County's tourism plan unveiled

Tourism-based organisations in Llangollen will be interested in the following release from Denbighshire County Council:

A development programme for tourism related businesses is being rolled out at locations across Denbighshire, as part of a wider programme of activity being undertaken to better manage the visitor experience in the county.

The programme builds on the principles previously covered by the Welcome Host and Sense of Place schemes which used to be delivered by Visit Wales, but has more of an emphasis on the visitor experience in Denbighshire. It looks at identifying customers and their motivations, customer service, sense of place, sales and marketing and working in partnership.

The programme is delivered over 1½ days is free of charge to delegates.

Participants on the four sessions run to date have represented B&Bs, self catering operators, Leisure Centres, libraries, Tourist Information Centres, a pharmacy, a high street bank, outdoor activity centres, retail operators and a museum.
Justin Jones of Corwen Leisure Centre said ".... the course was excellent; very informative and highlighted how we need to work together more through firstly identifying customer needs and signposting our customers".

Hanna Andersen, HSBC said "I found the Croeso programme really useful. It was a great opportunity to learn from other business owners and take some time away from your every day work to truly think about the service that you are offering to your customers. It was a fantastic experience and one that I think will particularly help smaller businesses. That said, I have also recommended to colleagues as I feel that as larger companies we can learn a lot and also help the smaller local businesses."

Eirlys Rawson, Corn Bwch camp-site said "....it made me think more about our customers’ overall experience and the ‘added value’ we could for offer for very little cost, and how to deal with the different types of customers"
Philip Dykins, who operates a self-catering holiday cottage, near Ruthin said he "found the programme provoked focus on areas of business which may have been overlooked."
The programme is delivered by Eleri Llwyd of Pragma Training, with the training co-ordinated by Denbighshire County Council with financial assistance from Tourism Partnership North Wales and the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007-2013 which is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

The next sessions of the Croeso programme will be held in St.Asaph on 15th and 22nd January. Others will follow at Loggerheads, Rhuddlan, Denbigh, Ruthin, Corwen and Bodelwyddan.

To register for this FREE development programme, contact Denbighshire County Council's Tourism team on 01824 708242 or dcc_tourism@denbighshire.gov.uk

Future dates / locations of the programme are:

* St.Asaph 15& 22 Jan
* Loggerheads 29/1 & 5/2
* Rhuddlan 12& 19 Feb
* Denbigh 5 & 12 March (through Welsh medium)
* Ruthin 19 & 26 March (Welsh medium)
* Corwen 9 & 16 March
* Llangollen 23 & 30 April
* Loggerheads 14 & 21 May
* Bodelwyddan 4 & 11 June
* Denbigh 18 & 25 June

Silver Band play at Chirk Castle

* The Silver Band play Christmas music in Chirk Castle chapel.

Llangollen Silver Band helped visitors to get the Christmas spirit when they played in the chapel at Chirk Castle on Sunday.

Over a number of sessions they performed a mixture of traditional carols of seasonal tunes such as White Christmas and Winter Wonderland.

The castle had a number of Christmas attractions including Santa's grotto for youngsters in the garden, a nativity scene in stables near the entrance and an elves' workshop.

To warm people on a cold day the National Trust property also had roasted chestnuts and mulled wine on sale from a vendor in the courtyard and a seasonal menu on offer in the restaurant.

Jade Jones takes BBC personality award

The BBC website is reporting tonight (Monday) that Taekwondo star Jade Jones has been named as the BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year 2012.

The 19-year-old from Flint in north Wales won the public vote, with rugby union back-row Dan Lydiate in second place and cyclist Geraint Thomas third.

Jones battled through to win gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games, taking the women's -57kg title.

"It's like a great honour I can't believe I have won," said Jones.

"There were so many great people I was up against and just the fact that the public got to vote, so it's such a great honour that people recognised what I have done."

Consultation on Council Tax reduction

As part of the Welfare Reform Act, Council Tax Benefit is being replaced by the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

Under the new scheme, there will be a maximum amount that a claimant will be entitled to, which will result in everyone having to pay part of their council tax bill.

In Denbighshire, 10,800 council taxpayers currently receive financial help with the council tax at a cost of £8.98 million.

The Welsh Assembly Government has decided to introduce a scheme to be adopted by all Wales Local Authorities with discretion to enhance payment in the additional areas of:

· Backdating
Extended payments
· War pensions

This consultation is to ask for opinions as to whether the Authority should adopt these enhancements as part of our Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

Responses should be in writing to:
· By email – benefits@denbighshire.gov.uk
· By post – Consultation, Benefits Department, Russell House, Churton Rd, Rhyl, Denbighshire, LL18 3DP.

Closing date for responses 4th January 2013.

