New fire and ambulance HQ completed

 

* The new joint fire and ambulance centre in Croesnewyddd Road.

 

CONSTRUCTION of Wrexham’s brand new Ambulance and Fire Services Resource Centre (AFSRC) has been completed.

 

The Welsh Ambulance Service and North Wales Fire and Rescue Service have jointly invested more than £15 million in the purpose-built facility, which includes an eight-bay fire station, a six-bay ambulance station and top-of-the-range training facilities.

 

The centre on Croesnewyddd Road will replace the existing fire station on Bradley Road in Wrexham, and the existing ambulance stations in Chirk and Wrexham.

 

Staff will begin to operate out of the AFSRC in April once kit and furniture has been moved in.

 

Sonia Thompson, the Welsh Ambulance Service’s Head of Operations in North Wales, said: “This project has been years in the pipeline, so we’re thrilled that the building is now complete.

 

“The AFSRC means crews finally get the facilities they deserve and ultimately it will mean a better service for the people of Wrexham and Chirk.

“There’s also the bonus of being co-located with emergency service colleagues with whom we already have a close working relationship and attend many incidents together.”

Gary Brandrick, Senior Professional and Service Standards Manager for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, added: “We’re delighted that this exciting facility has been completed – the AFSRC will deliver both improved facilities for our staff and a better service for the public in the area.

“Operating from one base will allow greater co-ordination when it comes to responding to incidents and will make the best use of resources for both of our organisations.”

Permission for the two-storey facility on land near Wrexham Maelor Hospital was granted by Wrexham Council’s planning committee in May 2014, and a Full Business Case was later approved by Welsh Government.

 

The ambulance accommodation incorporates a fleet workshop, make ready facility, a six bay garage, offices for fleet staff and management, debrief room and a deployment base for response staff.

Crews will start their shift at the AFSRC then will move to strategically located deployment points across Wrexham and Chirk, where the Trust data predicts the next 999 call will come from.

 

Newly-recruited fleet assistants will clean vehicles after use, enabling clinicians to spend more time face-to-face with patients delivering better care for the area.

The fire accommodation includes a local community safety office, an eight bay garage, gymnasium, state-of-the-art training house and drill tower with a road traffic collision training area.

Facilities like the rest room, dining room, communal kitchen, main office, locker room, meeting and training rooms will be shared by both services.

Construction of the AFSRC was carried out by BAM Construction.

Ian Greener, BAM’s Construction Manager, said: “The scheme has been a long time coming but the final result is a fantastic new facility that has required a lot of ingenuity for BAM to create.

“I hope that these striking new facilities will serve the area for many years to come and be a fitting centre of operations for the personnel of the fire and ambulance services.”

County libraries highly commended in awards

Denbighshire libraries won a Highly Commended award at the Marketing Excellence Awards for libraries, museums and archives in Wales, at a ceremony held at the National Library of Wales last week.

 

* Bethan M. Hughes of Denbighshire Libraries
 receiving the award from the judge,
Prof. Jonathan Deacon

The Awards recognise the fantastic work being done by staff in museums, archives and libraries across Wales, often with very limited resources.

 

The Award was won for Denbighshire’s Reading Hack young volunteers project which created volunteering opportunities in libraries for young people to support children participating and completing the Summer Reading Challenge.

 

Receiving the award from the judge Prof. Jonathan Deacon on behalf of Denbighshire Libraries, Bethan M. Hughes said: “We are delighted that the success of this project has been recognised. 38 young volunteers gave almost 800 hours of their time in total and created an energetic and youthful buzz in the libraries.

 

"This cohort of engaged, enthusiastic young people are now out in the big wide world sharing their positive volunteering experiences with their friends and the world, projecting a positive image of libraries as places which support young people to achieve life skills and as cool places to be.”

 

Over 40 entries were submitted to this year’s Marketing Excellence Awards from libraries, museums and archive services across Wales.

 

The awards are part of the Welsh Government's ‘Attracting the Audience’ programme for museums, archives and libraries.

 

Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Ken Skates, commented: “We want to see as many people as possible using our excellent library, museum and archive services across Wales so that they can benefit from what’s available. Marketing plays an important role in encouraging people to use these facilities and I’m pleased we are recognising the positive work being done across the sector, despite the challenges.

 

“The standard of entries in this year’s awards has been excellent; it’s pleasing to see so many examples of good practice within these sectors and some really innovative ideas.”

 

All entries were judged by Jonathan Deacon, Professor of Marketing at the University of South Wales and Trustee (former Chair) of the Chartered Institute of Marketing Cymru. Professor Deacon commented:

 

Winners received a trophy, certificate and a variety of prizes including marketing workshops and specialised equipment to enable them to further develop their skills and enhance their marketing activities.

