Special week will celebrate county's older people

A week-long series of events are being held across Denbighshire to celebrate older people, in the run-up to International Day of Older Persons (October 1).

Nearly 30 years ago the United National General Assembly voted to establish October 1 as the International Day of Older Persons.  In 2016 the United Nations took a stand against ageism by drawing attention to and challenging negative stereotypes and misconceptions about older people and ageing. 

Building on last year’s successful programme the council is Celebrating Age throughout county again this year with a series of events arranged through Denbighshire’s  Ageing – Well Multi-agency Group. 

This Partnership includes Denbighshire County Council, Age Connects, Alzheimers’ Society, British Red Cross, Care & Repair, Care Forum Wales, Citizens Advice Denbighshire, NEWCIS, the NHS and many more.

Events will include social events, arts and textiles, a ‘culture club’ for arts and dance, information and advice and so much more.

A social media campaign will also get underway to promote the projects underway and help raise the profile of issues relating to older people.

Councillor Bobby Feeley, Denbighshire County Council’s Lead Member for Well-being and Independence said:  “The increasing age profile is a fact we can't ignore.

“Throughout their lives older people have gained a wealth of knowledge, and as living longer becomes the norm, we need to recognise, value and harness their contribution.  We must encourage people to take responsibility for keeping well and fit and to stay independent for as long as possible” 

Councillor Ellie Chard, Denbighshire’s Older People’s Champion said “It is great that we are holding this event in Denbighshire highlighting all the good work that is going on as well as engaging with older people themselves “

Sue Wright, Chair of the Ageing Well In Denbighshire Multi-Agency group said “Celebrating Age Week is a clear demonstration of effective partnership working between the statutory and the third sectors.

“It should be recognised that many of these events could not go ahead without the enthusiasm and commitment of older people themselves.

“The third sector survives not just because of the generosity of funders but also because older people value the benefits of active volunteering."

Denbighshire has the second largest population of older people in Wales. Nearly a half of the population of Denbighshire are aged over 50 and a quarter are over 65.  More and more people are living past 100 than ever before.  

Inner Wheel Club backs international peace

On September 21 the Inner Wheel Club of Llangollen, in conjunction with its counterparts worldwide, will be celebrating the United Nations International Day of Peace. 

The event, entitled The Right to Peace, takes its name from the 2018 theme and will take the form of a short programme of words and music. 

A Llangollen club spokesperson said that everyone is welcome to join them at St John’s Church in Abbey Road at 2pm on that Friday. Light refreshments will be provided.     

Work disrupts Parade Street traffic

There was some disruption to traffic in Parade Street this morning (Sunday) due to gas supply work by Wales & West Utilities.

MP slams tax cut reversal for self-employed

Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones has slammed the Conservative UK Government for scrapping the planned tax cut for 2.7m self-employed workers.

The Government was originally due to scrap Class 2 National Insurance contributions in April but the move had been delayed by a year and has now been completely abandoned.

Ms Jones (pictured) said: “We should be supporting people who are setting up businesses not penalising them. What a dreadful way to treat our local entrepreneurs, who work hard, create jobs and produce the wealth we need locally and nationally.”

Federation of Small Businesses Chairman Mike Cherry commented: "The self-employed community has been let down today, missing out on a promise to reduce their tax burden. 

"This raises serious questions once again about the government's commitment to supporting the self-employed.”


* The next joint advice surgeries for Susan Elan Jones MP and Ken Skates, Assembly Member for Clwyd South, are:

Friday, September 21: Canolfan Ni, London Road, Corwen (LL21 0DP)

Friday, October 26: George Edwards Hall, Well Street, Cefn Mawr (LL14 3AE)

Friday, November 30: Marchwiel Parish Hall, Piercy Avenue, Marchwiel (LL13 0RH)

Surgeries run from 3.30pm-5.30pm on a first-come, first-served basis, so constituents don’t need to book an appointment in advance.

Llangollen Artists' work goes on show at museum

Llangollen Artists unveiled their latest exhibition at the town's museum last night (Thursday) and llanblogger went along to record the event.

The exhibition runs until September 30 and the museum in Parade Street is open from 10am-5pm daily.

Llangollen Artists are a group of established, professional artists with a diverse range of techniques and styles.

They are Edward Bell, Simon Collinge, Dory, Mike Flory, Andrew Gale and Sue Hall.

They use a range of media including drawing, installation, mixed media, painting, photography, print making, sculpture and textiles to create a diverse range of work.

