AM calls for stepping up of fight against hepatitis C

Speaking in yesterday's Assembly debate North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood said elimination of hepatitis C as a serious public health concern in Wales is a "wholly achievable goal" and called on the Welsh Government to confirm its commitment to wiping it out.  

Hepatitis C is one of the three main causes of liver disease and the only one of the five ‘big killers’ in Wales and England where deaths are rising, and therefore represents a significant public health challenge.

In Wales An estimated 12,000 – 14,000 people are currently living with hepatitis C, around half undiagnosed.

In the debate, the Welsh Government was asked to confirm its commitment to the World Health Organisation Eradication Date of 2030 – and to consider new operational guidelines to support NHS Wales to work towards this.

Speaking in the Chamber, Mr Isherwood (pictured) said: “As I said in January’s debate on the contamination of blood, in the 1970s and 1980s, a large proportion of blood products supplied to patients by the NHS was contaminated with HIV or hepatitis C. Around 4,670 patients with haemophilia were infected; over 2,000 have since died in the UK, with 70 in Wales, from the effects of these viruses.

“However, evidentially Hepatitis C primarily affects people from particular groups, such as injecting drug users, homeless people, gay and bisexual men, and migrant populations from high prevalence regions.

“A recent Hepatitis C Trust report concludes with a number of key recommendations for action, including the inclusion of a commitment to eliminate hepatitis C as a serious public health concern within the Welsh Government’s forthcoming Public Health Bill.

“Approval of new drug treatments by NICE and the All-Wales Medicines Strategy Group means the elimination of hepatitis C as a serious public health concern in Wales is now a wholly achievable goal.

"To seize this new opportunity, we must find the 50% of people currently undiagnosed, by widening access to testing and further investigating which groups can be cost-effectively screened. By increasing diagnoses, we will be able to treat and cure more people.

“With effective and accessible new treatments now available to all who need them, it is easier than ever to treat and cure patients, presenting a great opportunity to achieve the elimination of hepatitis C in Wales.”

Joseph beats illness to land dream Eisteddfod role

* Mario and Gill Kreft with Joseph Elwy Jones, 11, who has won the coveted role of the Shepherd Boy in Tosca at the Llangollen Eisteddfod.

An "inspirational" young singer who overcame a rare kidney condition has landed a dream role to perform with opera superstar Sir Bryn Terfel.

Joseph Elwy Jones, 11, will take to the stage at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod as the Shepherd Boy in a star-studded production of Puccini’s classic opera, Tosca.

The concert on Tuesday, July 4, which is being sponsored by arts-loving care organisation Pendine Park, also features two other world-class opera stars, soprano Kristine Opolais and tenor Kristian Benedikt.

It will be one of the highlights of the week when the iconic festival will be celebrating its 70th anniversary.

Joseph won the role after a tough audition against the cream of young Welsh singers - thanks to the extra lessons from the headteacher at his school, Ysgol Gwenffrwd, in Holywell.

He was diagnosed with Nephrotic Syndrome in 2013 but it cleared up after treatment, including steroids, and he hasn’t had any reoccurrence.

Football and guitar player Joseph is now fully recovered and raring to go - and he can't wait to meet and sing with his idol, Sir Bryn Terfel.

Pendine Park proprietor Mario Kreft MBE, who lives in Denbigh, said: "Joseph is not only a supremely talented young singer, he is also an inspiration to us all in the way he has overcome the health problems with great courage and determination.

"As a care organisation, Joseph's story has an undoubted resonance for us and it is wonderful that he is once again full of vim and vigour - and blessed with an absolutely fantastic voice.

"To have the opportunity to sing alongside the magnificent Sir Bryn Terfel and the rest of the world class cast will be an unforgettable experience for Joseph and a truly memorable occasion for the audience."

Joseph, who lives in Lixwm, was thrilled when he heard he had been chosen as the Shepherd Boy.

He said: “After the audition I had to wait about a week, which seemed a long time and the longer it went on the more I thought I hadn’t got the role. Then, I was at school and the head teacher Miss Owen came into class and told me the good news. I was speechless!

“I was amazed and I can’t wait to meet Sir Bryn Terfel. I’ll be nervous but as soon as the music starts I’ll be fine. I’m taking loads of paper with me because all my friends have asked me to get Sir Bryn’s autograph.

He added: “I love music but I also like lots of other things like fishing and football. I’d like to be a professional musician when I leave school but I’d also like to work in the medical profession."

According to mum Abigail, a teacher at Ysgol Llywelyn, in Rhyl,  the whole family was extremely proud.

She said: “He’s a typical lad, he enjoys playing football for Holywell and he’s got five guitars. He is proud of his Welsh roots and loves bands like the Manic Street Preachers who will also be performing in Llangollen this year. He’s also a member of the local Scout group and loves the outdoors.”

