Author: Rhys Gregory

The Welsh NHS Confederation and the Arts Council of Wales are highlighting the health benefits creativity can have on the wellbeing of the population during the Coronavirus pandemic. As Mental Health Awareness Week and Creative Wellbeing Week begin today, it is more important than ever we all take steps to look after ourselves and the most vulnerable in our communities. According to the 2016-17 National Survey for Wales, 440,000 people in Wales reported feeling lonely or isolated. This number is now likely to be much higher during the lockdown period. The effects of loneliness and isolation can be as harmful…

Ceredigion Museum in Aberystwyth holds more than 65,000 historic artefacts that tell the story of Ceredigion from prehistoric times to the modern day. To accommodate these, the Cynnal y Cardi Local Action Group, via the LEADER scheme, has supported a feasibility study to explore the options of creating a state-of-the-art, eco-friendly storage facility to accommodate all of the museum’s stored collections. Friends of Ceredigion Museum’s feasibility study, Collection for a Nation, is the second stage of a three-stage forward plan ‘Transformations’. This will improve sustainability and increase public access to collections which are of regional importance. Resulting from the study,…

An exciting bid to bring the Worldchefs Congress and Expo to Wales in 2024 moved a step closer as the Culinary Association of Wales (CAW) won the first round of voting in Europe by a landslide margin. The major culinary event, which attracts 1,000 chefs and between 5,000 and 10,000 visitors from around the globe, would be held at ICC Wales, Newport. The bid is the subject of a Team Wales approach, with the CAW supported by ICC Wales, the Celtic Manor Resort and the Welsh Government. In the first round vote this week, 63% of the European presidents, who…

The Welsh Government is now directing animal rescue organisations to new Guidance that has been published by the Animal Welfare Network for Wales . This will allow rescue centres and animal welfare organisations to safely find new homes for animals in their care, or foster them out to temporary carers. It is not permissible to open animal centres in Wales for the public to visit or collect animals, due to restrictions on non-essential travel. As such, the guidance ensures rescue and rehoming centres can safely transport animals to a new home or temporary foster home while adhering to the Welsh…

Recycling Centres are to reopen in Wales Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government, Hannah Blythyn has announced. Recycling Centres will slowly begin to reopen in the next week, with the majority of Local Authorities opting to reopen from the 26th May. Recycling centres across Wales had been shut in order to maintain key services, in particular the household collection of waste and recycling. The stay at home message in Wales remains and people wishing to visit a centre are urged to go only if it is essential and the waste and or recycling cannot be picked up by their…

Police are appealing for information following a sexual assault on Thursday evening (14 May, 2020). A woman was inappropriately touched by a man as she sat on a bench in woods near Goat Mill Road, Merthyr Tydfil at approximately 7pm. The suspect has been described as being white, 5ft 8 with short dark hair and ‘light-coloured’ eyes – during a very brief conversation with the victim he said he was 21 years-old. He had what has been described as distinctive ‘scruffy’ facial hair which was thin along his jaw line and thicker on his chin. His top teeth were also…

A traffic light roadmap setting out how Wales could exit the coronavirus lockdown has been unveiled today by the First Minister, Mark Drakeford. The roadmap, Unlocking our society and economy: continuing the conversation, is part of a cautious, coherent approach to easing lockdown and builds on its sister paper, “Leading Wales out of the coronavirus pandemic: a framework for recovery” published on April 24th. Under current lockdown rules, people in Wales have to stay at home and maintain contact only within households, with limited exceptions. The restrictions presently in place are there for the express purpose of protecting people’s health…

The traffic lane next to Cardiff Castle, on Castle Street, will be removed this Sunday, May 17, so that the pavement can be extended into the road for both pedestrians and cyclists to use. This is the first city-centre project that will be installed to keep the public safe and able to socially distance on the highway network. Earlier works were successfully introduced around Roath Park Lake creating a one-way footpath around the lake to aid social distancing as well as the removal of visitor parking baysnearest to the lake,toprovide additional space for cyclists and joggers. This new shared space will…

Community recycling centres will reopen in Bridgend County Borough for essential use only on Tuesday 26 May 2020. The date has been agreed with Welsh Government as part of an all-Wales approach for the safe reopening of recycling sites. The council is working alongside its waste partner Kier to develop procedures, processes and restrictions which will ensure that the sites can be accessed for essential use safely and without exposing staff and users to the Covid-19 coronavirus. It follows recent changes to lockdown requirements in Wales which saw recycling centres temporarily closing as part of the efforts to combat the…

Epic Games has announced that Grand Theft Auto V is this week’s free game that people can download and play at home. Every week, Epic Games has been releasing a free mystery available without charge in its online store. The games are available for PCs and Macs. Originally released in 2013, Grand Theft Auto V is made by Rockstar Games and is one of the all time top selling games. It has an age rating, meaning it is only suitable for those ages 18 and above. The game made available for download, Grand Theft Auto V: Premium Edition, includes…