Author: Rhys Gregory

Two Welsh charities unite for the first time ever ahead of Wales’ largest celebration of equality and diversity. Cardiff Deaf Centre and Pride Cymru have come together to meet the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing community in Wales during the annual Big Weekend (23-25 August). Working together again, the two charities will collaborate fully, making Deaf Pride Wales a part of Pride Cymru’s Big Weekend, which is celebrating its 20th year. As a charity Cardiff Deaf Centre is undergoing a large development programme that sees the charity looking to raise £750,000 to redevelop the home of the…

A legal team dedicated to helping Port Talbot steel workers who lost significant parts of their pension savings is claiming back an average of £33,000 per case.  National law firm Clarke Willmott is helping over 170 workers who were badly advised to transfer out of their “gold plated” occupational pension schemes and into risky investments.  [aoa id=”1″]The team, which has opened a dedicated centre to support steel workers in Water Street Business Centre, Port Talbot, was brought together after it emerged Port Talbot steel workers were given bad advice by a firm called Active Wealth UK, which has since gone…

Between initiatives such as the Economic Action Plan – setting out the Welsh government’s approach to economic development over the next few years – and Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures from March revealing that Welsh exports are on the rise, it’s an exciting time to be doing business in Wales. Businesses are telling us that they’re looking to increase their headcount over the coming months. A recent Lloyds Bank Business Barometer report found that a net balance of 14 per cent of Welsh businesses plan to hire more staff during the next year. While it’s encouraging to see businesses…

An ambitious new Carbon Management Plan is targeting a 15% reduction in emissions by 2023. The plan to reduce Ceredigion County Council emissions was approved by the council’s Cabinet on 11 June 2019. [aoa id=”1″]The plan sets out an action plan for reducing carbon emissions over the next five years. This is the third five-year carbon management plan to be carried out by the council.[/aoa] The latest plan lists a number of projects that the council will carry out in the next five years. They include: Building on previous work of making buildings more energy efficient Rolling out more energy…

DEVELOPERS, homeowners and the public sector are digging a new company that aims to reduce environmental damage and construction costs. [aoa id=”1″] Stop Digging! North Wales and North West is the latest venture from award-winning entrepreneur Gareth Jones, managing director of the Carbon Zero Group. The group, which also includes UK Leisure Living, has had a busy start to the year, notably in hot tub and composite decking sales. [/aoa] This new firm centres around the installation of ground screws rather than traditional methods such as concrete and cement, the manufacturing of which reportedly accounts for more than 5% of…

Brave hospital staff whose actions ensured the safety of patients during a devastating fire have received a surprise award. It was announced during the Swansea Bay University Health Board Chairman’s VIP Awards on Thursday evening, prompting a standing ovation from the audience. [aoa id=”1″]The workers from ward 12 at Swansea’s Singleton Hospital were told by Chairman Professor Andrew Davies their “calm, composed and effective training from fire marshall Pat Howells (now known as Fireman Pat)” saved patients from potentially serious injury.[/aoa] Professor Davies said he and Swansea Bay’s Chief Executive Tracy Myhill decided to honour staff as they had been…

Proud Rhondda 70-year-old wins an Inspire! Award for changing his life through learning A seventy-year-old from South Wales who spent years in a mental health institution has won a national award for adult learning. Gwyn David, from Gilfach Goch, was a resident of Hensol Hospital for more than two decades and has painful memories of a time he said left him ‘without a voice’. Now he’s picked up an Inspire! Award after discovering a passion for learning later in life. [aoa id=”1″]The Inspire! Awards are hosted each year ahead of Adult Learners’ Week – initiatives coordinated by Learning and Work…

Andrew Dix, 50, from Hay-on-Wye, Brecknockshire is taking part in the Drover Cycles Gospel Pass Everesting Challenge to help raise money for leading men’s health charity, Prostate Cancer UK. On Saturday 15th June, Andrew is hoping to raise over £1,000 by riding up and down the Gospel Pass (the highest pass in Wales) sixteen times until he has ridden the height of Mount Everest. In total Andrew will ride 8848m and 250km, that will be done as a single ride, with no sleep, taking around twenty hours to complete. [aoa id=”1″] [/aoa]Andrew, a furniture maker by trade, will be riding…

House prices in Wales continued to edge upwards according to the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) Residential Market Survey for May, but surveyors remain cautious about the outlook for the next three months. [aoa id=”1″]A net a balance of 21 percent of Welsh respondents to the latest survey said the house prices had risen since March. However, the data regarding price and sales expectations over the next three months is more subdued.[/aoa] Surveyors expect price activity to be broadly flat in the three months ahead, meanwhile the net balance for sales expectations is +10, indicating that surveyors on balance…

With views over the stunning Pembrokeshire coastline, Pointz Castle Ice Cream’s new on-farm parlour offers a unique ‘cow to cone’ experience to visitors. [aoa id=”1″]Pointz Castle Ice Cream is a family collaboration spanning four generations, located on the Lawrence family’s farm located between the fishing village of Solva and the expansive sandy beach of Newgale, on the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.[/aoa] Richard and Gill Lawrence and their son William, daughter Rachael, daughter-in-law Lydia, and son-in-law Thomas all bring a range of skills which enabled them to establish and run the new business. While the critical job of tasting the final…