Author: Rhys Gregory

THOUSANDS of visitors are set to storm Swansea’s Oystermouth Castle as it throws open its gates for the 2019 season. Swansea Council and the Friends of Oystermouth Castle run the attraction, which overlooks Mumbles and Swansea Bay. It will be open to the public from 11am-5pm Tuesday-Sunday from April 2 to September 29 and – for the first time – every weekend in October. It will be closed on Mondays except Bank Holidays. Forthcoming events include clay making workshops with Mumbles-based artist David Marchant on Saturday, April 13, and an Easter bunny hunt with crafty fun on Easter Sunday, April…

Swansea University student Oluwaseun Ayodeji Osowobi has won the 2019 Commonwealth Young Person of the Year award. [aoa id=”1″] At a ceremony at the Commonwealth headquarters in London, Oluwaseun was also the winner of the Commonwealth Youth Award for Africa and Europe focusing on SDG5: Gender Equality. Born in Nigeria, Oluwaseun studied a Master’s degree in International Relations at Swansea University with her thesis focusing on gender equality and sex crimes against women and children. After graduating she undertook internships at the UN headquarters and Half the Sky Movement in New York. Oluwaseun then returned to Nigeria and is the…

WORTH over £190 million, two major projects in South West Wales have moved a step closer to approval. After an independent review found their business cases to be fit for purpose, the Swansea Bay City Deal’s Joint Committee has now authorised the re-submission of the ‘Yr Egin’ and Swansea City and Waterfront Digital District projects to the UK and Welsh Governments for sign-off. Immediate approval for both projects is among the recommendations of the independent review, which was commissioned by both governments. An internal review has also been completed to ensure swift delivery of the City Deal investment programme, which will…

This year’s Smallholding and Countryside Festival is packed full of things to do and see, including a busy line up in the festival display ring.   Throughout the weekend, and after the morning’s show jumping and working hunter classes, the main ring will be packed full of entertaining shows and demonstrations for festival-goers to watch and enjoy. The ever popular, exciting and action-packed equestrian sport of scurry racing will be among the attractions in the festival display ring at this year’s Smallholding and Countryside Festival. The first scurry driving event in the Scurry Drivers Association season, this exciting sport gets…

The Fendrod, Llansamlet, has honoured its longest serving team member, Joe Gear, after the pub reopened as a new Sizzling Pub & Grill on Friday 22nd March 2019, following an extensive remodel. The Llansamlet Pub & Grill celebrated its reopening by inviting Joe, who is in her 29th year of service, to officially reopen the new look pub- making her the guest of honour at a ceremonial ribbon cutting. Located on Fendrod Way, the refreshed Fendrod Pub resumed serving guests after an extensive two-week refurbishment. Following a significant investment, four new jobs have been created for the local area. Speaking…

The construction team behind the new Centre for Student Life for Cardiff University is helping to rehabilitate a prisoner serving a five-year jail term for drugs offences. Craig Taylor, 37, from Builth Wells, has been taken on as one of four gatemen at the massive £35 million scheme in the very heart of Cardiff. BAM Construction, the contractor now creating its third successive multi-million pound scheme for the University, takes Craig on from early each morning, until he returns to incarceration later the same day at Usk Prison. Christian Parton, BAM Construction’s Project Manager, said the company took Mr Taylor…

A leading Welsh training provider has achieved one of the highest internationally-recognised standards for information security systems. [aoa id=”1″] Cambrian Training Company has achieved ISO 27001 certification, three years after developing a compliant Information Security Management System (ISMS) to manage information and cyber security across the business. And after demonstrating that its ISMS has embedded and matured to effectively control the personal data and security requirements associated with the delivery of work-based learning in Wales, the company achieved its external certification. Elen Rees, Cambrian Training Company Director of Finance, whose team led the project, put the certification into context: “Providing…

Spring has finally sprung, and Llangoed Hall are celebrating Garden Month with their newly launched Garden Tours, giving you the chance to explore the 17 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens, situated in the stunning Brecon Beacons. [aoa id=”1″] Join Head Gardener, Mandy Hobbs, for a seasonal tour of the vegetable and flower gardens from April to September. Mandy will showcase different elements from the unique garden and give you the chance to explore the idyllic surrounding scenery, allowing you to unwind in the natural beauty of the welsh countryside. To end the tour, you will be served a delicious two…

A partnership between local residents and Openreach is to make high-speed fibre broadband available to a rural community in the Vale of Glamorgan. [aoa id=”1″] Llancarfan, situated between Barry and Cowbridge in the heart of the Vale, will soon be able to enjoy some of the fastest and most reliable broadband speeds in Europe as a result of Openreach’s Community Fibre Partnership (CFP). The scheme is designed to help people in places not included in any current roll-out plans to bring fibre broadband to their local area, working with Openreach to co-fund the installation. The cost of the Llancarfan CFP…

Principality Building Society has introduced a mortgage advice video appointment system across Wales and the borders following a successful pilot. [aoa id=”1″] All of the Society’s 53 branches have been fitted with the Principality Connected video system which is similar to Skype. The touch-screen system allows branch mortgage advisors to give the equivalent of a face-to-face interview anywhere throughout Principality’s retail network. So, a customer in Bangor can potentially make an appointment and speak to an advisor who is available in the Society’s Newport branch. Julie-Ann Haines, Chief Customer Officer at Principality Building Society, said: “We are developing our branches…