Author: Rhys Gregory

Stop It Now!, the UK’s first confidential helpline that supports people to stop viewing sexual images of under 18s, has reported a 97 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of people using the specialist helpline (0808 1000 900) and self-help website during the last 12 months, either for themselves or someone they know. In the 12 months from November 2018, a total of 2,804 callers and web users from Wales contacted the anonymous Stop It Now! UK and Ireland helpline and self-help website. This number compares with 1,421 callers and web users in the year following November 2017. Through…

Seven students from Cardiff and Vale College travelled to Birmingham on the weekend to take part in the UK finals of WorldSkills – known as the ‘skills Olympics – and came away with medals and commendations. Morgan McNeil won silver and Scott Roberts won bronze in the UK-wide WorldSkills Network Systems finals. Kristian Brooks was highly commended in Network Systems Administrator and Holly Edwards was highly commended in the Beauty Skills Practitioner finals. CAVC students who also made it to Team Wales in the WorldSkills UK Finals were James Ackland in Wall and Floor Tiling, Marc Emery in Painting and…

Homelessness and rough sleeping charity The Wallich, artist Maxwell Rushton and the Wales Milennium Centre have commissioned a collection of sculptures in which casts of previously homeless people were placed around the city centre in bin bags. In response to rising homelessness in Wales, the casts were placed around Cardiff over four days to gauge public consciousness of people on the streets. Reactions were filmed and included concern and worry for people inside the bags, in some cases a distain and assault of the sculptures but, mostly, the reaction was blind indifference. One concerned member of the public who spotted…

A pallet refurbishment specialist is set for significant growth following the purchase of its premises in Newport. Supported by an £860,000 funding package from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, Pallet Recycling South Wales has purchased its existing site on Corporation Road where it manufactures and restores more than 55,000 pallets each week. Forming part of the bank’s £1.1billion lending commitment to businesses in Wales, the acquisition of the base will reduce the firm’s overheads by £65,000 each year, enabling it to invest in growing its client portfolio. Since trading began in December 2017, the firm, which is headed up by Leighton…

A school in Tremorfa, Cardiff has won an award for providing great care to children and young people with Type 1 diabetes. Baden Powell Primary School was chosen for the Diabetes UK ‘Good Diabetes Care in School Award’ because of the support it provides to students with the condition, the help it offers to manage their diabetes safely, and the care it takes to include them in all school activities. Type 1 diabetes is a serious, lifelong condition where blood glucose levels are too high because the body can’t make a hormone called insulin. No one knows exactly what causes…

A country house sitting at the gateway to the popular Brecon Beacons national park has new owners for the first time in more than 20 years. Llansantffraed Court, near Abergavenny, has changed hands in a deal brokered by global real estate advisor Colliers International. The elegant, Grade II listed, property has 21 bedrooms, all en suite, and stylish public areas, and sits on a 19-acre site which includes a small lake, a walled garden with glass house, and a helipad. While its origins date back to 1670, the main building was constructed in the mid-1800s. The property was bought in…

Nearly forty aspiring young entrepreneurs from across Wales now have the essentials skills to make their business dreams a reality after completing a two-day intensive residential Bootcamp. Big Ideas Wales’ ‘Bootcamp to Business’ event took place over the weekend (23-24 November) at the Urdd Centre in Cardiff Bay, open to business minded young people aged 18-25. The aspiring businesspeople were awarded a place at the fully funded Bootcamp event following auditions with a panel of business owners. The biannual two-day event featured a series of business workshops ran by established Welsh businesspeople dedicated to expanding the knowledge of the young…

Last year, the nation saw the Cadbury Secret Santa Postal Service tour the UK, and this year it is back and bigger than ever. The postal service will be touring the country, making a detour to Cardiff on the 27th of November (11:00 – 18:00). The postal service will be located at CW1 Churchill Way, 4345 Queens Street, Cardiff. CF10 2AS, where the public can send a bar of Cadbury chocolate to a loved one or friend for free this Xmas! Prospesctive Secret Santas  can choose from one of the following delicious Cadbury chocolate gifts to send – the perfect…

More than 150 youngsters from across the Clydach Vale area will be helped after a £10,000 donation has led to a community rugby club getting the keys to a new minibus. Cambrian Coltz, which runs teams catering for age groups 7-14, successfully applied for funding from local energy company, Pennant Walters, and has now purchased the 17-seater minibus which will be used to transport disadvantaged youngsters to games further afield. The money has also allowed the Club to purchase new kit for all teams so they can now face their opposition in style. Steve Picton, founder of Cambrian Coltz, explains:…

Welsh scale-up Delio is relocating to new premises in the heart of Cardiff, continuing its commitment to being a leading success story in the Welsh fintech sector. After a recent £3 million investment boost in the white-label private asset platform business, a group of investors alongside Delio’s chief executive Gareth Lewis purchased the new state-of-the-art office on Windsor Place. With the move, chief executive and co-founder Gareth Lewis hopes to create a catalyst for further developments in the fintech sector in South Wales. He said: “The relocation to Windsor Place highlights how much Delio has been able to grow in…