New scheme aims for co-ordinated health care

Denbighshire County Council and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board are joining forces to provide co-ordinated access to community health and social care services for the residents of Denbighshire.

The Single Point of Access -  'Working Together With You' aims to ensure efficient access to information, advice and assistance to promote health, well-being and independence.

The new service will focus on identifying the needs of the caller from the initial enquiry, making sure they are signposted to other services in the local community or directed to the correct service.

It will also enable people to access the wide variety of support available in their own communities.

Councillor Bobby Feeley, Denbighshire's Cabinet Lead Member for Social Care, Adults and Children's Services,  said: "We are delighted to get this project off the ground.  

"In the past, users of our services would speak to a number of organisations and this caused confusion at times.

"We want people to receive a seamless service and this new way of working means that health and social care teams will work together to make sure that people get the right information from the right service and at the right time.''

Margaret Hanson, Vice Chair of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, said: “This will certainly develop even closer working across health and social care in Denbighshire, improving services for our patients, their families and carers.”

“We are very much looking forward to this being replicated across all the counties in North Wales, providing a more joined up approach to services for the whole population we serve.”

The new service begins on June 30.  To contact the service, please phone 0300 456   1000

People can also access the service via e-mail: spoa@denbighshire.gov.uk

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.

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

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

 

Father's Day fundraiser by Plas Madoc campaigners

A pub will play host to a Father’s Day fundraiser to help the ongoing campaign to save Plas Madoc Leisure Centre.

The music-themed afternoon organised by the Splash Community Trust will be held at The Duke of Wellington in nearby Acrefair on Sunday (June 15), when local band The New Foos will be playing from 3pm.

Trust director Greg Ogden said there will also be an array of ‘fantastic’ prizes on offer during the event, which is the latest money-spinner to be held as volunteer-run group aims to reopen the popular facility later this summer.

Greg, who lives in Trevor, said: “I’d like to thank the pub’s landlady, Shauny, who as well as hosting the event is supplying a bottle of whiskey for the raffle. There are plenty more fantastic prizes to be won, including a meal for two at The Cornmill in Llangollen.

“Our top prize is a night for two at the Wild Pheasant in Llangollen in a suite with its own hot-tub, which also includes a three-course dinner and breakfast the following morning.”

Greg added: “There will also be a bouncy castle and face-painting for the children – and the adults too – as well as a hog roast and barbecue, hot dogs and and a sweets stall. Throw in the music and there will be something for everyone.

“The weather’s looking good too, so it promises to be a great afternoon for a brilliant cause.”
The Splash Community Trust is also holding 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.