Author: Rhys Gregory

A Welsh charity that provides second-hand furniture and electrical goods to those in need is readying itself for a huge spike in demand due to domestic abuse during lockdown. toogoodtowaste – which operates across Rhondda Cynon Taf – has secured a grant of more than £31,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund. The charity’s Chief Executive is Shaun England. He explains: “We’re hearing from people who are in very difficult situations and they’re really struggling. As the restrictions on social distancing and travel begin to ease across Wales, we are expecting to see more demand on our services due to…

Nineteen graduates from the University of South Wales (USW) have been working on TV shows that have been nominated for British Academy Television Craft Awards. The alumni from the Film and TV School Wales, at the heart of Cardiff’s creative industry, worked in the teams being recognised across two categories: Production Design and Special, Visual & Graphic Effects. The Bafta Craft Awards recognise behind-the-scenes production talent like writers, editors and sound mixers. The ceremony takes place in the month before the main Bafta TV Awards, which generally reward on-screen talent. USW holds strong links with major film and TV industry…

Hay Festival has launched two free new ways for book lovers to engage with writers digitally with Hay Festival Book of the Month Live Q&As and Hay Festival Podcast Series Two. Designed to expand the Festival’s mission to inspire, examine and entertain, the new platforms are supported by Baillie Gifford Investment Managers. Series two of the Hay podcast series launched yesterday, with award-winning writers and thinkers tackling some of the biggest contemporary questions in a deep-dive of the Festival archive. Episode one of the new series looks at Global Health with expert contributions from Devi Sridhar, Jeremy Farrar, Sally Davies, Thomas Bollyky and…

A team of boys with autism from Gowerton School in West Glamorgan has beaten teams from across the UK to be named the Longitude Explorer People’s Choice Award winner in a public vote, winning £5,000 for their school. The team’s winning solution, Theo the Therapy Dog, is a robotic therapy dog that supports other autistic people who want to become more independent. Ben, Ethan, Reuben and Charlie, the members of Team STF Gowerton were named the People’s Choice Award winners at a virtual awards ceremony introduced by Science Minister, Amanda Solloway. More than 13,000 votes were cast by the public…

F1 fans dreaming of the race action one day coming to a city near them is a step closer to reality, after motoring experts devise the high-octane street circuits across five of the UK’s largest cities outside of London.   Motoring buffs at car leasing specialists All Car Leasing worked with British racing driver, Jon Lancaster, to design what the routes would look like if cities such as Liverpool were to emulate iconic street circuits – Monaco, Singapore and Baku. The new track layouts viewed here, showcase Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Cardiff and drill down on criteria for each circuit…

A project to transform a nationally significant Snowdonia landscape is one step closer to being realised following a landmark decision by local planning authorities.  The Snowdonia National Park Authority and Gwynedd Council have granted National Grid’s Snowdonia Visual Impact Provision (VIP) project planning permission (subject to a legal agreement) to build tunnel head houses on the edge of the national park. The buildings will house the opening of the tunnel which will carry infrastructure under the estuary. This will enable the eventual removal of the ten pylons that run across it. As part of National Grid’s Visual Impact Provision (VIP)…

A man who beat a pensioner to death has been jailed for life, with a minimum term of 16 years at Swansea Crown Court. Kyle Bowen, aged 29, of Glynneath, had previously pleaded guilty to the murder of David Williams. 73-year-old Mr Williams was found in the Danygraig Lane area of Pontwalby, Glynneath on Monday, 27th January 2020. His family described him as ‘a very loving and generous person who would go out of his way to help anyone he could’. DCI Paul Peters, of the Major Crime Investigation Team, said: “This murder shocked and saddened the whole local community…

Creating thriving digital high streets and towns is “key to driving Wales’s economic recovery after coronavirus”, Adrian Emmett chair of the Treorchy Chamber of Trade has said. Mr Emmett, who recently led Treorchy to victory in the ‘Great British High Street Awards’ campaign run by the UK government in partnership with Visa is speaking out following the Welsh Government’s announcement of a £9 million fund supporting economic recovery in town centres. While he welcomed the announcement, which includes £5.3 million to make town centre adaptions supporting traders and improving public safety, he urged the Welsh Government to ensure their plans…

Kathryn Roberts, Senior Partner at Eversheds Sutherland, will take over from Wayne Harvey as Chair of CBI Wales in January 2021. She will also join the CBI Chairs’ Committee, the body responsible for setting and steering CBI policy. Kathryn joined the CBI Wales council in 2015 and has been serving recently as Vice Chair. An established figure within the Welsh business community, Kathryn has served as a member of the Thriving at Work Leadership Council, established by Number 10 Downing Street, is a founding member of Monumental Welsh Women, and is a Board Member of Maggie’s Cancer Centre in Cardiff.…

A married couple have been ordered to pay over £2,000 at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on July 9th after a cockroach infestation was found at their café – Mr Tikka – on City Road last year. On May 7, 2019, a routine food hygiene inspection was carried out at Mr Tikka, 130 City Road, which operates as a café and takeaway business selling baguettes, baked potatoes and curry dishes. When the inspector arrived at the café unannounced, the owner, Rubi Begum was seen sweeping two live insects off the counter and white powder, believed to be insecticide, was all over the kitchen…