Views of patients and staff are priority says health boss

The views of patients and staff are top priority for 2016, the woman in charge of improving grassroots health care in Conwy and Denbighshire has pledged.

Bethan Jones is Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board’s Central Area Director, overseeing the healthcare needs of more than 200,000 people.

She is one of three area directors brought in by BCUHB as part of its new structure, with the aim to reconnect with the communities it serves across the region.

Mrs Jones (pictured) was previously Anglesey County Council’s Deputy Chief Executive,  leading on the transformation and improvement  following intervention by the Welsh Government. She has almost 30 years of experience working in the NHS and local government.

She now oversees community hospitals in Llandudno, Colwyn Bay, Ruthin, Denbigh, Holywell and the Royal Alexandra in Rhyl. She is also responsible for community health services, child and adolescent mental health, children’s and GP and other primary care services.    

Mrs Jones said: “I see my role as the perfect opportunity to bring together the experience I have of working both in the NHS and local government.

“My aim is to get back to having a more local perspective for the BCUHB, to build partnerships at a local level, to listen to feedback and to develop a better understanding of the communities we serve.

“We need to understand the way people feel about things and have a conversation about how we deliver services. There has to be a better consumer focus with the aim of understanding what matters to the individuals that we care for and their families.

“I am a resident of North Wales and of Conwy county and it is therefore as important to me as it is to everyone else that we provide excellent care and services that meet the needs of local people.”

She added: “A major priority for me is developing effective communications with the people who work in our local health service.

“After all, we are the largest employer in North Wales and it is therefore extremely important for them to feel they are working for a good organisation and can influence how it operates.

“We have excellent staff and on the whole provide good care and services. However, we acknowledge that we need to rebuild confidence and relations with our communities, there are no easy solutions and it will all take a little time to achieve,” said Mrs Jones, who is married with a son, a daughter and a baby grand-daughter.        

Originally from the Llanfairfechan area, where she still lives, she went to school in Bangor before going on to Loughborough University from where she graduated with a BSc in Management Sciences and was appointed as an NHS management trainee.

Early in her health service career she worked in Cardiff and Manchester before returning to the NHS in North Wales at the end of 1991.

In 2001 she became Director of Social Services and Housing for Conwy County Borough Council, and four years later took an expanded role as the council’s Corporate Director for Improvement and Development with a brief that included the Colwyn Bay Regeneration Programme.  

She was appointed as Conwy’s Deputy Chief Executive in 2007 and then moved to Denbighshire County Council as a Corporate Director overseeing regeneration and business transformation.

In 2012 she was appointed to Anglesey County Council as Deputy Chief Executive to lead on the transformation and improvement of the council as a consequence of the intervention by the Welsh Government. 

BCUHB Interim Chief Executive Simon Dean, who is also Deputy Chief Executive of NHS Wales, said: “Our long-term engagement strategy is centred on building and strengthening relationships with partners, communities and individuals so that we become a more visible, listening organisation.

“Our recently established area teams in the east, central and west are key in helping us to deliver this.

“It is essential that we listen to what is said by the public and our staff, and act on that information so the health service reflects the needs of those who live and work in North Wales. We have already begun to do this, and we will be continuing it into 2016 and further ahead.”

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board is the largest health organisation in Wales, employing around 16,100 staff. It provides a full range of primary, community, mental health and acute hospital services for a population of around 676,000 people across North Wales as well as some parts of mid Wales, Cheshire and Shropshire.

It runs Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor, Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Bodelwyddan and Wrexham Maelor Hospital as well as 18 other acute and community hospitals and a network of over 90 health centres, clinics, community health team bases and mental health units.  The Health Board also coordinates the work of 115 GP practices and NHS services provided by North Wales dentists, opticians and pharmacies.

BCUHB’s new chief executive is Gary Doherty, currently Chief Executive of Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and previously Deputy Chief Executive of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Air Ambulance gets new helicopters

* WAAC chief executive Angela Hughes and charity chairman Dave Gilbert with the H145 model at Bond Air Services.

Wales Air Ambulance is to introduce a new fleet of custom-made aircraft which will significantly enhance its operations, the charity has announced.

Three new helicopters will be launched in January 2017 after a competitive tender process which drew international interest for Wales.

Helicopter operator Bond, a Babcock International Group company, secured the winning bid to lease three Airbus H145 aircraft. The company currently supplies the charity with three EC135 models.

Wales Air Ambulance Charity will become only the third HEMS (helicopter emergency medical service) operation in the UK to use the new H145 aircraft.

Equipped for night flights, the upgrade to H145s will move the charity a step closer to its goal of providing a 24-hour air ambulance service.

The new aircraft will also have a larger cabin and more powerful engines, meaning there is extra room for treatments in-flight and the helicopters can fly for longer without refueling.

