Author: Rhys Gregory

As Valentine’s Day approaches, staff and volunteers at RSPCA Newport Animal Centre are eager to find a loving home for Lilly, an 11-year-old Pug currently under their care. Despite her age, Lilly is energetic and affectionate, enjoying human companionship and outdoor exploration. She thrives on attention and loves to cuddle on laps. Lilly has faced some health challenges, including the removal of all her teeth, but she has adapted well and maintains a healthy appetite. Due to her discomfort around other dogs, she would do best in a pet-free home with someone who can spend most of the day with…

The Institute of Directors (IoD) Wales is set to host Partners in Progress, an inspiring and dynamic event celebrating International Women’s Day, in collaboration with Bluestone National Park Resort. Designed to bridge the gap between today’s business leaders and the next generation, the event will bring together professionals from various industries with students from local schools, colleges, and universities. As part of the International Women’s Day celebrations, the event will highlight the importance of diverse leadership, mentorship, and allyship. Speakers will be encouraged to reflect on the impact of both male and female key figures in their careers.  Shaping the…

A vital step in a “truly game-changing expansion” at a popular science centre in Wrexham has been completed, with the activity also reducing its carbon footprint by more than 20 tonnes per annum. Xplore! Science Discovery Centre has ambitious plans to redevelop its first floor space and make a lasting impact for communities in the region. As part of this, the charity has installed more than 200 solar panels as well as insulation and carried out works on the roof of its city centre base to make it watertight. Making the space habitable and decreasing energy usage and bills was…

Artistic residents at a care home have played a starring role in a ground-breaking new film. The popular weekly art sessions at Pendine Park’s Penybryn care home in Wrexham were the focus of the shoot commissioned by the older people’s charity, Age Cymru. Among those interviewed were the home’s manager, Tracey Cuthill, and Sarah Edwards, Pendine’s consultant artist-in-residence, who leads the art classes, and talented chainsaw sculptor Paul Morris, who works on the maintenance team. Sarah said it is a great honour for Pendine Park to be asked to take part in the film which aims to put the spotlight on…

Harlequins fly-half Jarrod Evans along with Gloucester fly-half Gareth Anscombe and centre Max Llewellyn have been called up to the Wales senior men’s squad. They will assemble in camp with the squad on Monday 17 February to prepare for the sold-out match against Ireland at Principality Stadium on Saturday 22 February. Ospreys centre Owen Watkin has been released from the squad following an ACL injury, sustained against France in the opening round of the championship, that requires surgery. Saracens fullback Liam Williams has also been released following a knee injury sustained against France. Rob Howley remains under contract with the…

Children in low-income families in Cardiff are benefitting from a new scheme providing free, recycled bikes. The ReCYCLE scheme forms part of Council’s One Planet Cardiff response to climate change and aims to enable more children to use active travel to get to and from school by overcoming the cost barrier of buying a bike. The donated bikes used in the scheme are all no longer needed by their original owners, but instead of going to waste they are refurbished with recycled parts, ready to be used again. Since launching in September 2024, 72 pupils have received a bike through…

A Newport food business owner who pled guilty to a total of 28 food hygiene offences has been indefinitely prohibited from operating a food business and ordered to pay £5,000 in fines by a judge at Cardiff crown court. Tassaduk Ali, who operated United Foods on Jeffery Street, was handed the sentence today, following guilty pleas entered at a hearing last October at Cwmbran Magistrates Court. Mr Ali was also handed a suspended six-month prison sentence and ordered to pay £3,500 in costs and undergo 100 hours of unpaid community service. United Foods (S.Wales) Ltd was also handed a £6,000…

A group of young learners from Merthyr Tydfil got the opportunity to witness Questions to the First Minister during a recent visit to the Senedd. As part of a trip to learn more about the role of the Senedd and how our elected representatives shape the policies that effect their everyday lives, six Jobs Growth Wales+ learners spent time in Cardiff Bay. The young people, aged between 16 and 19, from Whitehead-Ross Education’s training and development programme were also given a tour of the Senedd building, an introduction into the role of an MS, and discussed what the new electoral…

A stellar Welsh start-up is ready to kick-start the next industrial revolution in space. Space Forge is putting the finishing touches to its second satellite ahead of its launch later this year. The ForgeStar®-1 will demonstrate in-orbit Space Forge’s unique technology to produce complex materials for the semiconductor industry that are difficult or impossible to manufacture on Earth. Space Forge believes it’s technology can deliver significant savings in energy and CO2 by reducing emissions in high value manufacturing from critical national infrastructure by up to 75%. The Cardiff-based company, which previously secured £7.7m in Europe’s largest ever seed funding round for a…

For National Apprenticeships Week, the Minister for Children and Social Care met with former apprentices to hear how an innovative scheme helped them qualify as social workers in Rhondda. Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) council’s Social Care Academy offers training and apprenticeships for staff members who want to gain qualifications in social work. 96% of staff supported by the Academy have stayed within the council, with many becoming experienced social workers in children and adult services. 27-year-old Naomi Frere was a looked after child in RCT, and thanks to their apprenticeship scheme, she is now a qualified social worker helping to…