Author: Rhys Gregory

The Great Taste awards, recognised as the world’s most coveted food and drink awards, have announced their stars of 2020, and a multitude of delicious Welsh food and drink products have been commended with a gold seal of approval. A remarkable 161 Welsh products ranging from small independent artisan producers to large scale distributors have been deemed worthy of this prestigious award, with 115 products achieving 1-star, 43 receiving 2-stars and 3 earning the ultimate stamp of approval with 3-stars. Among the Great Taste 3-star winners from Wales are a number of products that put fruity flavours centre stage including;…

Work could soon begin on creating 45 new allotments along the northern edge of agricultural land at Gelliargwellt Uchaf Farm, with residents in adjacent properties being given first refusal. With allotment gardening gaining in popularity, the Caerphilly local development plan identifies a need for suitable locations to meet the increasing demand. The proposed piece of land is on the southern edge of Gelligaer, where the Waun Rhydd SINC backs onto houses along Aneurin Bevan Avenue. The allotments would be accessed off Claerwen and the individual plots can be approached along the fire service access track that runs along Waun Rhydd.…

A police boss is calling for an investigation into “worrying reports” of discrimination against Welsh speaking prisoners from across North Wales. North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, Arfon Jones, will be writing a letter to Nick Leader, the Governor of HMP Berwyn in Wrexham following allegations that inmates were threatened with the removal of privileges for speaking Welsh. They say they are being victimised because the prison guards can’t understand them. Prisoners have also alleged that they are being denied interpreters at disciplinary panels. The allegations were part of the critical annual report of the Independent Monitoring Board into the…

Morrisons is creating over 1,000 permanent jobs to fulfil orders for its services on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon Prime Now. Morrisons is recruiting the colleagues to help pick and pack customer orders from over 50 stores, covering most major cities and many towns. Customers are looking for different ways to access grocery home deliveries and Morrisons on Amazon (an Amazon.co.uk service) and the Morrisons Store on Amazon Prime Now (accessible via the Prime Now site and app) provide Prime members with a way of getting free-of-charge same-day grocery delivery. Orders are placed on Amazon, before being picked in store by Morrisons employees and packed in…

Cabinet has agreed to RCT Council creating a Social Letting Agency (SLA) to manage private rented properties for landlords – providing sustainable and affordable housing for those in need and acting as an incentive for vacant properties to be brought into use. A report to the virtual Cabinet meeting on Thursday, September 24, outlined a business case for the SLA, and noted £129,000 Welsh Government funding has been secured to establish and run it for the remainder of 2020/21. The Council’s Homelessness Strategy highlights the steps the Council is taking to improve the service and meet pressures. One of the…

Treforest-based business Gwalia Healthcare has kindly donated 5,600 bottles of hand sanitiser for RCT Council to distribute to more than 60 voluntary-run organisations across Rhondda Cynon Taf. The Treforest Industrial Estate company specialises in manufacturing medical devices and pharmaceutical packaging, but began producing hand sanitiser in response to the initial lockdown period of the Coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. Using existing resources to make the bottles and sourcing the gel and alcohol from a 10-mile radius, Gwalia produced an initial supply of 20,000 bottles for frontline staff, at a time when there was a significant shortage. This came a matter…

Over 200 businesses in Swansea have applied for the Welsh Government’s £5.3 million Transforming Towns fund to support traders respond to the pandemic. In July Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government Hannah Blythyn announced capital funding from the £90 million Transforming Towns programme, will be used to fund adaptions in town centres to facilitate trading and public safety in response to Coronavirus. From outdoor seating, shelter and heating for cafes/pubs and outdoor waiting areas for salons and social distancing signage and adaptions to providing lighting and power for outdoor markets. Demand for the fund has been at an all-time…

New coronavirus restrictions are being introduced in four local authority areas in North Wales – Denbighshire, Flintshire, Conwy and Wrexham – following a rise in cases, Health Minister Vaughan Gething has announced. The new measures will come into force at 6pm on Thursday 1 October, to protect people’s health and control the spread of the virus in the four areas. The new restrictions will apply to everyone living in Denbighshire, Flintshire, Conwy and Wrexham: People will not be allowed to enter or leave each of these areas without a reasonable excuse, such as travel for work or education; People will…

Nothing gives a new artist more joy than finding out that a significant number of audiences have started listening to and enjoying their songs. That’s why ReverbNation, as a platform, offers both new and old artists this type of service across the globe. It’s also an opportunity for artists to grow a sustainable career by exposing them to a qualitative music audience and building innovative tools that can help promote their handiwork, one of which is the Song Plays with ReverbNation feature. How Present-day Artist Measure Success Modern-day artists have various parameters by which they measure the success of their…

Transport for Wales is surging ahead with its expansion of the fflecsi bus service to another part of Wales. In partnership with Pembrokeshire Voluntary Transport (PVT) and Pembrokeshire County Council, the new service will officially launch today in North West Pembrokeshire. Fflecsi is a semi-scheduled demand responsive bus service, that has a fixed start and end destination, but is flexible and can adjust its route to pick-up and drop-off passengers anywhere within that fflecsi zone. Rather than passengers wait at a bus stop for a bus to turn up, they can book a journey in advance using a new app, the fflecsi website or by calling 0300 234 0300.  Passengers will then be informed where…