Author: Rhys Gregory

New pensions dashboards will offer people access to their information from multiple pensions at a time of their choosing, Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd announced during a visit to Peter’s Food Service in Bedwas yesterday (4 April). Peter’s, famous for its pies, is one of Wales’ biggest food production employers with nearly 700 employees, more than 100 of whom will reach pensionable age in the next decade. The pensions dashboards will enable everyone in Wales with a pension to see all the facts and figures about their pension pots and potential retirement income in one place – on smartphones,…

The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) showcased the best of Wales’ young comedy talent at its Voice Box joke telling competition for primary school-aged children on 3 April 2019 at the Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay.    The RCSLT teamed up with the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) Cymru and Parentkind to hold the contest, which reminds people that all children need support to be confident with their communication skills and some need specialist help to speak and/or understand what is being said to them. More than 700 schoolchildren between the ages of five and 11 years…

Cardiff Metropolitan University graduate Frances Lukins and her husband Dan have recently smashed their £18k Kickstarter target to open two new coffee bars in unique locations across Cardiff. Established in King’s Road Yard in Pontcanna in 2015 by the husband and wife duo, Lufkin Coffee has been a hit with locals ever since. [aoa id=”1″] [/aoa] The £18k funding, donated by over 400 supporters in just 1 month, will contribute towards the creation of a new coffee bar in the old rangers hut in Thompson’s Park, Canton, as well as premises in the old Natwest bank on Clare Road, Grangetown.…

More than 25,000 primary school children across England and Wales have penned a poem for the second annual Premier League Writing Stars poetry competition. Themed on diversity, the competition encouraged five to eleven-year-olds to explore what makes us ‘Beautifully different, Wonderfully the Same’ using a poem created especially for Writing Stars by poet Joseph Coelho. Katie’s poem ‘Different’ was selected as the regional winning entry in the Key Stage 1 age group (five to 7 years old). Judging was completed by a stellar panel, which included Waterstones Children’s Laureate Lauren Child, former Premier League footballer Rio Ferdinand, singer-songwriter Olly Murs…

One of the UK’s leading insurance brokers has extended its exclusive sponsorship deal with Glamorgan County Cricket Club for another season. Towergate Insurance Brokers has signed a deal to remain lead sponsor for the state-of-the-art Towergate Media Centre at the Club’s Sophia Gardens base. Towergate, which has over 100 offices nationwide, has a strong Welsh presence and a long-standing relationship with Glamorgan Cricket, acting as their insurance broker of choice. As part of their latest sponsorship deal, as well as national brand exposure, Towergate is entitled to tickets for both domestic and international matches at the Test ground and can…

A woman from Newport with Type 1 diabetes is gearing up to run her first ever marathon for Diabetes UK Cymru. Jessica Loch, 27, only started running 18 months ago, but will be on the starting line of this year’s Virgin Money London Marathon on Sunday 28 April. Type 1 diabetes is a complex, lifelong condition where the body cannot produce the hormone insulin, which controls the amount of sugar in the blood. It affects around 19,000 people in Wales and must be carefully managed day-to-day. Jessica was diagnosed aged six after her family noticed some concerning symptoms. Jessica said,…

A terminal illness charity is attempting to bust the myths of hospice, by opening its doors to the general public with a new café. The Marie Curie Café at the charity’s Cardiff and the Vale Hospice in Penarth was officially opened by actress Suzanne Packer, who is soon to appear in series two of Keeping Faith. The Marie Curie Café, situated in the basement of the hospice, has opened its doors not only to staff, patients and families – but will also be open to members of the public, who may be walking past in the nearby Windsor Gardens, and…

Over fifty police officers, police staff and members of the public have been recognised at a South Wales Police awards ceremony which was held at the University of South Wales on Wednesday, 27 March, 2019. [aoa id=”1″] The award winners were all singled out by the region’s newly appointed policing commander, Dorian Lloyd, for their individual acts of bravery and displays of compassion, commitment and professionalism throughout the past 12 months. They were each presented with certificates of commendation by Dorian who was joined by special guest Rhian Mannings, founder of the 2 Wish Upon A Star charity based in…

Many people in Wales are in the dark about the links between diabetes to coronary heart disease, which is the leading cause of heart attacks, according to a survey commissioned by the British Heart Foundation (BHF). The survey found that just 37% of adults in Wales were aware of the link.  [aoa id=”1″] Around 195,000 adults have been diagnosed with diabetes in Wales. BHF Cymru say the findings point to a continuing lack of awareness of the devastating consequences of poorly controlled diabetes on the heart and circulatory system. With diabetes contributing to 680 strokes and 530 heart attacks in the UK every week, the leading research charity hopes to improve public understanding of the links between the different…

Newport-based structural engineering company Cintec has completed the contract to help save the first pyramid ever built in Egypt.  Cintec were enlisted in 2010 by the High Council of Egyptian Antiquities to preserve the pyramid of Djoser, otherwise known as the Step Pyramid The Step Pyramid was built nearly 4700 years ago by Pharaoh Djoser. A major earthquake in 1992 compounded the results of many other seismic events over the eons and had caused serious faults in this famous archeological structure. The partial collapse of the burial chamber ceiling as a direct result of the earthquake could ultimately have led…