Author: Rhys Gregory

With less than 50 days to go until the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games get underway, ParalympicsGB can announce the men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball squads. Across both teams, five debutants are set to make their first ever appearance in a Paralympic Games. On the men’s team, Lee Fryer and Peter Cusack join the ranks of seasoned athletes including 2018 World champions Lee Manning, Simon Brown, Harry Brown, Phil Pratt, Gregg Warburton, Abdi Jama, Jim Palmer and Terry Bywater. 2023 European gold medallists Kyle Marsh and Ben Fox complete the squad. Middlesbrough born Bywater, set to compete in his seventh Paralympic…

PLANS TO TURN Neath’s historic former Library building at Victoria Gardens into a Creative Hub have been given the go ahead by members of Neath Port Talbot Council’s Cabinet. The former Library building has remained vacant since its closure in March 2023 following the opening of the modern library in the new leisure and retail development in Neath town centre. At their meeting on Wednesday, July 10th, 2024, Cabinet members agreed the building should now house workspaces and offices for the creative and cultural industries. These will include digital, writing, illustration, photography, podcasting, events, consultancy and associated professional services. The…

So how can people watching IRONMAN 70.3 Swansea get the most out of the event? And what can those not attending do to make it a good weekend? The event – with free entry for spectators – is being organised by IRONMAN. Swansea Council and the Welsh Government are among those supporting it. Council cabinet member Robert Francis-Davies said: “It’s going to be a great sporting weekend for the city. “There’s a huge appetite for quality events in this part of the world. Entrants and their supporters will be thrilled by the local support, our fabulous natural beauty and Swansea’s…

Air travellers at Cardiff Airport’s VIP 51° executive lounge are enjoying a menu featuring the best of Wales courtesy of a leading Welsh food distribution company. Harlech Foodservice are making two deliveries a week to the airport at Rhoose, near Cardiff, showcasing top quality produce from across the country. Princes Gate bottled water from Pembrokeshire, samosas and Indian delicacies from SamosaCo of Pontyclun, bread from Jones Village Bakery in Wrexham and Jones Crisps from Gwynedd are just some of the Welsh products stocked courtesy of Harlech. The company, based near Criccieth in Gwynedd has embarked on a £6 million expansion…

A leading civil engineering firm has retained its place as the sole contractor on a framework for one of the UK’s largest resource and waste management companies. During the next two years, Ruthin-based Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK will continue delivering landfill engineering schemes for FCC Environment under an extension of the framework it successfully secured in 2022. The multi-million-pound contract strengthens their long-term relationship, with Jones Bros working with the firm since 2011. The extension also means Jones Bros senior contracts manager Dafydd Elis will have overseen the partnership for a full decade, leading an experienced team on UK-wide…

A LUXURY lodge park in the grounds of a prestigious golf club will be in full swing this summer. Eden Lodge Retreat – set in the grounds of Eden Golf Club in Crosby-on-Eden, near Carlisle – is to open its new show homes to prospective owners over the coming weeks. The first phase of the high-quality, 20-acre development is nearing completion to the delight of owners Alistair and Julie Wannop. The Wannop family has farmed the 1200-acre Estate for more than a century, and the golf course has been a mainstay in the village – set in a UNESCO World Heritage…

Global pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company has acquired Aparito, the Wrexham-based med-tech business set-up by Dr Elin Haf Davies and part-funded by the Development Bank of Wales who now exit with an initial return of 2.9x on their £1.2 million equity investment with the potential for this to rise to 3.2x depending upon Company performance in due course . Established in 2014 as part of the Bethnal Green Ventures Accelerator, Aparito is a software business focussed on accelerating drug development by digitising decentralised clinical trials. Initially developed for rare diseases, Aparito’s Atom5™ eCOA platform allows clinical studies to be carried out…

Three British nationals have been arrested and 36 firearms seized as part of joint Spanish National Police and National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation. Armed officers deployed to 36-year-old Anthony Finnigan’s property in Murcia, Spain, on 20 June. Finnigan is suspected of being part of a British organised crime group, based in the Murcia area, responsible for trafficking class A drugs through Spain to the UK. He emerged from the property accompanied by another British national, Hasan Topal, 35, and a firearm was discharged in the direction of the attending officers. Warning shots were then fired by the officers and both…

A Neath Port Talbot man has been jailed following conviction for multiple cases of stalking and harassment. 38-year-old Neal Hancock, from Sandfields, was previously handed a restraining order preventing him from contacting his victims, which he subsequently breached. As a result, he has now been sentenced to 46 weeks in prison. Inspector Jared Easton said: “Neal Hancock is a serial stalking offender who has made the lives of numerous victims a misery through his unacceptable behaviour. “He displayed an obsession with his victims, leaving them fearing for their safety.” Stalking and harassment are offences under the Protection from Harassment Act…

Two newly refurbished sports facilities have opened in Talbot Memorial Park, Port Talbot, and Parc Siencyn Powell, Cwmafan as part of a partnership project. Funded by Neath Port Talbot Council and Sport Wales, these new facilities are now open to the public, providing spaces for tennis, netball, and basketball. The previously underutilised areas have undergone a £167,000 revamp, which includes: Resurfacing of the games areas and improved drainage. New court markings set to governing body standards. New court furnishings including tennis nets, and basketball and netball hoops. New perimeter fencing. Improved wheelchair accessibility. Councillor Cen Phillips, Cabinet Member for Nature,…