Pavilion to host free celebration of International Women's Day

A free community celebration for International Women's Day will take place at Llangollen Pavilion n Sunday March 8, from 10am-4pm. 

The day's events he have been organised by the Floral Team of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

Team secretary Diana Ballard said: "Entry will be free with no booking required. Everyone is welcome to inspiring talks, live entertainment, browse local crafts, artisans and exhibitors. 

"There will also be a photo competition, entitled This Is My Joy, in which we encourage women of all ages to take part. Prizes awarded on the day."

* Details about how to apply for the competition are below:

Programme

* For more details go to the event's Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1438735061110500/ 

Oak Street closed to traffic for the day for resurfacing

Oak Street, Llangollen is closed to traffic for today (Sunday) to allow resurfacing of the carriageway to be carried out.

A diversion is signed via Chapel Street and back onto the A5.

There are also temporary "no parking" signs in Chapel Street.

There will be a further closure of Oak Street next Sunday, March 1 with the same diversionary route in place, says Denbighshire County Council.

Full-time foster carers to receive council tax reductions

Full-time foster carers who are accepted through the Foster Wales scheme will start to receive this discount from April of this year as a part of the council’s transformation initiative.

This aims to increase the number of Foster Wales Denbighshire carers, allowing children to be cared for closer to their communities and achieve better outcomes.

Along with this, foster carers who foster with the local authority are being offered further assistive policies, which will be rolled out from April.

Denbighshire County Council has also approved a foster friendly policy for staff who foster with the local authority, who are eligible for five additional days of special leave.

Rhiain Morrlle, Head of Children’s Services said: “Our foster carers make such a massive impact to the lives of children and young people in Denbighshire. We are currently looking for more foster carers to come and make a difference to a child or young person’s life, who can provide a safe and happy home for them.

"We hope that the policies implemented emphasises our commitment to those who make the rewarding decision to Foster for Denbighshire.

"This is just one of the assistive policies that we will be rolling out for those who decide to foster through the local authority, with some announced already, and more to be announced within the coming months.”

Councillor Diane King, Lead Member for Education, Children and Families said: “Fostering can make a real difference in a child’s life, and fostering locally in Denbighshire can change the lives of children and young people in our local communities here in Denbighshire.

"We hope this new policy can help potential foster carers to take the next rewarding step, and become full-time, local foster carers with the local authority.”

* For more information about fostering, please go to: https://denbighshire.fosterwales.gov.wales

The Medicine Garden "well-being hub" opens in Bridge Street

* From left, Chris Baker, who ran the previous Zingiber health food shop,  hands over his famous apron to the new team at The Medicine Garden, Zoe Blackwell and Charlotte Lawrence. With them is Tony Phillips who will be helping out in the shop.

A new "hub of well-being" which aims to support the local community has its official opening today (Saturday).

After weeks of preparation The Medicine Garden has taken over the premises in Bridge Street previously occupied by the popular Zingiber health food store operated by Chris Baker for over a decade.

The new business is being run by Zoe Blackwell and Charlotte Lawrence as a Community Interest Company (CIC) working not for profit but for the benefit of the Llangollen community.

Zoe explained: "All our profits are reinvested into our project and we even ask our customers to guide us to re-stock the shop with what they have requested us to sell by filling out a request slip.

"The CIC status allows us to be able to offer treatments and training sessions at reduced cost so they are affordable for all.

"With a collective of natural health practitioners we hope to be a hub of well-being."

She added: "Our approach to health treats you as a whole, considering the function of the physical body, the impact of food, nutrition and lifestyle, your state of mind and spiritual needs.    

"We aim to improve your access to wholefoods and non-toxic choices for the home and body, education as community workshops, courses and retreats in a many different subjects including herbal medicine, Reiki and meditation, and low-cost appointments for a range of practitioners."

Next meeting of Llangollen Flower Club

 

First meeting held to prepare Llangollen's Town of Culture bid

* Members of the bid team study the bid's draft submission of interest at the Pavilion.

The team helping to draft Llangollen's bid to become the UK's first official Town of Culture had its first meeting last night (Thursday). 

A large number of people drawn from across the local community pledged their support to become stakeholders in the process at a public meeting in the Town Hall just over a week ago when it was unanimously decided to go ahead with a bid to become the UK's first official Town of Culture, which could lead to a cash boost of up to £3 million.

At its meeting earlier this week the Town Council, which is spearheading the process, approved the submission of an official Expression of interest in the competition being run by the UK Government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) for towns in Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The overall winner will receive £3 million to deliver the programme. Two finalists in the same category will each receive £250,000 to deliver elements of their proposed programme.

Shortlisted places will be announced this spring. The full application phase will run from spring to autumn 2026, followed by panel visits in autumn 2026. Finalists and the winning town will be announced in early 2027. The delivery year will be 2028.

Last night over 20 people who have joined the bid drafting team met for the first time at the International Pavilion to closely examine a first draft of the expression of interest, which has to be submitted by March 31, and suggest additions or amendments to it.

They were welcomed by the Mayor, Cllr Aled Morris, and later thanked for their efforts by town clerk Gareth Thomas.

As part of an exhaustive public consultation process a similar meeting will be held next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the council has prepared a post (shown below) for its social media, outlining the town's competition entry and explaining the importance of public participation. It contains the new official logo which bears a slogan proudly declaring: "I'm backing the bid." 

                     

Sprinkling of snow around the castle this morning

There's a sprinkling of snow on the hills around the castle this morning and a forecast of sleet, light winds and very low temperatures for the rest of the day.