Author: Rhys Gregory

Aldi Store Assistants are set to receive a better-than-expected pay rise from Saturday 1 March, with hourly rates increasing to at least £12.75, maintaining Aldi’s position as Britain’s best-paying supermarket. The new minimum rate, which increases to £14.05 within the M25, exceeds the Real Living Wage set by the Living Wage Foundation in October last year and will take effect from Saturday 1 March. Store Assistant pay will rise further to £13.66 nationally, and £14.35 within the M25, based on the length of service. Aldi has also committed to a further pay increase for store colleagues from September 2025, taking…

The Secretary of State for Transport has announced the appointment of Tim Moss CBE as the new Chief Executive of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), effective from 31 March 2025. Tim is currently the Chief Operating Officer and Director General for Corporate Services and Inspectorates at the Welsh Government and previously worked as Chief Executive at the Intellectual Property Office. Through these roles, Tim has extensive experience managing functions including HR, Finance and Digital Data, and has taken responsibility for several independent inspectorates focused on planning decisions and health outcomes. Heidi Alexander, Secretary of State for Transport, said: I’m…

BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru are joining forces to celebrate Wales’ community heroes with the launch of the BBC Make a Difference Awards 2025. Led by BBC Radio Cymru’s Shân Cothi and Radio Wales’ Lucy Owen, BBC Cymru Wales is calling on listeners to nominate their local heroes. The Make a Difference Awards, which launch for the first time in Wales this year, will celebrate and recognise people who do incredible things for each other and their local communities, shining a light on these everyday, unsung heroes. There are eight categories, including the Community Group Award for a…

A NEW financial education website which aims to plug the widening “advice gap” in the UK will launch today. Fincate is the creation of Rob Lewis, managing director and founder of a multiple award-winning financial planning business based in Mold, St Asaph, and London. An amalgamation of the words ‘Financial’ and ‘Education’, the site offers a series of videos and bitesize content as part of an affordable monthly subscription service. With more than 20 years’ experience in the sector, Rob says there is significant demand for an online platform offering workshops, guidance, quizzes, downloadable materials and training for individuals and…

Popham Kidney Support, the Swansea based kidney charity, has announced the date of its marquee fundraising event – The Popham Kidney Support Summer Soiree, taking place Friday, July 4, 2025, at the Village Hotel, Swansea. As a highly respected charity within the local community, over 100 guests are expected to attend the Soiree, including supporters of the charity and businesses who have been affiliated with the charity since its inception in 2013. The event promises to be an evening full of entertainment, with Karl Morgan, the lead singer of Who’s Molly, delivering a live performance, esteemed TV presenter, Sian Lloyd,…

A Bangor University climate scientist has won a prestigious award. Dr Iestyn Woolway, a NERC Independent Research Fellow based at the School of Ocean Sciences has been honoured with the 2025 Yentsch-Schindler Early Career Award by The Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO). ASLO presents the Yentsch-Schindler Early Career Award each year to an early career scientist who has made outstanding and balanced contributions to research, education, and society. The award is for his influential work describing the effects of climate warming on lakes worldwide, including shifts in seasonal timing, stratification, ice-cover and heatwaves, in addition to…

The Chair of the charity regulator is urging greater giving from those with deeper pockets, during visits to charities today and tomorrow where he is seeing first-hand the impact of voluntary organisations in north Wales. Orlando Fraser’s comments came as he visited the Association of Voluntary Organisations in Wrexham (AVOW) today with other visits planned for tomorrow (25th February) to three more charities as he celebrates Wales’s community spirit. AVOW is the County Voluntary Council for Wrexham. It provides free advice and signposts local community and voluntary organisations. AVOW also provides health and wellbeing support to the local community in Wrexham. The charity…

Welsh Ministers have agreed to licence three Bluetongue (BTV-3) vaccines for emergency use across Wales. Welsh Government has worked closely with farming industry representatives who have requested all three BTV-3 vaccines be licenced for use in Wales. An online general licence will be available for vaccine use in Wales from 1stMarch. The vaccines will be available on prescription and sold from veterinary practices and can be administered by livestock keepers themselves, following appropriate guidance. This decision follows the continued spread of Bluetongue virus (BTV-3) cases in England since August 2024. On 4 September 2024, three unauthorised BTV-3 vaccines received Defra…

A school in Ceredigion has been recognised by the Deputy First Minister for the action it’s taking to tackle the nature and climate emergencies. Thanks to Welsh Government funding and support from Keep Wales Tidy, Ysgol Penrhyn-coch near Aberystwyth has created a wildlife pond to increase biodiversity and support a wide variety of freshwater species, including frogs, newts and dragonflies – as well as providing a drinking source for garden birds and mammals such as hedgehogs during increasingly hot summers – alongside native trees, plants and shrubs to ensure nature has a place to thrive. The school is a platinum…

An organisation which has been funding a life-extending treatment for patients in Wales with advanced  bowel cancer is calling for NHS Wales to step in to provide access to surgery which can extend lives by up to five years. Moondance Cancer Initiative is currently funding specialist treatment in Wales for patients whose bowel cancer has spread to the peritoneum – the lining of the abdomen. The life-saving treatment is routinely funded by the NHS in England, Scotland and Northen Ireland, but patients in Wales currently rely on a newly introduced service established with Moondance’s support. Over 40 patients across Wales…