Author: Rhys Gregory

One of the UK’s finest young opera singers will be taking centre stage with North Wales’ flagship orchestra for a magical new year celebration. Talented young soprano Erin Rossington will be headlining at two concerts organised by the Wrexham-based NEW Sinfonia orchestra in St Asaph Cathedral at 7pm on Friday, January 3, and at 3pm at St Giles’ Church in Wrexham the following day. Erin, 24, triumphed over competitors from all around the globe in the Pendine International Voice of the Future contest at Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod 2019. The prestigious competition was sponsored by the Wrexham-based Pendine Park care…

The Christmas season in Cardiff has well and truly begun, and St David’s has seen a magical transformation with show stopping new Christmas decorations themed around Driving Home for Christmas, with suspended displays of cars packed with presents and Christmas trees. The new decorations and illuminations feature an incredible 1,490m of Christmas garland, over 2,000 pinecones, a whopping 66,000 LED lights and most impressively of all, one real Mini Cooper located in the central part of the centre that hangs 12m metres in the air. The bespoke commissioned decorations also include a 26 ft Christmas tree adorned with 40 mini,…

Travelodge, the UK’s first budget hotel chain has revealed the most bizarre requests that some of its 19 million customers have asked whilst staying in one of its 570 UK hotels during the last 12 months.  Across the company’s 27 Wales based Travelodge hotels, the teams receive thousands of strange requests throughout the year. Some of the oddities during the last 12 months include: Can you arrange for us to see a real welsh dragon? Where can we see wild Welsh rarebit? Can you fill my room with a 500 daffodils as a surprise for mum on Mother’s Day Do…

Monmouthshire Housing Association (MHA) recently held its 9th Annual Making a Difference Awards at the St. Pierre Marriot Hotel in Chepstow. The awards were an excellent opportunity to showcase the amazing voluntary work undertaken by MHA tenants throughout our Monmouthshire communities. The event was also a chance for tenants to be recognised for their personal achievements, with several overcoming major challenges in their lives. Many of the stories that were shared at the awards were truly inspirational and showcased real determination and dedication, with some stories even bringing a tear to many guests’ eyes. The awards were a huge success…

Family run SME housebuilding company, Llanmoor Homes, is celebrating what has been another successful year. As one of Wales’ only remaining privately-owned housebuilders, Llanmoor have built an excess of 5000 homes since the company was established in 1966. In 2019 alone, the company and its management have received multiple ‘Pride in the Job’ awards from the National House Building Council (NHBC). Known as the “Oscars of the housebuilding industry”, the Pride in the Job Quality awards recognise the best-run building sites in the country and are the highest accolade a site manager can achieve. Dave Hodges, Site Manager at Llanmoor…

Plans have been unveiled for a £25 million development of “smart” homes in the Conwy Valley which will create nearly 500 jobs during construction. Housebuilders Calon Homes have submitted a planning application to Conwy County Borough Council to build 111 houses on the 13-acre Maes-y-Felin site in Glan Conwy which they say will boost the local economy. The community-conscious company have pledged to ensure around 95 per cent of the people employed on the development of two, three and four-bedroom family homes will be from the county of Conwy and, wherever possible, to buy materials from local suppliers. Calon Homes is…

An iconic artwork of one of Cardiff’s most famous figures is to be created from thousands of pictures of Cardiff and its residents.  Images taken during a unique social experiment that captured a day in the life of the city, on the 28th September, will form the collage of one legendary local. Local artist Nathan Wyburn is asking the public to vote for who he should commemorate in a piece of artwork from a shortlist of eight all-time famous faces: ●    Chris Morgan – Television and Newspaper Journalist ●     Roald Dahl – Novelist ●     Dannie…

An apprentice from Sony UK Technology Centre in Pencoed has been recognised as one of the best in the country at the 2019 Make UK Manufacturing Awards. Max Rochefort-Shugar, aged 22, won the Rising Star Award at the Wales-wide awards ceremony held at Voco St David’s Hotel in Cardiff on 6th November. Originally from Cardiff, Max, who has been working at Sony UK TEC for three years, is the first candidate to take part in the company’s recently established Software and Electronic Apprenticeship. Alongside his apprenticeship, he is due to begin his second year of a part-time Applied Software Engineering…

Dementia doesn’t have to limit your life. It doesn’t have to make your life miserable. With proper tips, you can cope with this menace and make life better. So, whether you are suffering from dementia or have someone living with this condition, this article is going to highlight the best strategies to improve your experience and become independent. This will make the work of caregivers easy.  Caring for Yourself  Live better with dementia by taking care of your physical health. Do regular exercises. If you can go to achieve, then do it. However, you should ask your doctor first. Eat…

Thanks to the New Theatre, Cardiff  for inviting us along to see the show in exchange for this review. As the play, based on the book by Paula Hawkins, opens the audience meet Rachel Watson (Samatha Womack) for the first time and, without being too presumptuous, we get a fairly accurate idea of the kind of life Rachel leads. Her flat strewn with litter and dirty plates it’s clear she leads a less than admirable life. It becomes apparent she’s an alcoholic who is struggling after the break down of her marriage. Seeing her ex-husband go on to lead the life she always…