Operatic's Festive Frolics is a seasonal treat



* Cast members of Festive Frolics during the show. 

 A packed Town Hall audience enjoyed every magical moment of last night’s (Tuesday) Christmas show by Llangollen Operatic, Festive Frolics.

The programme included a selection of favourite carols and seasonal songs, ranging from Hark the Herald Angels Sing to the ever-popular White Christmas.

Musical items were interspersed with Christmas-themed readings by cast members.

The audience, who were served mince pies and wine during the interval, enthusiastically joined in a rousing delivery of The Twelve Days of Christmas led from the stage.

One of the most moving moments came when a soldier’s account of the legendary Christmas truce on the Western Front in 1914, near the start of the First World War, was read out with English and German versions of the carol Silent Night being sung - just as they were that day by the opposing troops in the trenches.

MEP's campaign to boost local firms

Plaid Cymru the Party of Wales MEP Jill Evans, whose office is in Wrexham, is working on changes to European Union public procurement rules to help local businesses get more government contracts. The party estimates that 48,000 jobs could be created by adopting an effective 'buy-local' policy.

The European Parliament is currently reviewing the laws adopted in 2004 which have so often been used as an excuse by government at all levels in Wales to avoid using Welsh companies. The Party of Wales President wants to make it easier to buy from local suppliers.

In Wales around £4.3 billion is spent by the public sector every year, highlighting the massive advantages of ploughing this money back into the Welsh economy. Jill Evans launched the party's "buy local" campaign at the Royal Welsh Show.

At local government level, the North Wales Procurement Partnership, which consists of Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd and Wrexham, has reported that public procurement is worth £550 million in the north alone.

When Plaid Cymru was in government it was made easier for local firms to win government contracts. By 2010/11, some 52% of public sector business was being won locally, an increase from 35% a few years earlier.

Jill Evans, who is a spokesperson for her parliamentary group on this issue, has been working for a simplification of the rules, allowing the public sector to put value for money before cost when awarding contracts.

She said: "The public sector currently spends over £4 billion in Wales every year but sources barely half of its goods and services from local firms. We want to see that figure increase to at least 75% which could help create tens of thousands of local jobs.

"To do that we have to make sure that the rules are simplified and that local authorities are able to work together to provide services. We have to protect our education, health and social services and that means that contracts are not given to those who simply offer the lowest price.

"There has been pioneering work done in Wales, by our universities and the voluntary sector in particular, to show how we could really develop our economy and create jobs in this way. I will be ensuring that the new laws will help us do that."

The draft law will be voted in committee in the European Parliament in December and will go to the full session of Parliament in the new year. Intense negotiations are going on to reach a compromise on the 2,597 amendments that were put in.

Ms Evans will be speaking on Public Procurement at Bangor University on 22nd March 2013. The talk will be part of the Institute for Competition & Procurement Studies' Public Procurement week which will take place from 18th March until 22nd March.

Santa Specials draw in the crowds

The second weekend of the Santa Special trains season at Llangollen Railway attracted large crowds, with all four trains each day heavily loaded for the run to "Lapland" at Carrog. 

 

 * The first train on Sunday passes Berwyn with the

Black Five locomotive No.44806 tackling the climb.

* The last train of the day, with Foxcote Manor No.7822, is seen at

rest in Llangollen station as darkness descends.

* Visiting the station on Monday was Heart FM Radio from

Wrexham with representatives greeting travellers.

A470 blocked near Betws-y-Coed

The Daily Post and North Wales Police have just tweeted (around 5pm) that the A470 has been completely blocked near Betws-y-Coed after a lorry jack-knifed on the road at 4.45pm. More at http://dailypost.co.uk 

County's GCSE results are best in Wales

Denbighshire County Council has welcomed news that county's GCSE results in last summer's examinations were the best in Wales.

In 2008, 51.5% of pupils at Key Stage 4 achieved the Level 2 Threshold (5 GCSE A*- C or equivalent) which ranked Denbighshire 18th out of the 22 authorities in Wales.

In 2010, Denbighshire was ranked 19th. 

In contrast, the figure for 2012 was 82.7%, which ranked Denbighshire as the best performing at this level in the whole of Wales.

54.7% of pupils achieved Level 2 at Key Stage 4 including English or Welsh and Maths.

This placed Denbighshire 7th out of the 22 authorities. This is also in line with a target set by the council of being in the top ten best performing education authorities in Wales.

Councillor Eryl Williams, Cabinet Lead Member with responsibility for Education, said: "These results are a true reflection of the tremendous amount of hard work that has been going on over recent years to improve standards of education in Denbighshire.

"This is very much a team effort, with a commitment from councillors, education staff, headteachers, teaching staff, governors, parents and pupils to raise standards, which in turn has resulted in Denbighshire being the best education services in Wales.

"I'm truly proud that everyone has pulled together and the benefits are clear for everyone to see.

"An Estyn inspection report released earlier this year deemed Denbighshire's Education Service to be good, with educational leadership across all levels of the Council described as outstanding.

"This is a good day for education in Denbighshire. However, we will not rest on our laurels and our efforts to improve education even further in Denbighshire will continue."

Ken Skates appears in neat little festive number

Clwyd South Assembky Member joined in the seasonal fun this week by donning his favourite festive jumper for Save the Children.

The local Labour AM joined colleagues in the Assembly and people across the country by wearing their favourite sweaters for Christmas Jumper Day on Friday, December 14.

By tinselling up in festive knitwear, AMs were raising money for Save the Children’s life-changing work with the world’s poorest children.

 

Mr Skates said: “Even though some of the jumpers I’ve seen this week are of dubious quality, it was fun to raise money and awareness for such a good cause.

“Every year 7.6 million children under-five die from easily preventable causes such as pneumonia and malnutrition. The work of Save the Children is helping to save lives across the globe and ensure more children get the chance to live a healthy life, no matter where they live.

“Whilst Christmas time is a fun and enjoyable time of year, we should spare a thought for those children growing up in parts of the world where the fight to stave off malnourishment and disease is a constant battle.

“This Christmas Jumper Day is a chance to raise money for Save the Children and help change the lives of young people living in some of the poorest communities on earth.”

To find out more about Christmas Jumper Day, visitwww.savethechildren.org.uk/jumpers

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