budding fashion designer from Rogiet in Monmouthshire has turned lockdown stress into business success, setting up a clothing and accessories brand during the pandemic and selling hundreds of face masks already. 21-year-old Ruby Harry graduated from Cardiff Metropolitan University with a First in Fashion Design, and started her own business, Ruby Harry Design, just one month after graduating. Selling face masks, tote bags, hair accessories and make up bags, Ruby set up her own venture to be able to put her degree to good use. Ruby started her business with the help of Big Ideas Wales, part of Business…

High street traders across the Vale of Glamorgan say they “need shoppers now more than ever” after local lockdown measures were imposed. Owners of businesses across the Vale are urging people to support the high street following restrictions which have been reintroduced this month. In a bid to support pandemic-hit shops, the Vale of Glamorgan Council has launched its Vale Town Centres campaign, calling on people to continue supporting independent businesses which have seen trade seriously affected since the outbreak. As part of the major campaign, which has been joint funded through the Welsh Government’s, Transforming Towns initiative, Covid Recovery…

Colleagues Keisha and Rebecca at housing, care and support organisation, Hafod, are two of the first Welsh social housing cohort to recently qualify as carbon literacy trainers as part of the sector-wide Carbon Literacy Project.  Hafod is one of 27 Welsh registered social landlords who form the Carbon Literacy Cartrefi Cymru(CCLC) consortium and are working in partnership to give their colleagues and customers the opportunity to improve their understanding of climate change and global warming. The aim of increasing carbon literacy among their workforce and customers is to raise awareness and encourage communities and organisations to take action to reduce their carbon footprint in…