“His sister Sophia, seven, is learning how to play the keyboards and his Dad, David, who teaches English at Flint High School, has two drum kits. It’s quite a musical family!

“But he really has never had a professional singing lesson. His head teacher at Ysgol Gwenffrwd,  Iola Owen has helped him, and lots of other children, prepare for competitions at the Urdd Eisteddfod.”

“She is amazing and once we knew he had an audition I asked her if she could help him learn the part. He watched YouTube performances to help but singing in Italian isn’t easy of course.

“She spent time helping him and even got him into school on a teacher training day for an hour.

“When I was told Joseph has landed the role I thought it only fair that she be the one to tell him the news. She sent a lovely card the following day congratulating him.

“It's quite fitting in a way that he has been chosen to play the Shepherd Boy in Tosca because his great grandfather, Victor Thomas, who was the head of a Veterinary practice in Caerwys, kept sheep all his life.

“As a family we are so looking forward to watching Tosca at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, it’s going to be a magical and very proud moment for Joseph's Dad, his sister Sophia and myself.”

Ynyr Lewys Rogers, 12, from Ruthin, a pupil at the town's Ysgol Brynhyfryd, has been chosen as Joseph's understudy.

The Llangollen Eisteddfod has been a springboard for the careers of many singers including Sir Bryn Terfel himself when he was a young bass baritone and the legendary Luciano Pavarotti who first competed at the festival with his father's choir from Modena in Italy in 1955.

The festival's music director, Eilir Owen Griffiths, said: “Increasing opportunities for youngsters to become involved with music is a cause close to my heart and that of sponsors Pendine Park – who’ve also generously tripled this years Voice of the Future prize fund.

"It's incredibly exciting to find such promising singing talent like Joseph. The innocence and purity of his voice was perfect for the angelic role of ‘Shepherd Boy’. The character brings light to the darkness of the piece and Joseph’s voice makes him the perfect candidate for the role.

“We were so impressed with the standard of auditions this year and everyone who performed was well prepared and professional. Joseph was the youngest of the singers who auditioned, proving that age truly is just a number. His passion for music really shines and his performance will be one not to be missed.”

* For more information about the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod and to book tickets go to  www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk

AM urges women to have cervical screening

North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood  is supporting Cervical Screening Awareness Week this week (June 12-18) by urging all women to attend their cervical screening appointment when invited.

Cervical cancer currently claims two lives every day in the UK and it is the most common cancer in women under 35.

Cervical screening prevents up to 75% of cervical cancers yet the number of women attending is at a 10- year low in Wales  and more than one in five women do not attend their screening appointment.

 

Mr Isherwood (pictured) said: “Cervical screening saves around 5,000 lives in the UK each year yet many women don’t understand the importance of attending screening regularly. 

"During Cervical Screening Awareness Week I want to encourage women to talk to their friends, mothers and daughters about the steps they can take to reduce their risk of cervical cancer.  It’s such an important five-minute test that really could save your life.”

Robert Music, Chief Executive of Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, said: “We cannot afford to see cervical screening attendance fall any further. Diagnoses of cervical cancer in the UK are worryingly high and will only increase if more women don’t attend screening.

"We want to encourage women to look after their health, including the health of their cervix and that means attending cervical screening. By not attending, women are significantly increasing their risk of a life-threatening disease.”

* Find out more about Cervical Screening Awareness Week at www.jostrust.org.uk/csaw 

County makes films to help businesses

A series of video seminars have been produced to help and inform businesses.

Denbighshire County Council has produced the clips as part of its annual March for Business month which this year saw more than 400 people take part in 12 workshops, conferences and networking sessions.

The videos are now available on the Council’s YouTube and Facebook platforms and offer tips on digital marketing, digital skills and how to use the Welsh language to benefit your business.

Clips have been produced from events during March for Business including the advanced manufacturing conference, Denbighshire for Growth and a networking dinner hosted by the Federation of Small Businesses.

Mike Horrocks, the Council’s team and programme manager for Economic & Business Development, said: “This year’s March for Business was a fantastic success. We saw record attendances for our biggest ever programme.

“The most important thing is that we have had great feedback from businesses who have told us the sessions have been of real benefit to them.

“One of our goals was to produce a range of materials that would benefit those businesses that were unable to attend the events as we understand that not all businesses can afford to take time out of their day to learn new things. These new video clips are available 24/7 and have already had over 9,000 views.

“The real target for us is to see the success of the programme translate into local business success and there are some strong signs that this is happening.”

The March for Business programme was devised by the Council’s Economic and Business Development team following feedback from Denbighshire’s annual Business Survey.

