Author: Rhys Gregory

The winners of Wales’s national St David Awards 2020 were announced last night by First Minister Mark Drakeford. This year’s awards were originally scheduled to be held in March but were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. In a message to all the St David Awards recipients, the First Minister said he hoped the “everyday but extraordinary” winners will find comfort in their recognition. The award categories are: Bravery, Humanitarian, Community Spirit, Young Person, Innovation, Science and Technology, Business, Culture, Sport and the First Minister’s Special Award. This year’s special award winner is former international rugby player Gareth Thomas, who…

The Welsh Government Duty of Care campaign to encourage people to help tackle fly-tipping relaunches today. To remind householders in Wales that they must always use a registered waste carrier to remove unwanted household items and excess rubbish from their homes. With over 70% of fly-tipping incidents in Wales containing household rubbish, The campaign, in partnership with Fly Tipping Action Wales, calls on people to take responsibility for their excess rubbish, keep their local area clean and avoid fines and prosecution by using their duty of care to ensure they know where their waste is going and not put it…

An investment of £450,000 is being made from the Welsh Government’s North Wales metro funding to provide electric buses and charging infrastructure for two Flintshire routes, Transport and North Wales Minister Ken Skates has announced. The investment will fund two electric bus vehicles which will serve routes to Buckley and Treuddyn, as well as the charging infrastructure to maintain them. The routes are part of Flintshire’s aim to link rural routes to main hubs in the county. The vehicles will be housed at the council’s facility in Buckley which includes a solar farm allowing the buses to be charged using…

From this Saturday, the household waste recycling centre in Newport will be open for longer on weekends. Residents can now book a slot at the centre on weekends between 8am and 6pm, where previously opening hours were between 9.30am and 4pm. Since the centre reopened a few weeks ago, Newport residents have helped ensure the new processes in place for booking slots and visiting have worked well. This combined with an increase in staffing numbers has enabled Newport Council to extend the opening times on weekends, in order to deliver greater flexibility to residents looking to visit the site. To…

Caerphilly county borough council will make local town centres a safe space for shoppers as Wales prepares to get back to business over the coming weeks. The authority is also encouraging residents to ‘shop local’ by temporarily waiving charges at town centre Pay and Display car parks until the end of the year. “We anticipate that the First Minister is likely to signal the reopening of some shops and business premises and we want to make sure that our town centres are prepared to welcome back shoppers in a safer and more sustainable manner,” said Cllr Philippa Marsden, Leader of…

Caerphilly County Borough Council has received a number a number of reports of the same telephone trick – relating to the NHS “track and trace” strategy – being attempted. If you get a call that fits the following description, please hang up immediately.  The caller begins by saying they are from the NHS track and trace service, adding: “According to our system, you are likely to have been in close proximity to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. This means that you now need to self-isolate for seven days and take a COVID-19 test.” They are then told that…

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board has made a substantial contribution to a major treatment breakthrough for COVID-19. The health board was the first in the UK to open the RECOVERY (Randomised Evaluation of COVid-19 thERapY) trial, which found that the low-dose steroid treatment, Dexamethasone reduces deaths of hospitalised patients with severe respiratory complications of COVID-19. The trial, which was implemented by the University of Oxford, found that dexamethasone reduced deaths by one third in ventilated patients, and by one fifth in other patients receiving oxygen. Dexamethasone is the first drug to be shown to improve survival in COVID-19, with…

A Swansea University student is playing a key role in managing supplies of PPE at one of the hospitals hit hardest by the pandemic. Simon Cardozo, a first-year student enrolled on the Applied Medical Sciences degree course is now Covid-19 PPE Coordinator at KFM, a wholly owned subsidiary of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in South East London. Nineteen-year-old Simon had previously worked at the hospital during his holidays to earn money and gain experience before being offered this role supporting the supply chain team during the coronavirus crisis Simon, from South London, said: “I support a team of…

SB Wales has called upon the First Minister to give urgent clarity and a timescale to plans for allowing the reopening of the tourism industry in Wales. Tourism businesses, like many other businesses, remain in effective ‘hibernation’ because of the impact of Coronavirus. However, across the industry, there has been a hope that, as elsewhere in the UK, the Welsh Government will bring forward clearer plans for at least the partial re-opening of those businesses. FSB has already raised concerns about the viability of the sector in Wales which is among the hardest hit by the current Coronavirus crisis. In…

New research has revealed the eBay clothing, shoes and accessories categories that could make Brits the most money from selling their second hand items. Analysis of eBay’s average selling prices by sliding door wardrobe company Spaceslide has found that selling your old trainers could be your best chance at getting some quick cash. On average, men’s trainers sell for £79.11 whereas an old pair of women’s trainers could bring in £54.93. However, depending on the style you’re selling, you could make even more than that. Men’s Nike Jordan trainers sell for £136.23 on average, with women’s pairs making £129.82. Selling…