Author: Rhys Gregory

City Hospice’s popular Forever Flowers campaign is returning to Cardiff Castle for a fifth consecutive year this August. The charity’s Forever Flower this year is the daffodil, Wales’ national flower, which for many symbolises hope, resilience and new beginnings. The unique and lasting tributes have been expertly crafted by the British Ironwork Centre and will feature in a striking display within the grounds of Cardiff Castle from Saturday 2 to Sunday 10 August. Supporters are invited to purchase a limited edition daffodil, which are on sale for £25 from today, to remember and celebrate the lives of loved ones including…

Street Food Circus is returning with The Big Banquet at Caldicot Castle from 23-26 May 2025. The event, part of the Street Food Circus 10th Anniversary programme brings together some of Wales’ best known street food traders along with high-wire circus entertainment, and a range of activities for the whole family. The Big Banquet brings feast-style long communal dining tables to the Medieval castle – with plenty of space for families to spread out around the grounds. Entertainment includes a free circus school for children, aerial performances, a bubble disco and a fire show. Evening sessions include music from DJs…

Specialist business property adviser Christie & Co, has been instructed to market Baker Street Cinema in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. Ideally located in the heart of Abergavenny, a popular town known as the ‘gateway to Wales’, Baker Street Cinema is surrounded by an array of restaurants, shops and hotels, and is popular for it’s showing of mainstream and indie films. With the town being just six miles from the English border, the cinema benefits from tourist trade in addition to its local repeat customers. The business occupies a charming period property, which was originally built as a drill hall in 1896, and…

Eight charities across Wales have received a funding boost as part of Benefact Group’s Movement for Good Awards to support their vital work.  Friends of Animals Wales in Pentre has been awarded a grant of £5,000, while Many Tears Animal Rescue in Llanelli, Headway Cardiff and South East Wales in Penarth, The City of Cardiff Brass Band in Cardiff, Forgotten Felines Cat Rescue in Port Talbert and Cancer Research Wales in Cardiff are some of the charities to have each received donations of £1,000. With a vision to unite Wales against cancer through world-class research, Cancer Research Wales is dedicated to…

Hakan Barac, a 29-year-old man from the Newport area of Gwent, this week (Monday, April 7th) appeared at Bristol Crown court, where he was sentenced following an investigation led by Counter Terrorism Policing Wales. Borac, who pleaded guilty to five offences relating to dissemination of terrorist publications and one offence relating to supporting a proscribed organisation was given a 3-year, 9-month sentence. Detective Chief Inspector Leanne Williams, from Counter Terrorism Policing Wales, said: “I welcome the outcome at court today. Without any doubt, Hakan Barac is a dangerous individual and this sentence concludes what has been a lengthy and complex…

Former Port Talbot steelworker Martyn Wagstaff has launched a business promoting Mental Wellbeing in the local community and beyond. Martyn worked at the steelworks for two years in the run up to the recent changes at the plant offering Mental Health and Wellbeing support to the workforce during that difficult period. Now, with financial support from Tata Steel subsidiary UKSE he has launched Springfield Advisory working with businesses and organisations in Neath and Port Talbot and elsewhere to continue his work helping people get through the challenges of daily life. The problem, he says, is that people often don’t want…

NEW HE qualifications at a state-of-the-art land-based college will support the future of farming in Wales. Coleg Cambria unveiled Higher National Certificate (HNC) and Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes aimed at the next generation of farm managers, shepherds, farmers, and leaders in the sector. Based at the college’s Llysfasi site, near Ruthin – which recently unveiled the £10m Hwb Arloesi (Innovation Hub) and submitted plans for a 50-bedroom student accommodation building – the courses include modules on a wide range of subjects. Among them are Business and Business Environment, Managing a Successful Project, Principles of Livestock Production, Animal Health and…

A leading civil engineering firm has started work on a multi-million-pound wind farm in Scotland that will have the capacity to power more than 130,000 UK homes annually. Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK has been appointed as principal contractor for the 20-turbine Windy Standard III Wind Farm in Dumfries and Galloway. The Fred. Olsen Renewables-led development, which was first consented in 2021 and will be capable of generating 87.6 megawatts of renewable energy. Scheduled activity for Jones Bros includes ground investigations, reinforced concrete foundations, excavating, and backfilling for cabling, as well as creating more than 10km of new access tracks…

Thomas Carroll, independent insurance, risk, wealth management and insurtech company, is to open its first office in Bristol on May 1, 2025 in Aztec West. Headed up by Thomas Carroll’s regional director and Bristol native Scott Levett, the office will also house team members that represent the whole Thomas Carroll Group, including employee benefits, health and safety and of course insurance broking. Scott said of the new office opening: “This is an exciting time for us to be opening a new office in Bristol. Thomas Carroll already has a very successful office in Hereford, and we thought the time was…

A technology spin-out of the Alacrity Foundation has closed a significant six-figure equity investment pre-seed round led by SFC Capital, the Development Bank of Wales and a syndicate of business angels. Lumin Solutions is run by Directors Piers Oliphant who is 25, along with 23 year old Ben Gretton and Ben Miller who is 24 years old. The three young entrepreneurs first met when taking part in the Alacrity Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme and have now developed a case management system for use by child social care providers. Lumin’s innovative software product is an outcome-focused recording and planning system for care…