Author: Rhys Gregory

On International Children’s Books Day (April 2nd), the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) in partnership with the Books Council of Wales are delighted to announce that they have awarded a PhD scholarship in the internationalisation of children’s literature to Megan Farr from Penarth. Over the next three years, Megan Farr will develop a strategy for the internationalisation of children’s stories for the publishing sector in Wales. Megan will explore the appropriate strategies that the publishing sector in Wales needs to develop in order to strengthen its operations at an international level in the field of children’s literature. The…

With a huge percentage of the population now at home, it is vital that we continue to keep fit or indeed use this time to improve our health and fitness.  Many of those at home are over 70 and if they don’t already exercise and are particularly inactive, the benefits of exercise could be felt within a couple of weeks. Here, Dr Peter Herbert, a Physiologist at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and a leading authority on fitness in the older generation offers some advice on ways people can exercise at home in order to improve their overall…

An Anglesey woman who survived a horrific cycling accident, tuberculosis and meningitis in her younger days celebrated her 102nd birthday under a Coronavirus lockdown at the care home where she now lives. But thanks to technology Doris Hughes was able to see her son and other family members as they joined the birthday party via a social media platform shown on a big screen at the Gwyddfor Residential Home in Bodedern, near Holyhead. Doris’s son, Ken Hughes, a retired teacher who now spends time composing and recording music, who lives near Wrexham says while it was disappointing, he couldn’t physically…

Tata Steel has donated vital personal protective equipment (PPE) for Swansea Bay’s NHS staff who are on the frontline treating patients with Coronavirus.  Workers at the steel plant in Port Talbot have been working around the clock to source the equipment from all over the UK. The equipment will now be put straight into action where it is needed the most. Richard Williams, Stores Manager for Tata at Port Talbot, said:  “We have made a very special delivery on behalf of the company to a destination, a few weeks ago, I could never have imagined we would be delivering to.”…

Work has started on transforming two key sites in the Swansea Bay area into field hospitals in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Up to temporary 1,340 beds could be available if needed in the weeks ahead. They will be situated at the Llandarcy Academy of Sport and Bay Studios in Fabian Way, and will be in addition to extra beds created in Morriston, Singleton and Neath Port Talbot hospitals, as outpatients and other clinical and public areas are redesigned. The public, health and private sector, along with further education, are working closely together in an unprecedented response aimed at safeguarding…

Aberystwyth University departments are helping healthcare professionals to stay safe as the number of patients infected with Coronavirus continues to rise. Staff at the University are producing and donating personal protective equipment (PPE) to staff at local healthcare facilities. A team from the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences has taken all their supplies of PPE to the local district general hospital in Aberystwyth, Ysbyty Bronglais, while colleagues in the Faculty of Business and Physical Sciences are producing protective headgear and donating it to front-line health workers. Intelligent Robotics expert Dr Patricia Shaw and Outreach Officer Natalie Roberts are using…

A member of the public built a makeshift catapult to fire carrots up to a wild goat trapped on a North Wales mountain ledge – before RSPCA Cymru rescued the stranded animal.  The animal welfare charity has praised the “immense kindness” of the individual – who reported the trapped goat to the RSPCA, with a dramatic rescue safely completed on Wednesday 18 March. RSPCA officers were able to undertake the rescue after North Wales Police identified the grid reference location of the goat. The goat was trapped approximately 100-foot from the ground on a ledge on the side of a…

Applications for freshers who want to live in Wales’ most famous student halls open this week, as the first rooms at the site are completed. Aberystwyth University is investing £16.5m to transform Pantycelyn and provide facilities that compete with the best. The new-look halls will offer modern en-suite accommodation for up to 200 students who will benefit from state of the art research and learning experiences in Aberystwyth University. They will also enjoy top-notch resources which will include quiet study rooms with computer facilities, two meeting rooms, and four common rooms – the Small Lounge, the Large Lounge, the Senior…

More than £18m will support the creative industries, culture and sport sectors, which are feeling the immediate impact of COVID-19. The package of measures, which was announced by Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Lord Elis-Thomas today, will help support the sector, safeguarding businesses and jobs. The funding is being made available by the Welsh Government, the Arts Council for Wales and Sport Wales. It includes: £7m Arts Resilience Fund led by the Arts Council of Wales. Working with the Arts Council, this fund will support artists and arts organisations most in need and least likely to benefit from…

All GP practices in Wales can now access a new system, which allows people to have online appointments with their doctor and other healthcare professionals. Original plans to launch the NHS Wales Video Consulting Service later this year were accelerated by the Welsh Government and software providers TEC Cymru, in response to the coronavirus outbreak. As well as helping people keep to the stay-at-home rules, the new system will allow doctors and nurses who are self-isolating, but willing and able to work, to continue to serve their communities. Remote consultations will help practices keep frontline staff and their patients safe by…