Author: Rhys Gregory

Extra trains are being put on to allow Welsh football supporters to get home from a key World Cup qualifier this month. Wales take on Kazakhstan in their first match in group J on Saturday 22 March at 19:45 in Cardiff, hoping to book a place at the 2026 World Cup finals. To support the event, Transport for Wales is running additional trains to north Wales from Cardiff and also extra trains to support the Wrexham v Stockport match in League 1 on the same day. Supporters from north Wales got a further boost as pre-planned engineering works that weekend…

The Vale of Glamorgan Council has committed to investing in Education, Social Care, its towns, villages and highway network after the 2025/26 budget was agreed at a meeting of all Councillors. Around 71 per cent of a £331 million budget will go on schools and Social Services to meet growing demand in these areas. But money will also be spent on improving roads, repairing potholes and upgrading public spaces to offer residents better quality of life and more opportunities. More than £4.5 million has been allocated for highway enhancements, while the Council recently secured £20 million of Levelling Up money…

Nominations for this year’s Mayor of Neath Port Talbot Citizen Awards, which recognise unsung heroes from across NPT who make a real difference to our communities, close at midday on Wednesday, March 19th, 2025. Kindly supported by Trade Centre Wales and Tata Steel UK, the eagerly awaited event takes place at The Orangery, Margam Country Park, on Friday April 4th, 2025. Tata Steel UK Public Affairs and Community Manager, Lewis Clark, said: “Tata Steel UK is thrilled to once again be a main sponsor of the Mayor of Neath Port Talbot Citizen Awards, which are a         …

Newport’s new leisure centre will provide a strong foundation for the health and wellbeing of residents. And work to create strong foundations for the building has begun. Following several weeks of preparatory work on the site, the latest stage of the construction involves piling work for the new centre’s foundations. Due to be opened to the public next year, the new centre will include a modern leisure pool, with fun elements including a “lazy river”, slides and play equipment, as well as a teaching pool for children’s swimming lessons and exercise sessions. It will also have modern changing facilities, a…

Three high street banks have achieved special recognition as part of a Welsh Government scheme to protect payments to SMEs on large scale public sector construction projects. Barclays, NatWest and Lloyds have all been declared Nominated Service Providers, after meeting new criteria for the Project Bank Accounts (PBA) initiative. PBAs are ring-fenced bank accounts which ensure supply chain construction businesses involved in public sector schemes receive payment in five days or less. This helps ease cash flow when traditional payment timescales for subcontractors not using PBA’s can be up to 90 days. PBAs also protect payments against insolvency. SME’s using…

Changes to improve how ambulances respond to 999 emergency calls will help to save more lives and improve people’s outcomes. A new purple category is being introduced for responses to life-or-death cardiac and respiratory arrests as part of the changes. They are being made in response to a recommendation by the Senedd’s Health and Social Care Committee, which concluded the existing targets are no longer appropriate or fit for purpose. A subsequent review found there is no evidence the existing response model supports better outcomes. The eight-minute ambulance response target was introduced in 1974 by the UK Department of Health…

Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) Cymru has been presented with an extremely generous donation of £10,000 by the Gwysaney Sporting Club Ltd collected at their Young Shots Day and through sweepstakes throughout the season. The funds will go towards the trust’s work to improve biodiversity and achieve nature recovery on a landscape-scale, as well as deliver scientific research that directly influences government policy and promotes game and wildlife management as an essential part of wildlife conservation. The cheque was presented to GWCT Cymru Chair Owen Williams by Gwysaney Sporting Club’s owner James Davies-Cooke at the British Shooting Show last month, following a…

Fostering student development goes beyond textbooks and lectures. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is by integrating collaborative meeting spaces into the learning environment.  These spaces have become vital in enabling students to enhance their skills, particularly those related to teamwork, problem-solving, and creativity. As students face increasingly complex academic and professional challenges, the role of collaborative spaces cannot be overstated. Encouraging Teamwork and Communication Collaborative meeting spaces provide an environment where students can engage in active learning, communicate effectively, and collaborate on projects in a more dynamic and interactive way. These spaces promote face-to-face interactions, allowing…

In the relentless pace of today’s business world, time is the invisible currency that determines success. For CEOs and business owners, every second spent—or misspent—can mean the difference between profit and loss, growth and stagnation. Meanwhile, employees juggle multiple tasks, striving to meet deadlines while maintaining a sense of control over their workday. Enter TimeCamp, a time tracking software that’s more than just a tool—it’s a game-changer for organizations and individuals alike. Designed to streamline operations and boost productivity, TimeCamp offers the best timer app for Windows that seamlessly integrates into workflows, providing clarity and efficiency for everyone involved. Imagine…

A woman from Caldicot will be running the half marathon at the ABP Newport Marathon Festival as part of her breast cancer recovery. Vicky Silcox was diagnosed with the disease in August 2023 after having a 360-health check, despite not having any symptoms. The 53-year-old mum-of-two said: “I wasn’t sure about getting the scan at first but decided to go for it. Part of the health check was having a mammogram, and I was called back as they’d found some anomalies and I needed to have a biopsy. “When they tell you that, you think it might be cancer, but…