Crafty March at Llangollen Pavilion

The Llangollen Pavilion will come alive with colour, creativity and community spirit this spring as it hosts A Crafty March, an exciting programme of hands-on workshops in aid of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod. The first event, a Dragon Workshop is this Sunday for St David’s Day.

Crafting and the Eisteddfod have so much in common. Both celebrate heritage, imagination, skill and the bringing together of people through shared creativity. From vibrant national costumes to the artistry seen on stage each summer, creativity is at the heart of the festival. ‘A Crafty March’, gives the community the chance to experience that same spirit first-hand, while helping to support the future of this internationally renowned event. 

Dragon Workshop with Jax – St David’s Day, 1 March

Celebrate St David’s Day by making your very own dragon in a lively needlecraft workshop.

10.00 am to 4.00 pm with a break for lunch

Basic sewing skills required

Materials included

£27.50 – bring your own sewing kit

Only 25 places available

Tea and coffee available

Scrapbookers Workshop – Tutorial with Sian, 22 March

A full day creative project from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm

£15

Bring your own equipment

Tea and coffee available

Bring your own lunch

Origami with Tony O’Hare – 29 March

Morning session 10.00 am to 12.00 pm

An engaging talk and demonstration exploring the fascinating origins of origami

£7 – open to all

Afternoon workshop 1.30pm to 3.30pm

Twenty-first century paper folding. Will it be Wallace and Gromit? Will it be sheep? Come along and find out.

£22

Steve Price, organiser of A Crafty March, said, “A Crafty March is about energy, creativity and bringing people together in the home of the Eisteddfod. Whether you are stitching a dragon, building a scrapbook or folding something extraordinary from a single sheet of paper, you are part of something bigger. These workshops are fun, welcoming, and inspiring, and every ticket sold helps support the festival. It is a wonderful way for people to get involved, learn something new and help secure the future of this iconic celebration of music and dance.”

Places are limited and expected to fill quickly. Early booking is strongly recommended.

For further details and booking information, visit www.llangollen.net.

The Little Mermaid is an undersea treasure of a show for Young 'Uns

* The full cast of The Little Mermaid, which opens at the Town Hall this Thursday evening. 

Llangollen Operatic Society's Young 'Uns are taking a dive into popular kids' musical The Little Mermaid at the Town Hall later this week and a llanblogger preview reveals they've brought a real undersea treasure of a show back to the surface.

Every individual performance is strong and assured, the songs are a joy to hear and the settings and costumes are little short of stunning.

Over 30 talented youngsters are taking part in this Disney classic which runs from Thursday to Saturday and is set in a magical underwater kingdom where the beautiful young mermaid Ariel longs to leave her ocean home – and her fins – behind and live in the world above. 

But first she'll have to defy her father King Triton, make a deal with the evil sea witch Ursula and convince the handsome Prince Eric that she's the girl whose enchanting voice he's been seeking.

Taking the title role is Rose Burgon as Ariel who, as we know from her regular singing dates around town, has a remarkable voice for her age, which she deploys to great effect in her main solo number, Part of the World. 

She's also strong in the acting department and also, I'm told, lent support in the preparation of the costumes, which are extremely impressive.

The strength of her performance is matched by the likes of Freya Mortimer, who makes a very assured Prince Eric, Bethan Moore as Ursula, the half woman/half octopus undersea baddie, Freddie Thornton as Triton, the oceanic king with magisterial authority, and Leri Roberts as powerful Sebastian.

There's some nice comedy routines too, with Cacillia Gellesh rustling up a neat performance as Chef Louis.

There are only around 20 youngsters in the chorus line, many playing different parts, but they make every voice count in numbers such as Under the Sea.

Smoothly directing the show is Alison Ravenscroft, who also oversees those glorious costumes, while Dee Smith and Aled Morris jointly produce well. Accomplished musical director is Leigh Mason.

Choreography is stylishly masterminded by Hannah Taylor and Sasha Davies Jones.

The Little Mermaid has performances at the Town Hall on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 7.30pm with a matinee on Saturday afternoon at 2pm.

* For tickets, go to: Ticketsource.co.uk/llangollenoperaticsociety

Below are some scenes from the show ...

Westheads set off on next leg of their journey to Thailand

* The Westheads leaving Llangollen last summer.

A teenage trio cycling from Llangollen to Thailand for the British Heart Foundation are embarking on the second leg of their mammoth journey.

Dyfan Hughes, 17, from Llangollen, Louis Dennis, 18, from Garth, and James Thomas,18, from Wrexham set off on their 10,000-mile cycle last August.

They are doing so in memory of Tony Edge, the father of a friend, now living in Thailand who died following a heart attack last year.

* For the full story in the Leader, go to: Update on teens cycling from Llangollen to Thailand | The Leader

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."