Free first aid scheme extended

An Assembly Member is offering more of his constituents the opportunity to take part in a free first aid course due to high demand.

Labour AM Ken Skates has teamed up with St John Wales to allow people in Clwyd South to attend a two-hour course which could help them save someone’s life.

The session was originally arranged to accommodate 15 people, but will now be able to cater for up to 30.

It will be held in a private room at the Wynnstay Arms pub in Ruabon from 1.30pm-3.30pm on Friday, June 27, and places – which must be booked in advance – can be secured now.

Mr Skates said: “St John Wales contacted me about hosting the event, and it’s a great idea which I’m happy to be able to extend to my constituents. We initially had to turn a few people away, but now they’re on board too and there’s still room for 10 more.

“There will be two fully qualified first aid trainers present and, whether you’re a complete novice or an experienced first aider looking to brush up, it’s a great opportunity. You could be the difference between life and death.”

If you would like to take part, email ken.skates@wales.gov.uk or call 01978 869058.

Twenty Club's next auditions

Llangollen’s Twenty Club theatre group will be holding auditions for its forthcoming production of the play Season’s Greetings, by Alan Ayckbourn, in Llangollen Town Hall  on Tuesday, July 29, starting at 7.30pm.

The play, to be directed by Natalie Evans and produced by Anna Turner, will be staged on November 6, 7 and 8.

Roles available are: Neville (35+) easy going and pleasant; Belinda (30+) highly strung and hardworking; Phyllis (35+) clumsy and zany; Harvey (65+) ex-military, who loves teasing his family; Bernard (45+) faded, touchy, with a dry sense of humour; Rachel (35+) anxious, lonely, has been single for a long time; Eddie (30-45) idiotic and professionally unsuccessful; Pattie (30+) whiney, soft and heavily pregnant; Clive (25+) shy and effeminate.

All playing ages are said to be flexible and all ages are welcomed and encouraged to try for roles.

“The most important thing is to create a realistic family structure for this show,” said a Twenty Club spokesman.

* To register your interest, contact Anna Turner on: 07971 146353, or by emailing: anna.katie@freeuk.com

Fundraiser makes £800 to help save Plas Madoc

* The Duke of Wellington, scene of Sunday's successful fundraiser.

A Father’s Day fundraiser in the sunshine saw hundreds of pounds raised for the ongoing campaign to save Plas Madoc Leisure Centre.

Organiser Greg Ogden said there was a ‘fantastic’ turnout for the Splash Community Trust even at the Duke of Wellington pub in Acrefair on Sunday, which raised vital funds for the takeover of the popular facility.

Wrexham band The New Foos played live during the afternoon, and there were also stalls, face-painting, a bouncy castle, a barbecue, stocks and a raffle – with the top prize a night’s stay in a suite at the Wild Pheasant Spa in Llangollen with dinner and breakfast.

Trust director Greg, who lives in Trevor, said: “It was a very successful and fun event for all the family. There was a fantastic turnout – I have never seen the place so busy! There was a great atmosphere and really good music, the barbecue went down very well and everyone seemed to have a great time.”

The event raised approximately £800 – making it the most successful Plas Madoc fundraiser so far. A cheque of £100 was also passed on by Clwyd South Assembly Member Ken Skates from a generous mystery donor.

Greg added: “We have to say a massive thank you to the pub’s landlady Shauny for hosting the event, and also to everyone who continues to support us for being so generous with their time and money. It’s great to be part of such an optimistic, enthusiastic project.”

The Splash Community Trust’s next fundraiser is a race night at the Old Black Horse in Rhostyllen on Friday, June 27, from 8pm. To sponsor a race or buy a horse for the night, contact Jenny Miller on 07921 659099.

The Trust now has a PayPal account through which donations can be made. If you want to contribute, visit https://t.co/VlqCYUVROU or contact Jenny direct. The group’s website, which will include a ‘donate’ button, is coming soon.

Young drivers safety course launched

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service and North Wales Police has launched a new and innovative two day course aimed at educating young drivers across the region.

 

‘Revolution’, which has been described as ‘a new, proactive approach to road safety education’, is aimed at 16 – 25 year olds who have been involved in or subject to driving offences in their area. The Welsh Government provided £118, 809 to fund the course over 2014 and 2015.

