Author: Rhys Gregory

Cancer Research UK nurse from Abergavenny has been asked to join the fight against Coronavirus and use her experience to help experts find better treatments. Mandy Edwards, the charity’s lead research nurse in Wales is helping experts across the UK to collate and co-ordinate crucial data from Covid-19 patients to be analysed, as part of the UK wide endeavour to find better treatments for the virus through research. The nurse, is part of a team of research nurses and doctors in the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board area, who are working on the Randomised Evaluation of COVID Therapy (RECOVERY) trial…

With most staff on Talyllyn Railway at Tywyn in Mid Wales having been furloughed due to the Coronavirus lockdown, two new recruits are doing donkey work trackside and at stations on the seven-mile line. The railway’s four-legged friends, Hamish and Lady Maude, are have been drafted in to graze the grass around Rhydyronen station and keep the trackside undergrowth in check. The line’s closure may be bad news for the team running the world’s first preserved railway, but Hamish and Maude are enjoying the absence of trains to fill their bellies! Talyllyn Railway’s general manager Stuart Williams explained that it…

A Welsh pet food company has donated thousands of pounds worth of dog food to a local rescue centre to help it keep going during the Covid-19 crisis as it struggles to stay afloat during such uncertain times. Kidwelly-based Burns Pet Nutrition, a natural pet food company that already helps over 40 rescue centres across the UK, is supplying much-needed food donations to South Wales animal charity, Hope Rescue. The family firm, which specialises in producing high quality dog food made up of all-natural ingredients, is providing the centre with three-months’ worth of nutrition to see it through the lockdown…

The remarkable efforts of centenarian charity walker Captain Tom Moore will be helping to brighten the lives of hospital patients and staff in North Wales during the coronavirus crisis. So far, the war veteran has raised more than £28 million for NHS Charities Together after completing 100 laps of the garden at his daughter’s home in Bedfordshire ahead of his 100th birthday. The money will be shared among the network of 170 NHS charities across the UK, including Awyr Las in North Wales. And things could get even better because Captain Tom’s fundraising is set to smash through the £30…

A social care leader says news that care home deaths from Covid-19 have doubled is “utterly shocking but not surprising” because the virus has been imported into them by patients discharged from hospital. Mario Kreft MBE, the chair of Care Forum Wales, said the newly-published figures from the Office of Nationals Statistics (ONS)were an indictment of the failure to lock down earlier and harder. Accepting hospital patients into care homes had, he said,  played a major role in enabling the spread of the infection at such an alarming rate. The report from the ONS showed that in the week ending…

The UK’s largest retailer has announced its plan to provide a £30million package of support to local communities across the country, with a £500 grant available for local groups in Cardiff. In a recent letter to colleagues and customers, Tesco’s CEO Dave Lewis outlined plans to provide £30million of support for local communities including £25million in food donations. To further help local communities, a Bags of Help COVID-19 Community Fund has been created which aims to support as many groups as possible across the country with grants of £500. One of the first charities to benefit from the funding in…

South Wales Police officers were called to Blackmill Shop on Blackmill Road shortly after 7pm on Monday, April 27. A shop worker suffered minor injuries after she was struck by a missile – believed to have been from a crossbow – during the incident. Christopher Bessant, 34, from Brynmenyn, Bridgend and Esther Callow, 34, from Coity, Bridgend have both been charged with the armed robbery of the Blackmill Shop. They will appear before Bridgend Magistrates Court on Wednesday, 29 April, 2020.

Compared to other countries around the world, the USA has one of the strictest immigration policies there is. Any person wanting to travel to the USA would therefore do well to read up on the visa rules. As a standard, any non-US nationals need a visa to travel to the USA. The only exception to this is if you possess a US passport. However, there are a number of alternatives to the visa. By far the most popular one is the so-called ESTA. Travellers from countries like the United Kingdom can make use of an ESTA if they want to…

The Royal Mail has announced that it will stop its Saturday letter delivery service starting this weekend. The temporary changes have come into force due to a number of factors including staff absences relating to coronavirus. The changes will only effect its Saturday, with normal Monday-Friday service unaffected. The statement on the website reads: “Our postmen and postwomen are working very hard across the UK in challenging conditions. As we said at the start of the coronavirus crisis, there will be some disruption to services. Relevant factors include high levels of coronavirus-related absences and necessary social distancing measures. “We understand…

Two new drive-through testing centres and an online booking service will start in Wales this week. The testing centre in Llandudno will open tomorrow (Wednesday 29 April) and the Carmarthen centre will start testing critical workers on Thursday (30 April). Staff from the NHS, police, fire and ambulance services; care homes and other critical staff will be tested by appointment at the centre in Builder Street. They will have a self-swab test without leaving their vehicles. The Showground in Carmarthen will host a new drive-through testing centre for critical workers in West Wales. This will support other existing testing centres…