For the first time, the air ambulance crew will be able to send critical information about patients to medics waiting at hospitals via an on-board high-speed internet connection.

Angela Hughes, chief executive of the Wales Air Ambulance Charity, said: “Our new lease of helicopters will help us continue to provide one of the most modern HEMS services in Europe.

“It is hugely exciting that the Wales Air Ambulance Charity has had such interest from around the world. It demonstrates that what we are doing is truly pioneering, and we continue to lead the way in developing an advanced air ambulance service.

“Crucially, though, it is what the people of Wales are doing which is making all the difference. It is thanks to their support that we have been able to secure such advanced aircraft for Wales, and we need their help to keep the new helicopters in the air.”

She added: “Our new contract with Bond is fantastic news for the charity and a great way to mark our 15^th year providing lifesaving emergency care.”

The new deal will see Bond provide pilots, engineers and three brand-new custom-configured aircraft.

Wales Air Ambulance Charity will continue to operate its fleet of EC135 helicopters until the new aircraft begin operating next year.

Tim Shattock, Bond managing director, said: “This new contract will allow the Wales Air Ambulance Charity to bring a truly landmark air ambulance service for everyone in Wales. As part of Babcock, and through working closely with the charity we have been able to offer a really innovative service, bringing new aircraft, new technologies and new ways of working to this critical and lifesaving service.

“I am pleased we will continue to provide the Wales Air Ambulance Charity with the vital operations that are so important for the people of Wales.”

The three aircraft will operate from Wales Air Ambulance Charity bases in Welshpool, Caernarfon and its new headquarters in Llanelli.

Founding father's son to be Eisteddfod special guest

 

* Selwyn Tudor with memorabilia from the International Eisteddfod.

THE son of the founding father of the iconic festival will be a guest of honour at the 70^th Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod this summer.

And Selwyn Tudor has recalled the occasion when his late father, Harold, gained his initial inspiration to create the event which has become a symbol of worldwide peace and understanding.

In the late 1940s renowned Welsh journalist Harold Tudor had a vision of creating a grand cultural gathering in Llangollen to help heal the scars left by World War Two.

And, according to his youngest son Selwyn, now 81 and living in Birmingham, that dream took shape one morning when he and his father were taking a Sunday morning cycle ride in the hills near their home in Coedpoeth.

He said: “We used to love going out riding on the country lanes and one Sunday in late 1945 or 1946 we were out there when we saw a young lad of about 11 or 12 – the same age as I was then – walking towards us over the crest of a hill singing at the top of his voice.

“He carried on straight past us and we watched him until he was out of sight.

“It was seeing this lad making himself so happy by singing that gave Dad the idea to start the Eisteddfod to create something that would foster the idea of peace amongst nations through music.”

Harold Tudor was originally from Tanyfron, near Coedpoeth, and after attending Grove Park School in Wrexham started work at the Wrexham Leader and later became a sub-editor on the Post and Echo newspapers in Liverpool.

During the Second World War he also became a member of the British Council, an organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities.

This role brought him in contact with representatives of exiled foreign governments staying in Britain.

After coming up with the idea of starting an international event in the small Denbighshire tourist town of Llangollen, he won the crucial support for his brainchild from local teacher George Northing, the first chairman of the Eisteddfod, and from others including W S Gwynn Williams, a leading figure in Welsh music who lived in the town.

The scheme gathered momentum and the first Eisteddfod was staged on a field in the town in June 1947 with Harold becoming honorary director of publicity.

Over the years he became less involved with the festival after he took a job as a sub-editor with the Post and Mail in Birmingham and moved there with his family. After a full career he died at the age of 79 in 1986.

Selwyn Tudor, the second of Harold’s two sons, was born while the family was still living in Liverpool. His elder brother, Peter, who now lives in Staffordshire, is also to attend in July.

To escape the horrors of the Liverpool Blitz early in the Second World War Harold Tudor moved his family to his home area of Coedpoeth and Selwyn started secondary school at the former Grove Park Grammar in Wrexham.

His first job after leaving school was as a sales assistant at the old Lloyd Williams department store in the town for a short time before the family moved to Birmingham to follow Harold’s newspaper career.

After working for some time in retail, Selwyn eventually started his own business as a cabinet maker and antiques restorer, the role from which he retired at the age of 65.

He and his wife Ann, who live in the West Heath area of Birmingham, have two daughters, Susan and Debi and four granddaughters, aged from 15 to 25.

Selwyn said: “My dad was a very clever, kind and generous man.

“After the war ended he was searching for an idea to help promote international harmony and how to progress it, and he always said that the encounter with the young lad singing up in the hills above Llangollen is what really inspired him to start the Eisteddfod.

“I also recall that he used to take his motorcycle over the top of the hills through World’s End and down into Llangollen to speak to people about the arrangements for the first festivals.