Family relieved Llan man safe in quake-hit Japan

The family of a young Llangollen man on a business trip to Japan found themselves anxiously waiting for news of his safety in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami which hit the country late last week.

Richard Jones, 31, (pictured right) who works as a supply chain manager for Crewe-based Rolls-Royce, is out in the Far East visiting the company’s plants in Japan and China and is due to fly home later this week.

Last Friday morning, a 7.3-magnitude quake struck off Japan's eastern coast, triggering a small tsunami and sparking evacuations.

A one-metre wave hit Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture and many people heeded calls to move to higher ground before all alerts were later lifted.

The quake epicentre was about 245km (150 miles) south-east of Kamiashi at a depth of about 36km, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

Miyagi was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 and the latest quake saw buildings shaking in Tokyo, the country’s capital, about 230 miles away.

At the time it hit, Richard, who lives with his girlfriend Samantha Wood in Llangollen, was travelling back to Tokyo after a business meeting in Kobe in the south of the country aboard the high-speed bullet train.

But his family back in Wales had no idea of his whereabouts at the time and were desperately worried for his safety.

His sister, 33-year-old Louisa Jones, of Chirk, said: “Richard eventually texted back home and told he was safe but until he got in touch we were very worried about him.

“You only had to think back to last year when Japan was hit by the earthquake which did so much damage to the same part of the country.

“Richard said that as he was on the train at the time he felt nothing of the quake and didn’t know anything about it until he got back to Tokyo because mobile phones aren’t allowed on the train.

“When he texted and phoned us again later on Friday he told us he had heard about the evacuations.”

Louisa (pictured left) who  recently completed her own charity bike ride through India as reported by llanblogger, added: “The main thing is that he is safe but we’ll still be a bit concerned him until he gets back home.

“After Japan he is due to fly to Shanghai in China for more business meeting and won’t be back in the UK until Thursday but we’ll be glad to see him.”

After graduating in mechanical engineering from Sheffield University, Richard – known to his friends at “Vaughany” - first worked in management at Airbus in Flintshire and has been with Rolls-Royce for the past 14 months.  

Operatic members sing for golf club ladies

* Operatic members entertained at the golf club on Friday evening.

About a dozen members of Llangollen Operatic Society provided seasonal entertainment for the annual Christmas party of the Llangollen Golf Club ladies' section on Friday evening.

They sang a selection of carols and other songs from their forthcoming Christmas show, Festive Frolics, which will be staged at Llangollen Town Hall next Tuesday, starting at 7.30pm.

Tickets, at £5, include a glass of wine and a mince pie and will be available on the door on the night.

Deserving children offered free Santa Special seats

Llangollen Railway is offering families the opportunity to apply for a limited number of FREE places on the Santa Special train.

Many young children who have gone through a difficult year or youngsters who have bravely battled illness deserve a special treat at Christmas.

To acknowledge their bravery the Llangollen-based heritage railway has booked a carriage on the Santa Special due to depart from Llangollen at 2.30pm on Thursday, December 20.

That means there are 64 spaces available on board for deserving children and their families who get the opportunity to meet Santa on a festive steam train.

During the journey along the wintry Dee Valley, Santa, accompanied by his helpers the elves, will make his way through the train, stopping to talk to all the children and give them each a present.

Adults are not neglected as they will also receive a mince pie and a glass of mulled wine.

Holly Evans, commercial administrator for the railway, said: "Christmas is a very special time of year when we think of others, giving presents to and receiving presents from those who are special to us.

"Unfortunately, not everyone is in such a fortunate position and Llangollen Railway would like to give something to some of the most deserving children in the North East Wales area in the run-up to Christmas.

"I'd like to hear from local families who feel their children deserve the opportunity to enjoy such a special experience.

"We hope all the lucky winners will have a great day out meeting Santa on the train.”

Llangollen Railway chairman, Jim Ritchie, said: "We're delighted to offer some of the most deserving children in the area a very special Christmas treat.

"Each year we see thousands of happy children on our steam trains, so we're very pleased to have an opportunity to extend that Christmas cheer even further to some deserving children."

To nominate a local child, please write, in no more than 50 words, why you think the child in question deserves to meet Santa at Llangollen Railway.

Also provide the name of the child and the name of the person who is nominating along with their relationship to the child, address, telephone number and email address.

Send your applications to commercial@llangollen-railway.co.uk with the subject title ‘Santa Special Treat’ by no later than 9am on Friday, December 14.

Terms and Conditions apply to offer, please see website for more details.

Llangollen Railway's Santa Special trains run every Saturday and Sunday from December 1 and then daily from December 20 through to Christmas Eve.

The 15-mile round trip in the Dee valley takes approximately one hour 45 minutes.

With more than 10,000 visitors to Santa Trains each year, advance booking is essential.
Telephone 01978 860979 or book online at www.llangollen-railway.com.uk