Author: Rhys Gregory

Aberdare-based free from bakery is business as normal during outbreak.

The Driving & Vehicle Standards Agency has announced plans to suspend MOTs on all vehicles from Monday 30th March. You do not need to do anything to extend your vehicle’s MOT expiry date if it’s on or after 30 March 2020. However, you must keep your vehicle safe to drive. Your vehicle will be automatically given a 6-month MOT exemption. This will extend your current MOT expiry date by 6 months. If your MOT has expired already or it is due before Monday, you won’t get the extension. The DVLA have provided this example: Example: Your vehicle’s MOT was due to…

More than half (53%) of city centre businesses are worried they may face permanent closure due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to a survey by FOR Cardiff. Furthermore, 21% of businesses have already made staff redundancies or are going to make them, with 51% concerned about the prospect of staff redundancies, meaning many are facing unemployment. The organisation, which is the city’s business improvement district, is running a weekly city-wide impact survey to gauge the scale of the economic impact of the global health emergency on Cardiff’s businesses. The survey will help FOR Cardiff pool resources to best help mitigate…

Swansea Council has cancelled or postponed all cultural and tourism events it directly organises until the end of August. Cancelled events include the July 4-5 Wales Airshow and July’s Swansea Special Festival. The city centre-based Clean Air Roadshow on June 20 and two outdoor theatre events at Oystermouth Castle in August have been postponed until further notice. Event partners and businesses are being informed. Robert Francis-Davies, the council’s cabinet member for investment, regeneration and tourism, said: “We’ve made this decision to cancel or postpone council-organised events based on advice from Government and Public Health Wales. We’ll review the August end…

A Wrexham mum who almost died after developing a serious brain infection while pregnant has launched a new fundraising drive to help support other survivors of the condition. Becky Rule, who works at Debenhams in Eagles Meadow shopping centre, Wrexham, was given an emergency C-section under general anaesthetic in January last year after attending the Wrexham Maelor Hospital with a severe migraine and confused speech the day before her baby was due. The women’s wear manager and her unborn baby were found to have an extremely high heart rate, leaving doctors with little option but to operate for the safety…

RSPB Cymru has decided to close all its reserves following the latest Government advice on Coronavirus spread. “Following the latest clear instructions from the Government for us all to remain at home, apart from a limited number of allowed activities, we are closing our reserves to visitors until further notice,” said a spokesperson. “It is with great sadness that we ask people to refrain from visiting RSPB reserves. “This means we will close car parks, toilets, playgrounds, visitor centres, hides, cafes and shops to the public. Our efforts will now move to helping the millions of people spending time at…

Cardiff Bus is alerting passengers to modified timetables in response to the latest preventative measures brought in by the Government to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. The operator will be running Sunday timetables across the majority of its services throughout the week from Wednesday, March 25th. Exceptions to this will be services 1 and 2 city circular routes via Heath Hospital, which will follow a Saturday timetable, from Mondays through to Saturdays  Services 65to Heath Hospital via Llanrumney and St Mellons and the H59 Heath Hospital’s Park & Ride service will follow their Monday to Friday timetable on weekdays. Additionally,…

Due to the latest Government advice and the need to protect patients and our staff, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board has taken the difficult decision to stop visiting to our hospitals. As of yesterday (March 24th) members of the community are asked not to visit any of our hospitals at all, except for the below: The patient is receiving end-of-life care (visiting to be agreed with clinical team) One partner or birthing partner accompanying a woman in labour and in the post-natal period for a limited time only. No other visitors will be allowed. Paediatrics and neonatal areas (one…

Philip Lane OBE, who spent ten years as Chief Executive of the British Paralympic Association, has been appointed as a Non-Executive Member of the Welsh Rugby Players Association (WRPA).   Phil was most recently the Head of Sport & Communities at Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL), which is the UK’s largest leisure operator running more than 350 public sport and leisure centres, including the London Aquatics Centre and Copper Box Arena both opened for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games. He was awarded an OBE for services to sport in 2009, after leading Britain’s Paralympic teams at Salt Lake…

The Wales Co-operative Centre has launched a Covid-19 Helpline for the social business sector in Wales. The helpline will be delivered by the Centre’s Social Business Wales programme, funded by the Welsh Government and European Regional Development Fund. Social Business Wales has a team of regional business advisors located across the country that will be on hand via telephone or video conferencing to help with enquiries about cash flow, HR, digital platforms, communications and a range of other areas which might need re-thinking in light of the Coronavirus. Latest research for the sector shows there are over 3,000 social businesses…