University to move out of Tyn Dwr Hall

* UCLAN is moving out of Tyn Dwr Hall.

BOSSES say they will do all they can to avoid compulsory job cuts when the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) pulls out of Llangollen’s historic Tyn Dwr Hall later this year.

The university took over the Victorian mansion in 2009 and spent £2 million on refurbishing the building which has since been used as a centre to prepare students for careers working outdoors, through tree climbing and living in Mongolian-style tents in the grounds.

But, as part of a major cost-cutting exercise, UCLAN now says it has decided to cease to deliver these activities at the hall from this autumn.

 

A UCLAN spokesman said: “Following a review of operational activity and academic need, the university has decided to use alternative facilities to the Tyn Dwr Outdoor Centre.

“The centre is currently used to deliver elements of courses run through the School of Sport, Tourism and the Outdoors, and it will cease to deliver these activities at Tyn Dwr from the end of the 2013/14 academic year.

“In future years, the university will deliver these activities in other parts of its estate or by using external providers when required.”

The spokesman added: “The decision comes as part of the university’s need to achieve recurrent cost savings of £10 million from its non-academic cost base by 2015, while still protecting and enhancing the student experience.

“We are committed to consulting with the recognised trade unions and staff with a view to minimise, mitigate and reduce any staff reductions through a variety of means including voluntary redundancy, TUPE transfers if appropriate and redeployment.

“The university will do all that it can to avoid compulsory redundancies.”

The hall, which dates back to the 1860s and is reputed to be haunted, was given a fanfare opening following a £2 million facelift in February, 2009.

Tyn Dwr Hall was built by John Dicken, an iron master, as a holiday home for himself and his family, with the estate covering roughly 12,00 acres, including much of the Berwyn Mountains.

In later years it became a youth hostel and in 2006 when it was earmarked for closure there was an unsuccessful campaign to save it.

The university spokesman did not reveal how many staff are currently employed at the hall or what is likely to happen to the building once UCLAN moves out.

Llangollen Chamber of Trade & Tourism said in a statement: “Llangollen Chamber of Trade & Tourism is saddened to hear the news about the forthcoming closure of Tyn Dwr Hall by UCLAN.

“This is devastating news for the existing employees and yet another example of the damage caused by expenditure cuts in local government, particularly in the education sector such as this.

“We can only hope that a buyer is found very soon and can offer some safeguarding of employment opportunities for the employees currently working there.”

County Councillor Stuart Davies said: "I am horrified to hear about the job losses at Tyn Dwr, coming on top of the proposed redundancies from Dobsons it is even more important that we push for more job making opportunities in the town.

"Work is ongoing to facilitate more job making opportunities. I continue to liaise with AMs to further these aims and to try and safeguard existing jobs."

Fatal accident near Mold this morning

North Wales Police say they were called to a serious incident involving an off-road Land Rover at Moel Llys Y Coed, near Mold, in the early hours of this morning (Sunday).

 

In a statement, the police say: "The Land Rover appears to have toppled down a hilled public area. Sadly, the driver sustained fatal injuries.

 

"No other vehicles are thought to be involved and there are not thought to be any suspicious circumstances."

Carrog to launch new community map

The local community in Carrog will be launching their new community map at an event in the Neuadd at 3.30 pm on Thursday, March 6.  

The map has been created by local artist Ben Davis with a lot of involvement from local residents. The images on the map have been drawn by children during workshops, and these have been painstakingly coloured in using photographs of real textures.  

The result is highly unusual and eye catching, with lots of detail to explore.  Old photographs have also been included to give an insight into how people in the community used to live.

The project has been managed by the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and funded by the Communities and Nature Programme managed by Natural Resources Wales.

The highlight of the event will be a rendition of “Bro Edeirnion” by the local choir Côr Merched Edeyrnion.  The poem was originally written by W.E. Williams, a former headmaster at Glyndyfrdwy school.

Fiona Collins, the Village Hall Secretary and local storyteller is very excited about the launch. She said: "'The village community has been very much involved at every step on the process, and children and adults alike are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the finished map.  

"I have only lived in the village for ten years and have already learnt a lot about my adopted 'milltir sgwar' from the map  - and it's not even here yet!  The fact that members of the choir have agreed to come to sing their signature tune, Bro Edeyrnion, makes the opening event even more special."

For more information contact Ros Stockdale on 01978 869615 or ros.stockdale@denbighshire.gov.uk

Happy St David's Day

Happy St David's Day

from llanblogger!

Eisteddfod's gem of a fundraising idea

 

* Call me: Christine Dukes is collecting unwanted phones,

 jewellery and foreign currency to raise money for the Llangollen

International Musical Eisteddfod.

 

 

UNWANTED jewellery, foreign currency and mobile phones are helping Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod (LIME) retain its place as Wales’s Mecca for music, dance, costume and culture from around the world.

 

A host of international stars headed by rock legends Status Quo will line up for this year’s festival from July 8-13, which will once bring visitors flocking from across the globe.

 

But keeping the whole glittering affair running requires a huge fundraising effort and, as the Llangollen’s Festival Support Co-ordinator Christine Dukes explained, new ways of bringing in vital revenue are constantly being explored.

 

One of the latest ventures is a gem of an idea to recycle unwanted jewellery along with foreign currency and old mobile phones.

 

Christine said: “We are always looking for new and novel ways of raising money to support the expense of staging our iconic annual festival and exactly a year ago we decided to sign up to be involved with an organisation called Recycling For Good Causes.

 

“It’s an ethical company which has been working successfully with a wide range of charities such as LIME since 1996.

 

“The idea behind it is that people bring in their unwanted items which are then collected by the company and sent away for recycling.

