Author: Rhys Gregory

The Education Minister, Kirsty Williams, has announced how current Year 10 and 12 learners in Wales will be assessed, as alternative arrangements are introduced following the outbreak of the coronavirus and the cancellation of summer exams. The Minister has decided that Year 10 and 12 students who were due to sit exams this summer will not be required to sit these exams at a later date. The Minister’s decision was based on detailed consideration of the options available and advice from Qualifications Wales and the Welsh Joint Education Committee (WJEC). AS levels In Wales, as well as being stand-alone qualifications,…

Rapid progress is being made converting three sites in Carmarthenshire into temporary medical provision. Carmarthenshire County Council has commissioned its framework contractors to prepare Carmarthen Leisure Centre, and the Selwyn Samuel Centre and Parc y Scarlets barn in Llanelli, to provide additional bed space for the NHS. It is hoped the sites will be ready within weeks, in time for an anticipated peak demand for beds in May. Carmarthenshire County Council’s Leader, Cllr Emlyn Dole, and Deputy Chief Executive Jake Morgan, visited the sites today to check progress and thank contractors and operational staff for working tirelessly to prepare the…

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board has revealed plans to use Principality Stadium as a field hospital to help tackle Covid-19. This comes as 180 new cases have tested positive for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 921. There has also been six further deaths of people who had tested positive for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The total number of deaths in Wales is now 34. Len Richards, Chief Executive of Cardiff and Vale UHB said: “Cardiff and Vale University Health Board has been planning and making preparations based upon the modelling and predictions…

Today, the WeCare Wales campaign has launched a new jobs portal, to help social care employers advertise their high number of vacancies, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The social care sector is under increasing pressure to provide vital services to the most vulnerable people in our communities as more staff follow self-isolating guidelines. To address these urgent shortages, employers have been taking to social media to recruit more people in a range of roles such as carers, chefs and drivers. The WeCare Wales campaign is working with employers to share their job vacancies on Twitter using the hashtag #WeCareWalesJobs.…

Swansea Council staff are being retrained and redirected to support thousands of vulnerable people who’ll be told by the NHS to shield themselves from Coronavirus. Letters will be dropping through letterboxes to those identified by the NHS as being most at risk which will call on them to self-isolate for 12 weeks. An initial 3,000 letters will be going out across Swansea in the coming days with others receiving them over the coming weeks. Anyone who thinks they might be at risk should stay at home. It’s anticipated that many of those affected will have friends and family to take…

Furious care home staff are calling for a boycott of Tesco after they refused to allow them to shop there during the special NHS time slots. Disgusted Senior care practitioner Ria Roberts, a 34-year-single mum who works for the Pendine Park care organisation in Wrexham, blasted the “lack of respect” shown to them by the giant supermarket chains. Ria says she and  team are on the front line of the coronavirus crisis and are putting themselves at risk just like NHS workers. It’s understood Morrisons have imposed a similar ban but she praised Sainsbury’s who have confirmed that care home…

Wales Arts Review to launch digital arts festival this weekend, Friday 27 March to Sunday 29 March, to raise emergency funds for artists and freelancers who have had their income impacted by efforts to stem the spread of Covid-19. Headline acts announced so far include Sarah Waters, Amy Wadge, Georgia Ruth, and No Fit State. Line-up also to include Wales Book of the Year winner Ailbhe Darcy, Welsh Music Prize winners Adwaith, and Keeping Faith star Eve Myles. The Wales Arts Review Digithon is a three-day online digital arts festival featuring content from some of Wales’ top musicians, actors, artists, writers,…

The hugely popular streaming service has just announced all of the latest shows and films coming to UK devices this week. Some of the notable highlights of course include, the latest season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Coffee & Kareem and the adventures of TinTin. There are so many repeat classics returning to the platform. With UK in lockdown, Brits are turning to video streaming such as Netflix and Prime. Last week, it was reported that the services plan to low the stream quality in Europe as they keep up with the daily demand. Here are all of the shows coming to…

Millions of self-employed individuals will receive direct cash grants though a ground-breaking UK-wide scheme to help them during the coronavirus outbreak, the Chancellor has announced. In the latest step to protect individuals and businesses, Rishi Sunak has set out plans that will see the self-employed receive up to £2,500 per month in grants for at least 3 months. Millions of people across the UK could benefit from the new Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, with those eligible receiving a cash grant worth 80% of their average monthly trading profit over the last three years. This covers 95% of people who receive…

A social care leader has warned that more elderly and vulnerable care home residents will die because they are being treated like “collateral damage” in the war against the coronavirus. Mario Kreft MBE, the chair of Care Forum Wales which represents nearly 500 independent social care providers, is calling for “vision and leadership” from the Westminster and Cardiff Bay governments because more could and should be done to shield the residents and the staff. According to Mr Kreft, the authorities were “throwing the kitchen sink” at the NHS but the vital role of the social care sector in propping up…