It is part of the Council’s work on developing the local economy through its Economic and Community Ambition Programme, which aims to support healthy private businesses, see more people in work and improve household incomes.

Since the ten-year plan was launched in 2013, there are 1,700 more people in work in Denbighshire, average household incomes are closing the gap on the rest of Wales, 70 more businesses are starting up every year with 19 out of 20 new businesses surviving for a year with almost two thirds still trading three years later.

You can take part in this year’s business survey here.

You can view the videos on DCCs Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Website aims to keep people well

Looking for advice on staying well ?

Then look no further than the Dewis Cymru website.

The website www.dewis.wales is the place for information about all issues relating to well-being in Wales, as well as the first point of information about local organisations and services that can help.

The website includes information on key topics: Being Well, Being Social, Being at Home;,Being Safe, Managing Your Money, Children and Families and Looking After Someone.

The Being Well section looks at a range of issues, including indoor and outdoor activities, healthy relationships (including sexual health) and dealing with medication. It also details five ways of being well (connecting with people, being active, keep learning, taking notice of your surroundings and volunteering).

Bethan Jones Edwards, Head of Regional Collaboration of the North Wales Social Care and Well-being Services Improvement Collaborative, said: “Being well isn’t just about being physically healthy and free from illness, it’s also how you feel about yourself and your life as a whole.

“People often have a greater sense of well-being when they have strong social networks, suitable housing, they are in employment and/or education (if they wish to be) and they are healthy, both physically and emotionally.

“The Dewis Cymru website is a great one stop shop for all the information you need about well-being. There is a directory of services and activities available in your community. It’s all about pointing people in the right direction to the wealth of support already available”.

People can visit the website to register and to access details of support available in their county.

Labour holds Clwyd South seat

*Susan Elan Jones MP.

Labour held on to the local Clwyd South seat in yesterday's General Election which, overall, resulted in a hung parliament.

Party		Votes	%	Net percentage change in seats +/- %
LAB Labour	Susan Elan Jones	19,002	vote_share 50.7	+13.5
CON Conservative	Simon Baynes	14,646	vote_share 39.1	+8.7
Plaid Cymru	Christopher Allen	2,293	vote_share 6.1	-4.2
UKIP	Jeanette Bassford-Barton	802	vote_share 2.1	-13.5
Liberal Democrat	Bruce Roberts	731	vote_share 2.0	-1.9

Old works will get lit up for the Fringe

* Berwyn Works on the A5, which will be lit up for the Fringe. 

As part of the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of Llangollen Fringe Festival, a renowned artist has been commissioned to produce a large-scale work to exhibit during the event.

On display throughout the festival, the project, entitled ‘Ars Magna Lucis – (The Art Of Great Light)’, will see the Old Berwyn Works building converted into a lantern that will overlook the town.

Fringe artist Alec Shepley looks at reimagining this redundant relic of the industrial age, converting it into, in his own words, ‘a lantern-space - a giver of light’.

* Ars Magna Lucis.

Alec Shepley is an artist and an academic based at Wrexham Glyndŵr University, North Wales where he is head of the School of Creative Arts and Professor of Contemporary Art Practice.

His work has been exhibited widely, both nationally and internationally, with examples held in a number of public and private collections in North America, Europe and Asia.

Alec’s individual and collaborative research has attracted funding from the Arts & Humanities Research Council, the British Council, the Arts Council of England and the Arts Council of Wales and his work has been exhibited widely, both nationally and internationally, with examples held in a number of public and private collections in North America, Europe and Asia.

Using especially constructed LED light boxes made on site in the town, six of the building’s classical 1930’s windows will be illuminated to create an ever changing palette of coloured light, emanating from the shell of the former brewery and print works every night during the course of the festival.

A spokesperson for Llangollen Fringe Festival said: “We’re really pleased to have an artist of Alec Shepley’s stature on board, we wanted to make a bold statement for the 20th anniversary of the festival and what better way then to create an impressive spectacle in the heart of the town. We hope this free exhibition will attract even more visitors to the town and the festival to catch a glimpse and a photo of Alec’s work.”

The ‘Ars Magna Lucis’ event will be on display from July 15-23, with a special switch-on event taking place near the bandstand at Riverside Park, Llangollen at 10.30pm, Saturday July 15.

The festival line up also includes performances from: WILKO JOHNSON, SETH LAKEMAN, TURIN BRAKES, MARK THOMAS, CC SMUGGLERS, JACK MONROE, BAND PRES LLARREGUB, 9 BACH and KASAI MASAI.

FOR INFORMATON ON ALL PERFORMANCE DATES AND LOCATIONS AND TO PURCHASE TICKETS, VISIT www.llangollenfringe.co.uk