 

“Money raised from selling off the donated items is then sent back to the charity, which has no overheads to pay.”

 

Christine added: “It’s a very simple idea which we introduced exactly a year ago and in the past 12 months we’ve raised quite a healthy amount of money from it.

 

“Basically, people are invited to donate items that they no longer have a use for. That might be jewellery that’s gone out of fashion, foreign currency that could have been lying forgotten at the back of a draw for years or old mobile phones.

 

“Phones seem to become outmoded fairly quickly as newer, more sophisticated models are introduced all the time.

 

“The currency can be from the UK or any foreign country. It can be either coins or banknotes, and I think many people still have some of that kind of thing lying around at home which they’d like to get rid of and benefit a good cause at the same time.”

 

According to Christine, LIME has attracted enough donations over the past year to warrant two collections by the Midlands-based Recycling For Good Causes, and these have included a diverse selection of items.

 

“We’ve had quite a few foreign banknotes, watches and even old trophies which had been handed out for sporting performance. There have also been a fair number of mobile phones of all makes and ages. But the thing we’ve had the most of by far is costume jewellery, in all shapes and sizes,” she said.

 

“Some of the items of jewellery, such as necklaces, have been broken but the good thing with this scheme is that you can still get money for them.

 

“Being part of Recycling For Good Causes has been a great success for us but, up to now, the people making donations have mainly been those who are associated in some way with LIME.

 

“We now want to spread the word about it as far as possible so that other people are encouraged to let us have their unwanted goods which we can sell on to ensure the fantastic festival we stage each year can continue to be the amazing success that it is.

 

“Goods can be brought in to the LIME headquarters any day Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and we would be delighted to receive all donations.”

 

The curtain raiser for this year's Eisteddfod will mark the return of opera superstar Bryn Terfel to Llangollen.

 

The acclaimed bass baritone will be playing the lead in a special English-language production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street featuring an all-Welsh cast.

 

This year's will also feature concerts by Dutch jazz sensation Caro Emerald and veteran British rockers Status Quo as well as a world premiere of a new work, Adiemus Colores, by top composer Karl Jenkins.

 

He will conduct his Latin American themed work with American tenor Noah Stewart, Venezuelan trumpeter Pacho Flores and Latvian accordion player Ksenija Sidorova to the accompaniment of the Llangollen International Eisteddfod Orchestra.

 

The Friday night concert, Spirit of Unity, will feature the Cape Town Opera, Africa’s premiere opera company, famed for their "vibrant vocalism and high-octane stage performances".

 

Appearing with them will be Wales’ representative in Cardiff Singer of the World, Gary Griffiths, the Wales Millennium Centre Only Kidz Aloud Chorus under the baton of celebrity conductor Tim Rhys Evans and British Sinfonietta, one of the UK's leading independent professional orchestras.

 

The Choir of the World competition for the Pavarotti Trophy on the Saturday night is the blue riband event of the week-long festival which will close with a Sunday night concert by Status Quo.

 

To book tickets and for more details about the urban dance competition go to the website at www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk

First sod cut at Cilmedw factory site

llanblogger exclusive ...

* At the sod-cutting ceremony, from left, are town crier Austin Chemenais,

Ken Skates AM, County Councillor Stuart Davies, Llangollen Mayor

Cllr Bob Lube, managing director of Dobson & Crowther Paul Holden and

Nick Scott, CEO of developers J-Ross.

* A general view of the Cilmedw site.

The first sod has been cut on the site of a new factory for the Dobson & Crowther  printworks at Cilmedw.

The ceremony this morning (Friday) was performed by the Mayor of Llangollen, Cllr Bob Lube, watched a group of VIPs from the company, developers J-Ross and the world of local politics.

The new factory will allow Dobson & Crowther’s current premises nearby on the A5 to be demolished to make way for a planned new Sainsbury’s supermarket.

Building work at Cilmedw is due to be complete by late summer with work starting on the supermarket shortly afterwards.

Clwyd South Assembly Member, Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology in the Welsh Government, who was at the ceremony said: “This is a great day for Llangollen and the Dee Valley.

“It is vital that we attract high quality, skilled jobs to rural areas, particularly for younger people, and this project will do precisely that.

“It will not only secure Dobson & Crowther’s future but also open up opportunities for job creation and help Llangollen to become a stronger and more vibrant community.”

UPDATE

* Keep Llangollen Special has submitted the following statement in response to the story:

"Keep Llangollen Special regrets that the Mayor of Llangollen and other dignitaries have chosen to associate themselves in a supportive manner with the job losses at Dobson & Crowther.

 

"Having researched this particular niche industry in detail, KLS forecasted these losses - from an original workforce of 110, now 60 – over two years ago.

 

"Billed as safeguarding precious jobs at Llangollen’s largest employer, this was the crux of granting planning permission despite powerful objections, including well-founded predictions of these job cuts. There are no other firms in North Wales where these people’s skills will be sought after, which leaves them especially disadvantaged in the job market.

 

"The smiles to camera will not be shared by these victims of broken promises. We call on those present to show at least a little contrition for their plight and undertake to procure resources to help them retrain in new skills to help them support their families.

 

"Given the new building and new machinery, we predict further jobs in line with European competitors who are more productive and run with fewer employees.

 

"In particular, we call upon Councillor Stuart Davies to apologise for falsely blaming the job cuts on objectors."

Chair, Keep Llangollen Special

  

Health board spends almost £800,000 on staff redundancies

The BBC has a story this morning which reveals the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which covers Llangollen, has spent almost £800,000 on redundancy payments for three staff.

For the full story see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-26376046