Author: Rhys Gregory

Welsh actor and Hollywood star Luke Evans has visited Cardiff to meet with pupils from Ysgol Gymraeg Treganna, The Hollies, and Rhondda’s Llanharan Primary School, as well as nominees for the upcoming Into Film Awards, in an exclusive Q&A event.  Luke spoke about the educational power of film watching, and the highlights of his career, including tips on how to get into the creative industries. The event was organised by Into Film, a UK-wide film education charity supported by the BFI through National Lottery Funding. This is part of an on-going programme to put film at the heart of young people’s learning and…

Sixty homes in the Monmouthshire village of Llanddewi Rhydderch can now have Full Fibre to the Premise (FTTP), able to receive Ultrafast Broadband, with a choice of speeds from 100Mbps to 1Gbps – a huge technological leap forward for this ‘once forgotten’ village where speeds of less than 1Mbps were the norm. Despite the recent extremely challenging weather, Broadway last week completed phase one of its fibre build and has now connected the first customers to the Ultrafast 100Mbps service. Phase two of the rollout, connecting another 50 properties to the Full Fibre network, is now completing the design stage,…

ActiveQuote, the UK’s leading protection insurance comparison website and broker, saw income protection insurance enquiries peak in the last week of February, due to ongoing fears and media coverage around the coronavirus outbreak. ActiveQuote is also seeing some income protection insurance providers change their underwriting terms for new customers. Some providers have changed question sets to ask new customers if they have lived or travelled to a list of affected countries in the past 30 days, including many Asian countries, China and Japan, as well as northern Italy. There has also been an increase in customer calls to ActiveQuote from…

Lots of people have been enjoying walking together, thanks to an initiative by Open Newtown, a not-for-profit community enterprise. Since January, at 10am every Thursday and Saturday, people have walked and talked together around Newtown’s green spaces and other paths. One participant said “Excellent. Very sociable. I’ve seen parts of Newtown I’ve never seen before.” Another commented “Excellent, we all think it’s excellent.” Ruth Stafford, Open Newtown’s Lower Carbon, Active Travel officer, said: “The weather hasn’t always been inviting, but participants have got some fresh air, exercise and sunlight. Conversations have been very varied and friendly. “These weekly walks will…

Corwen Day Nursery has recently expanded with a new two storey extension and additional outdoor play space which was made possible thanks to land acquired from Lord Newborough and the Rhug Estate. Carmen Roberts Davenport, Owner of Corwen Day Nursery and after school club, said, “I approached Lord Newborough with my plans for expansion. Originally, I asked for a parcel of land from Rhug Estate for extra car parking once the two storey extension was complete but the parking area at the nursery was made bigger by removing a large timber shed and a storage area. My team and the…

LDC has launched its 2020 search to uncover Britain’s most ambitious entrepreneurs, inviting business leaders from all over Wales to enter the Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders programme. Now in its third year, the programme is run by leading mid-market private equity investor LDC and supported by The Telegraph. It will reveal and celebrate the inspiring leaders behind some of the UK’s most successful and fast-growing medium-sized firms. In addition to recognising the Most Ambitious Business Leader, the programme will also celebrate those business leaders who show a continued commitment to making a difference and those with bold international growth…

Three years to the day before the opening of the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Sabrina Fortune set out her ambitions on Twitter. “I want to be famous and get gold,” wrote the champion shot putter from Wales. She didn’t quite achieve her aim in Rio – she won the bronze medal with a personal best throw of 12.94 metres – but her star has continued to rise. In August 2018 she won her first major title at the World Para Athletics European Championships in Berlin. Her winning throw of 13.30 metres smashed the championship record. The 22-year-old…

Stroke survivors in Wales are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with dementia than the general population, according to new British Heart Foundation (BHF) analysis. The analysis for Wales shows that the age and gender-standardised rate of dementia is 40 per 1,000 people among those who have survived a stroke compared to 18 per 1,000 people in the general population. In total, an estimated 6.7 per cent of stroke survivors in Wales – around 5,400 people – are living with dementia. The number of people diagnosed with both conditions has nearly doubled in the past decade, largely due…

Nominations are officially open for this years McDonald’s Grassroots Football Awards, in association with the four UK Football Associations. The awards celebrate the efforts of grassroots volunteers across Wales who go the extra mile in their local communities. McDonald’s is the longest-standing supporter of grassroots football in the UK, having worked with the four UK FAs for 18 years. Throughout this time, it has continually championed the work of volunteers who invest countless hours of time to deliver safe, fun football to children and young adults regardless of age, gender or disability. The awards are supported by football legends from…

ONE of the UK’s leading canine experts took the lead at the launch of a cutting-edge dog grooming academy and salon. Julie Harris, co-founder of The Groomer’s Spotlight website, spoke at the unveiling of the new Collar and Comb facility at Coleg Cambria Llysfasi. With more than 35 years’ experiences in the sector, Julie is one of the most respected names in the world of dog grooming and gave a presentation to learners on the subject: Canine Anatomy, Coat and Skin. Cambria has more than doubled the number of dog grooming students in the last 12 months and with the…