“After a few years when we moved down to Birmingham he lost touch with the Eisteddfod but there’s no doubt that he was its founder, which is something I’ve always been very proud of.

“To some extent I think his involvement has been a little forgotten over the years but they did put up a plaque to his memory above Coedpoeth Library some years ago. There’s also a special commemorative plaque on his grave in the cemetery in Coedpoeth.”

Eisteddfod Chairman Rhys Davies said: “It will be wonderful to see Selwyn at the festival again this year – his father has left a wonderful and lasting legacy in this great event.

“Harold Tudor was a man of great vision and the Eisteddfod and people not just in Llangollen but all over the world have a great deal to thank him for.”

Selwyn added: “Unfortunately, I was too young to attend the first Eisteddfod in 1947 but I did start going regularly in 2004 and since then my wife and I have only missed going once, which was last year when Ann was ill.

“The first year I went to Llangollen we were invited up on stage to take part in a little celebration of the start of the Eisteddfod and I remember well Gethin Davies, who was festival chairman, tapping me on the shoulder and saying, ‘Your father was a wonderful man’.

“What my wife and I love about the Eisteddfod is the atmosphere as you walk through the field, meeting and having wonderful conversations with people from all over the world.

“We also love all the music and dancing and try to see as many things as we can during the course of the week.

“We’ve already arranged our accommodation and are very much looking forward to being at this year’s Eisteddfod, particularly at it’s the 70^th one.

“I will also be remembering my father whom I can never forget for all he achieved.”

This year’s Eisteddfod begins on Tuesday, July 5, and the opening concert will see superstar Katherine Jenkins get the programme off to a sensational start as she sings Bizet’s Carmen.

Wednesday will be International Children’s Day and will include choral and dance competitions and also a new Under 16s solo competition while the evening will feature the Voices of Musical Theatre.

The great Bryn Terfel will headline the 70^th Classical Gala Concert on Thursday evening while the day will see the crowning of the Children’s Choir of the World.

Friday will celebrate Rhythms of the World and will be a feast of music and dance from the best of the Eisteddfod’s international competitors with the Dance Champions of the World competition climax at the evening concert.

It will open with a Caribbean Carnival Extravaganza, followed by the International Peace message delivered by Theatr yr Ifanc, Rhosllannerchrugog.

In a change of the scheduling Friday will also see the Parade of Nations, led by Eisteddfod President Terry Waite, switched from Tuesday in anticipation of bigger crowds and more competitors being present.

Saturday is dedicated to the top choirs and concludes with the Choir of the World competition for the Pavarotti Trophy while Sunday sees the Eisteddfod let its hair down for Llanfest before the climactic final concert.

* To book tickets and for more details on the 2016 festival go to the website at www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk

Hills get a covering of snow

A covering of snow could be seen on the hills above town this morning as Storm Jake swept in.

Ice, snow and high winds were affecting much of northern England and northern Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

 

Silver band youngsters in honours at Oswestry

* Front left to right: Taya Castley, Elizabeth Mwale, Gabriel Tranmer and Millie Turner.

 

Four talented young members of Llangollen Silver Band won trophies at the Oswestry Youth Music Festival.

 

This year's event, held from February 25-28, featured over 400 young musicians from the local area.

Baritone player Elizabeth Mwale claimed the Oswestry Cattle Auctions Shield for soloists under 15 years old, with her performance of Donegal Bay by Paul Lovatt Cooper.

 

* Elizabeth Mwale with the Oswestry Cattle Auctions Shield. 

This also qualified her for a place in Sunday's Winner Finals, where she again finished in first place, earning her Oswestry Town Council's Junior Cup ( The Gull Award).

 

The Ysgol Morgan Llwyd student also received high praise from the competition's adjudicator, who commented that her moving performance made "the hairs on the back of my neck stand up."

 

Also winning their respective competitions were the following band members:

 

Cornet player Taya Castley, 13, and Elizabeth Mwale won The Melody and Metal Cup for Duets under 15 years, playing Pleasant Moments by George Hawkins.

 

Cornet player Millie Turner, 12, won The Vernon Carter Memorial Trophy for soloists 12 years and under, playing Over the Rainbow by Arlen.

 

Tuba player Gabriel Tranmer, 15,won The Bernard Mitchell Trophy for soloists 21 years and under, playing Andante and Rondo by Cappuzzi.

Llangollen Silver Band conductor, Trevor Williams, said: "Well done to all of our young players for putting in some wonderful performances against some tough competition. You did us proud!"

Meanwhile, band spokesman, Robert Stock, explained: "This is another fantastic set of results for our young players and is testament to the hard work they have put in preparing for this festival. We are extremely proud of all their achievements and they highlight just how bright a future the band has."