 

The course has been launched at Coleg Cambria, Wrexham, as a part of a week of multi agency activities to mark UK Road Safety Week.

 

The interactive course, which has received funding from Welsh Government, will cover various aspects such as the consequences of fatal or serious injury road traffic collisions on the drivers, their passengers and their family and friends as well as the type of psychological, punitive and financial impacts being involved in a road traffic collision can bring.

 

Each event will also include engagement with a family member of someone killed in a road traffic collision as well as close quarter engagement with a realistic road traffic collision scene and measures taken to extricate a person from it. Attendees will also be given a project to complete as a team over the two days of the course.

 

A number of agencies will be inputting into the course with much of the learning based around the five main causes of fatal road traffic collisions in Wales, known as the ‘Fatal 5’ - speeding, alcohol and drugs, mobile phones, seat belts and dangerous and antisocial driving.

 

The courses will be based at various fire stations across North Wales, with the first course scheduled to be held in Prestatyn next month.

 

Simon Smith, Chief Fire Officer for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We’re thrilled to be working in partnership with North Wales Police and the Welsh Government on this new course which looks at engaging with our young people in a proactive way to help them realise the consequences of their actions behind the wheel.

 

“We attend countless tragedies involving young drivers every year – road traffic collisions are the biggest cause of death among young people, so looking at new ways of raising awareness of road safety is vital.”

 

Chief Inspector Darren Wareing, Roads Policing Unit, North Wales Police: "By working closely with our colleagues at the Fire and Rescue Service we welcome the opportunity to help  address the issue of road safety and try to improve road user behaviour.

"All too often, both the Police and Fire and Rescue Service have witness the carnage on our roads when lives are completely destroyed following a serious road traffic collision.

"The pain and avoidable deaths such as those on our roads touch family, friends and communities right across North Wales. By working together we hope to raise awareness and educate drivers of the consequences of poor behaviour behind the wheel."

 

Local Government and Government Business Minister, Lesley Griffiths AM said: “In Wales, young drivers make up 12% of the population, but in 2012 they accounted for 24% of killed or seriously injured casualties.

 

“Fatal accidents are a tragedy for so many families and the larger communities, but when they are caused by collisions which could have been avoided, they seem all the more tragic.

 

“I am pleased the three Welsh Fire and Rescue Authorities planned events to mark Road Safety Week. This new course expands on the education of our young drivers, focussing on the five main causes of fatal traffic accidents and has the potential to save hundreds of lives.”

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Health chiefs reject calls for beds at new health centre

The latest edition of the Denbighshire Free Press carries a story that the local health board has rejected calls for beds to be included in Llangollen's health centre.

For the full story see:
http://www.newsnorthwales.co.uk/news/134690/health-board-rejects-plea-for-beds-at-new-llangollen-medical-centre.aspx

Views sought on Horseshoe Pass speed limit proposal

* Speed limit proposal: the Horseshoe Pass.

A LLANGOLLEN county councillor is sounding out public opinion on a proposal he has learned of to consider imposing a 40mph speed limit on the Horseshoe Pass.

Official figures show that over the past five years the busy main A542 route from Llangollen towards Llandegla and Ruthin, which currently has a 60mph limit, has been the scene of 22 collisions involving slight injuries, 10 rated as serious and two which were fatal.

 

County Cllr Stuart Davies said: “I understand that Denbighshire County Council has had a request to from traffic officers at NWP to impose a 40mph limit on the whole of the Horseshoe Pass, from the Britannia to the cattle grid at Pentre Isaf.

 

“I’m also told that this ties in with the Welsh Government forcing local authorities to do a review of all speed limits.

 

“I’m asking for people’s thoughts on this. Do they think it will hinder people going to work over the pass? Do they think it will slow down traffic?

 

“Do they think it will save lives? Do they think it is a money-making scheme on the part of North Wales Police or the government?

 

“Do they think it is fair that our council tax should pay - this scheme will cost thousands - for something demanded by North Wales Police and the Welsh Government when we haven't got the budget to revamp our brown tourism signs in Llangollen?”

 

Cllr Davies added: “There have been a number of accidents in that area over the last five years with two fatalities.

 

“I am of the view that better enforcement of our existing laws and better education of drivers at the hotspots would slow down traffic and safeguard lives rather than the blunt use of a blanket speed limit over the whole of the pass.”

