Author: Rhys Gregory

The Rhyl Read has been put together by Rhyl Town Council to help keep minds active during periods of isolation. The magazine, which features ideas and activities for people to do easily and safely at home, is being trialled in the town and  is free to download with additional copies printed upon request. Rhyl mayor Cllr Ellie Chard said, over the last 12 months, town councillors had been regularly telephoning people who were self-isolating or whose external activities had been curtailed due to the pandemic. She said: “Many of the older people we speak to regularly have made it clear…

Weetabix Food Company has become the Official Partner of the Wales Women’s National football team and title partner of the FAW Trust grassroots girls’ football initiative Huddle, which will be renamed Huddle, powered by Weetabix. The agreement is part of a long-term partnership between the UK’s favourite cereal1 and the home nations’ respective football associations. Showing support for women’s and grassroots football, Huddle, powered by Weetabix, aims to introduce girls aged between four and 11 to football in a fun, friendly and inclusive environment ensuring they have a positive first experience of football. The programme is delivered by clubs and…

The National Trust has developed a “game changing” map that illustrates the threat climate change poses to some of its most culturally significant sites in Wales, England and Northern Ireland. It is the first map of its kind that plots data in this way and will help the charity identify the hazard level facing its countryside locations, monuments, coastlines and historical sites. By plotting its places alongside existing data on climate change related events, the charity is able to understand how the impact, at a local scale, of potential risk factors (extreme heat and humidity, flooding, landslides, coastal erosion, soil…

Welsh Game of Thrones Star and Environmentalist, Iwan Rheon, has added his voice to a coalition of charities urging Wales to lead the way in protecting our world’s most important natural resources by committing to eliminate imported deforestation from its supply chains, therefore becoming the first ‘Deforestation Free Nation’. As the countdown to the Senedd elections begin, WWF Cymru, Size of Wales and RSPB Cymru are calling on all parties to urgently commit to policies that will remove imported deforestation from Welsh supply chains. An estimated 18 million hectares of forest, an area approximately nine times the size of Wales, is lost globally every year. An area of forest the size of a rugby pitch is lost every two seconds. These crucial habitats are being deforested to produce just a handful of commodities, namely palm oil,…

The creative sector in South West Wales is thriving, thanks to a combination of world class facilities, talent and training. At its heart, Canolfan S4C Yr Egin, based on the University of Wales Trinity Saint David campus in Carmarthen, inspires creativity and imagination, fostering talent for the future. Carys Owens, Whisper Cymru’s newly-appointed Managing Director, says the recent merger of her company Lens 360 with Whisper – a global network of production, post-production and broadcast specialists – is a further example of an ongoing success story for the creative industries throughout the Swansea Bay City Region. Carys said: “I am from…

Hywel Dda Health Charities has thanked epic fundraiser Annette Smith from Talybont, Aberystwyth who has raised £710 so far walking over 100 miles in 21 days, around her local area to raise money for Bronglais Chemotherapy Day Unit. Annette normally walks at the most 60 miles a month, so the 63 year old had really pushed her limits. She started on 10th February and finished mile 100 on Tuesday 2nd March, ten days before her 64th birthday on 12th March, when she’ll celebrate her achievement with some well-deserved cake! Annette has walked every day, trying to get to walk done…

Visitors to Swansea Market will be able to socialise while enjoying fresh produce and tasty food and drink bought on-site in a newly created centrepiece at the award winning destination. Hundreds of residents along with traders have taken part in a consultation to have their say on design options to improve the existing central area. They have backed plans for a pergola themed area for people to meet, eat and spend quality time as part of an overall £1m investment in improved facilities and COVID rent concession support for traders. Following feedback some amendments will be made to the original…

Neath Port Talbot Council has entered into an agreement with Persimmon Homes West Wales to build almost 140 houses on the site of the former Afan Lido leisure centre on the Aberavon Seafront. Under the provisional agreement, Persimmon will be the council’s preferred development partner in the project to transform the prime site. Persimmon Homes West Wales is currently preparing a planning application to create 137 homes on the site with the proposed development including two, three and four-bedroom houses, as well as a range of two-bedroom flats. If planning permission is granted, work is expected to start on the…

Work has begun on a social housing scheme that will provide permanent accommodation within North Cornelly. The four one-bedroom homes are being built on a site where uninhabitable flats were demolished at the Ffordd Yr Eglwys development, which is being delivered by Bridgend County Borough Council in partnership with Valleys to Coast Housing Association (V2C) and Welsh Government. The houses, which are due to be completed in May 2021, are based on a modular method of construction. This uses structural insulated panels instead of traditional brick or timber frames, enabling them to be constructed much faster and more efficiently. Funded…

Caerphilly Council is working to support businesses to operate within the new guidance and taking action against those who are found to be non-compliant. Three businesses in Caerphilly county borough have been issued with a £1,000 Fixed Penalty Notice after breaching Covid Regulations. Two of the businesses were situated in the Lower Rhymney Valley area; the first was a hand car wash business who was found to be operating normally, allowing customers to turn up without pre-booking. The second was a Public House, allowed to open to provide take away food and alcohol for consumption off the premises only. However,…