Author: Rhys Gregory

Volunteer crews from Porthcawl and Barry Dock RNLI recently welcomed actor Ruth Jones and her best friend Steve Spiers as part of filming for Ruth and Steve: From Porthcawl with Love, a new programme due out over Christmas that follows Ruth as she shows Steve around her hometown. Ruth has a long-standing family connection with Porthcawl RNLI. She was joined on the day by her sister, Maria, a local GP who volunteers as medical advisor with the Porthcawl crew. The family links run deep: Maria’s husband, Etienne, volunteered as a crew member for 19 years; Ruth’s niece, Anousha, also volunteered…

Twelve-year-old Alex Chmielewski is finally looking forward to a proper family Christmas – a year after spending the festive season in hospital recovering from a long-awaited kidney transplant. Alex, from Bridgend in South Wales, spent more than three years on dialysis and over two years waiting for a kidney donor. He and his older brother Gabriel, 14, were both born with kidney failure caused by Joubert syndrome and missing chromosomes. Gabriel received a kidney from their dad, Kamil, in 2021. The family hoped that mum, Kasia, could donate to Alex, but she was ruled out because of kidney stones. That…

FOR Cardiff, the capital’s Business Improvement District, has published its Thriving High Streets manifesto ahead of next year’s Senedd elections. Appealing to all political parties, it asks for four key actions to support “vibrant local high streets that both serve and involve local communities”. FOR Cardiff is representing its 750+ city centre members, including retail, hospitality and professional services businesses. The four asks are to: undertake wholesale reform of business rates; provide specific revenue funding for local high street development projects; give local communities the power to take charge of buildings in their high streets; sustain investment in the South Wales…

Brace yourself for a full-throttle day of family fun, gravity-defying stunts and edge-of-your-seat action, as Monster Jam powers back into Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Saturday 16th May 2026. This year, Cardiff fans will be the first in the UK to witness the debut of Sparkle Smash, the six-ton unicorn with a bold attitude, known for its fierce competitive spirit and larger-than-life personality. Get ready for an unforgettable live motorsports spectacle where 12,000-pound trucks perform jaw-dropping feats -balancing on two wheels, soaring through the air, and pushing the limits of physics in competitions of speed, style, and skill. The world’s best drivers will go head-to-head in three…

The Football Association of Wales can confirm that Rodney Parade will host the 2026 JD Welsh Cup Final and Bute Energy Welsh Cup Final.  It will be the third consecutive year that Wales’ two most prestigious cup competitions will culminate in Newport. The JD Welsh Cup Final will take place on Sunday 12 April (KO 15:15), before the Bute Energy Welsh Cup Final on Sunday 19 April (KO TBC). Ticket details will be confirmed at a later date. The New Saints are the current holders of the JD Welsh Cup after beating Connah’s Quay Nomads in the final last season,…

The 33-year-old from Mumbles, near Swansea in south Wales, has been selected as the BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year for 2025. The 2024 Paralympic champion completed a full set of major titles in 2025, adding both the European and world crowns to his name to achieve a notable hat-trick of gold medals. Pritchard comes from a sporting family. His father was a respected judoka and rugby player, while his mother played netball for the Welsh police force. His early sporting love was sailing, joining Mumbles Yacht Club and going on to represent Wales and Great Britain in…

Manon Steffan Ros will be the new presenter of BBC Radio Cymru’s arts programme every Sunday afternoon from the end of January. As one of Wales’s most prominent authors, she has received numerous awards for her work as a novelist and playwright. She is also widely recognised as a columnist, presenter, and singer. “It’s such a privilege to present an arts programme on BBC Radio Cymru,” said Manon Steffan Ros. “I’ve been working in the arts for over twenty years, in various capacities: acting, singing, creating visual art, and of course writing. I’m looking forward to continuing to create while…

An amber weather warning has been issued for heavy rain across large parts of Wales, with flooding possible today. The Met Office says persistent and often heavy rain will affect much of south and southwest Wales during Monday. Rainfall totals of 50 to 80mm are expected widely, with some areas seeing close to 100mm. With ground already saturated following recent wet weather, the risk of flooding and disruption is higher. The warning covers many local authority areas including Cardiff, Swansea, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Powys, Monmouthshire, Newport and the Vale of Glamorgan, along with several other…

Neath town centre Neighbourhood Policing Officers have disrupted a significant cannabis operation, which had the capability to have grown to become the “largest ever” of its kind in South Wales. The operation came as a result of intelligence gathered by the Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT). Suspicious activity had been reported around the former Marks and Spencer shop on Green Street, which had been vacant since the closure of M&S on May 18 2024. While on patrol, a 34-year-old man was spotted acting suspiciously and was stopped by the officers, then arrested shortly after on suspicion of burglary. Officers, alongside specialist…

A new framework designed to create a stronger, fairer and greener Cardiff for all has been developed to enhance the vitality and viability of Cardiff’s neighbourhoods. Cardiff Council’s ambitious draft Regeneration Strategy 2025–2030 brings together a range of council policies and strategies relating to regeneration and placemaking into a single, cohesive framework. It has been in developed in line with the authority’s Corporate Plan 2025–28 and the emerging Replacement Local Development Plan. The draft strategy sets out a structured approach to future investment and the regeneration of Cardiff’s centres and neighbourhoods. Its purpose is to identify areas of need and…