 

Cllr Davies has asked for people to send their views to him at: stuart.a.davies@denbighshire.gov.uk

Musical tribute to Nelson Mandela premieres at Eisteddfod

* Paul Maelor has collaborated on a special tribute to Nelson Mandela.

Royal composer Paul Mealor has teamed up with a top poet from North Wales for a special tribute to Nelson Mandela.

The European premiere of the new work, Spirit of Hope, will be at the Llangollen International Music Festival at a concert on Friday, July 11.

Professor Mealor, who was brought up in Connah's Quay, collaborated with poet Dr Grahame Davies, who hails from Coedpoeth, near Wrexham.

The piece will be performed by the Wales Millennium Centre’s Only Kids Aloud Chorus alongside the independent professional orchestra, British Sinfonietta.

The special night will also see a performance by top African opera company Cape Town Opera, Cardiff Singer of the World representative Gary Griffiths, Bloemfontein Men’s Choir and the winner of last year’s Llangollen Eisteddfod Voice of the Future competition, Pontypridd’s lyric soprano Menna Cazel Davies.

According to Paul Mealor, who was commissioned by Prince William to compose some of the music performed during his and Catherine Middleton’s wedding ceremony, the Only Kids Aloud Chorus will bring the Llangollen house down.

He said: “Spirit of Hope is a three movement piece for orchestra and choir. The first movement is the setting for a poem by Wales’ Grahame Davies. He is, in my opinion, one of the nation’s best poets. His wonderful poem, Good Hope, draws its inspiration from South African landmarks.

“It so beautifully describes the mountains, plains and rugged shoreline of what is a stunning country.

"I worked with Grahame  when I composed A Welsh Prayer to mark the 65^th birthday of HRH the Prince of Wales which was performed for the first time at St Asaph Cathedral during the North Wales Music Festival.

“Grahame, who is a wonderful poet, writer and novelist, wrote the words for that piece too and they were just as emotive and joyful.”

He added: “The second movement is based around the words of Tagore, an Indian mystic poet, and is about the power of music and how music can take us home.

“The third movement is from the poem Invictus by William Henley and contains the line, I am the master of my fate and the captain of my soul. Nelson Mandela had this on his cell wall at Robben Island during his long years of imprisonment and we know it was a favourite poem of his.

“The whole evening will be dedicated to the memory Nelson Mandela, his legacy and the power of hope.”

“It goes to show that Llangollen truly is an eisteddfod that has peace and unity right at the very top of its agenda.

“The whole evening will be a celebration of South Africa and Wales extending the hand of friendship. And the fact that friendship will endure across the vast expanses of water that separate our two nations.

“Spirit of Hope was commissioned by Only Kids Aloud Chorus as they wanted a brand new piece they could perform on a spring tour of South Africa.

“The chorus are to perform two concerts in Cape Town with Bryn Terfel to mark the 20^th anniversary of the end of apartheid. Then, in July, they will be on stage at Llangollen for what will be a wonderful concert.

“Having listened to Only Kids Aloud rehearsing Spirit of Hope I have to say it is just beautiful and I guarantee it will be one of the absolute highlights of the 2014 Llangollen International Eisteddfod.”

Prof Mealor, who also wrote the music for Wherever You Are, the Military Wives’ 2011 Christmas number one hit, says he wrote Spirit of Hope on a Christmas break on Anglesey. 

He said: “I’ve been a Professor of Music at Aberdeen University since 2003 but have always kept a home on Anglesey. I like to get back to Wales whenever I can as that’s where I think I compose my best work.”

Paul Mealor studied composition before reading music at the University of York and Copenhagen with the Royal Danish Academy of Music.

Now 38 he lectures in music at the University of Aberdeen but remains fiercely loyal to his Welsh roots.

He said: “I head back to North Wales whenever I can. There is nothing better than sitting at my piano at my Anglesey home and composing music.

“The three poems that make up each movement in Spirit of Hope are so special and awe-inspiring. I just sat at the piano and looked for the music within the words of the poems.

“I hope the audience believes my music does justice to the beautiful words of Grahame Davies, Tagore and William Henley and the wonderful voices of the Only Kids Aloud Chorus. It really will be a magical Llangollen evening.”

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.  He will be joined by the supremely talented tenor Wynne Evans aka Gio Compario in the Go Compare TV ads.

 

This year's Eisteddfod 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 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