Author: Rhys Gregory

Artificial intelligence (AI) company Nightingale HQ has been awarded £50,000 from the UK Government’s Research and Innovation organisation after successfully pitching to its Innovate UK grant fund.  The Cardiff-based developer is one of 800 UK companies to be awarded funding to develop projects that will support businesses across the country, making them better placed to deal with future disruption similar to that of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nightingale’s AI Productivity Toolbox project will support SME’s across the UK that need to dramatically lower costs by creating six, free-to-use, AI-based tools. Essentially, the tools will be able to be used ‘off the…

A Welsh furniture and graphics group is launching a new range of workplace shielding products to support the country’s safe return to work, following support from Lloyds Bank. Ministry of Furniture, based in Neath, specialises in creating workspaces for public sector schools, local authorities and offices. It offers interior design services, as well as manufacturing its own lines of furniture and re-selling major brands. Its sister company, Ministry Graphics, provides interior and exterior signage, as well as interior and vehicle graphics. Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the businesses have been exploring how they can use their existing design and manufacturing capabilities…

Keep Wales Tidy is delighted to be reopening applications for its Local Places for Nature initiative. With many of us limited to our immediate locality during lockdown, there has never been a better time to consider how our community areas can be improved for nature. A choice of pre-paid garden packages are being offered to local community groups and town and community councils to transform a space in their local area. Groups and potential applicants are being asked to make best use of their time at home, by submitting an application. Keep Wales Tidy staff are on hand to help.…

Tributes have been paid to a modest hero with a heart of gold who saved two people’s lives – one from a house fire and the other from a raging flood. Father-of-two Phil Evans, who worked as a caretaker for housing association Cartrefi Conwy in Llanrwst, passed away suddenly – just days before his 69th birthday. He leaves his wife, Rose, 68, their two sons, Rodney, 48 and Steven, 47, along with  four grandchildren and two step grandchildren. The couple had known each other since they were nine years old and were due to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary next…

Mid Wales will need a robust tourism sector as the region bounces back from the Covid-19 virus pandemic, says the chief executive of an organisation representing more than 600 tourism and hospitality businesses. MWT Cymru, which has member businesses of all sizes across Powys, Ceredigion and South Gwynedd, has been busier than ever since the pandemic lockdown restrictions began in March. Chief executive Val Hawkins says the company is supporting members remotely and has assisted many of them to apply for grants and receive much needed funding. “When we emerge from this crisis, Mid Wales is going to need a…

STUDENTS in the School of Music & Sound at the University of South Wales (USW) have had double reason to get involved in a special end-of-year project. Looking to put something together to ensure the students could complete the performance section of their course, Popular and Commercial Music Lecturer David Coker decided to ask some of his contacts if they could help – and came up with a plan to make an special online music video. While giving the students a chance to prove their performance skills, the project also has the added benefit of raising funds for the School…

Elderfit Community Interest Company have moved their classes online thanks to a grant from The National Lottery Community Fund. Before the lockdown they were seeing more than 700 people a week, particularly working with care homes to help residents build their strength and balance.  Gareth Bartlett who teaches the classes explained:  “We are delivering a wide range of online classes, I have learnt that just because someone is elderly they don’t need, or want, to be wrapped in cotton wool, they still want to work hard and push their own boundaries.   “Lots of the people who would like to…

Primary school teachers and parents can now harness music and drama to help children learn Welsh and Spanish by using a new, free to use website.  The website includes more than 30 activities, such as simple drama games and songs in three languages. Everything needed to lead children through the activities is provided, including full instructions, demonstration videos, downloadable sheet music, lyrics, audio files and suggestions for extension and reflection. Teachers can use the resources to fill a lesson, a range of lessons or as single, short activities. British Council Wales led and managed the project and Rebecca Gould, its head of arts, said: “Cerdd Iaith is a powerful new resource for primary school teachers that aims to tackle the decline in modern foreign language learning in schools. “The…

An online platform sharing new creative work from Wales’ cultural scene has seen a huge growth in content and consumption over its first ten weeks of existence.  AM launched in March billed as the world’s first open cultural platform with the ambition to reflect a whole country’s artistic ecosystem. The launch saw the online premiere of a Manic Street Preachers film by BAFTA winning director Kieron Evans as well as the live streaming of the Valley Aid concerts in Porth, Rhondda which saw big names raising funds for victims of the floods in the valleys. Creatives set up channels on…

Green jobs for the unemployed and a multi-million pound package to decarbonise housing should be central to how Wales is reshaped in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, says the Future Generations Commissioner. Sophie Howe says we have a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to reset Wales’ economy and is calling for “visionary ideas and transformative investment” in the nation’s recovery plan. The commissioner has published a series of recommendations for Welsh Government as it announces its first Supplementary Budget, detailing how funding will be allocated during and after the crisis. The Welsh Government budget has increased by more than 10% for the…