Author: Rhys Gregory

The founder of the Child of Britain Awards has urged families, friends, and carers to nominate inspirational young people for a brand-new event dedicated to celebrating the inspirational achievements of children across the UK. Nominations are now open for Child of Britain, the only national initiative dedicated to celebrating the achievements and courage of children and young people across the United Kingdom. It culminates in a star-studded event, which is held in a different city every year, at which the children are treated as the stars and their achievements are celebrated. The courage and achievements of some 15 children will…

Business confidence in Wales rose eight points during September to -4%, according to the latest Business Barometer from Lloyds Bank. Companies in Wales reported higher confidence in their own business prospects month-on-month at -7%When taken alongside their views of the economy overall, this gives a headline confidence reading of -4% – the highest in the UK alongside London and the East Midlands. The Business Barometer questions 1,200 businesses monthly and provides early signals about UK economic trends both regionally and nationwide. When asked about the impact COVID-19 was having on their business, the majority of firms continued to see demand…

Students from West Park Primary School in Porthcawl and Ysgol Clywedog in Wrexham have achieved global success, winning first prizes in the international Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) competition.  Young Reporters for the Environment Litter Less Campaign is an international journalism scheme run in Wales by Keep Wales Tidy on behalf of FEE (the Foundation for Environmental Education). It empowers young people between 11-25 to take a stand on the global fight against litter and articulate these issues through writing, photography and film. More than 275,000 students from 45 countries participated in the YRE programme this year, submitting over…

Pioneering digital start-up Business Butler recently hosted its Official Launch online and the virtual event was a resounding success. The landmark occasion was originally planned to be a physical launch party held in Cardiff but due to the current climate this wasn’t possible. Faced with either delaying the launch until restrictions are lifted or to go ahead with a virtual launch online – there was only going to be one answer, as Business Butler’s CEO and Founder, Bhupinder Sidhu explains: “The timing for our launch was crucial and ideally we would have preferred a physical event but we couldn’t wait…

Significant temporary service restrictions will be put in place at Royal Glamorgan Hospital from 14.00 Wednesday September 30th as increased action is taken to contain a COVID-19 outbreak within the hospital. Teams have been working at pace to implement robust measures to manage the outbreak, however additional cases linked to transmission within the hospital have been confirmed in recent days with the number of cases currently standing at 82. Given the extent of this outbreak, and on advice of Public Health Wales, the Health Board is taking a number of urgent and significant actions to ensure the safety of our…

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…