Andrew Gale will be showing with the group including his photo book WILD 

http://andrew-gale.com/blog/2017/10/06/wild-limited-edition-photobook/

Simon Collinge is showcasing his photo book Pentrefoelas - A jubilee wood 

http://www.memorybox.org.uk/Book_pages_1_-_18.html

* For more information of Llangollen Artists, go to: www.llangollenartists.wales  

* Artist Dory with some of his work on show at the exhibition.

* Guests at the launch evening.

Examples of work in the exhibition ...

County's tourism benefits continue to grow

The economic benefit of tourism in Denbighshire is continuing to grow.

The latest STEAM economic impact figures show that in 2017 tourism brought £490.35million into the local economy, an increase of 2.3 per cent on 2016, and of 70 per cent since 2007.

Last year tourism supported 6,231 jobs in Denbighshire, while 5.93m people visited the county, an increase of 25 per cent since 2007, for a total of 11.58m days.

The number of visitors to the coast increased to 3.16m, as did the number of visitor days spent (6.92m) and the number of staying visitors (900,000).

Cllr Hugh Evans OBE, leader of Denbighshire County Council, said: “The latest figures showing an increase in the overall economic benefit of tourism in Denbighshire are really encouraging, despite 2017 being a challenging year in terms of the weather.

“The county has so much to offer, a beautiful coastline, rural market towns, areas of outstanding natural beauty, a host of outdoor activities as well as a wealth of history and some fantastic local produce and shops.

“Particularly encouraging is the increase in coastal tourism. With the addition of two new hotels in Rhyl, the SC2 visitor attraction due to open next year, as well as the already established 1891 restaurant and the Nova in Prestatyn, we would expect these figures to continue to grow. This shows investment from the Council and the private sector is having a real impact on the economic prosperity of Denbighshire, which is a priority under our Corporate Plan.”

In total last year there were 1.5m staying visitors who contributed a total of £331.46m to the economy in 2017, a 50 per cent increase in staying visitors compared to 2007.

Dave Jones, who owns the four-star Plas Efenechtyd Cottage B&B, near Ruthin, said: “We have seen an increase in overseas visitors staying longer, especially from the Netherlands, Germany and the USA. This year bookings over the summer months have been strong.

“Most people arrive with an idea of what they want to see and do but without much knowledge of Welsh history, geography and politics, something I would like to see addressed.

“The latest figures are encouraging and we look forward to continuing to work with Denbighshire and other key partnerships like the Clwydian Range Tourism Group to create themed itineraries and create attractive packages that will appeal to a variety of visitors.”

Denbighshire County Council continues to support tourism via strong partnership working in North Wales to capitalise on the growing tourism market.

The Council also runs projects to upskill staff working in tourism related businesses to improve the visitor experience, creates new tourism leaflets and promotional films to reach wider audiences as well supporting key events and festivals such as Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

Funded education and childcare up for debate

The roll-out of funded education and childcare in Wales will come under the spotlight of Denbighshire councillors today (Thursday).

In 2017 the Welsh Government (WG) pledged to offer 30 hours a week of funded early education and childcare to eligible working parents of three and four year olds, for 48 weeks of the year by September 2020.

The government have confirmed that Denbighshire County Council can begin to deliver the Childcare Offer to families from April 2019 and have agreed to work with the council with the aim of making the offer available across the county at the same time, rather than on a phased ward by ward approach.

Children will be eligible to access the offer from the beginning of the term following their third birthday until the September following their fourth birthday.

Eligible children will be entitled to up to 20 free hours of childcare during term time in addition to the 10 hours already provided by the Foundation Phase. During the school holidays, when there is no early education, the offer will provide 30 hours a week of childcare for up to nine weeks.

Parents are able to choose any registered childcare setting that suits their personal and family circumstance, whether inside or outside of county, in agreement with the provider and the local authority.

At their meeting today members of the Communities Scrutiny Committee will be asked to endorse the proposed cross-county delivery plan with Flintshire County Council being the authority delivering the scheme on behalf of Denbighshire.

Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts, Cabinet Lead Member for Education, Children, Young People and the Welsh Language, said: “The aim of the Childcare Offer is to allow eligible parents to have more employment choices, increase their disposable income to help counteract poverty for those in low paid jobs and ensure that quality early education and childcare is provided to promote child development and school readiness.

“The Childcare Offer is not means tested and will be available to all working parents who reside permanently in Wales and earn the equivalent of at least 16 hours at national living wage or national minimum wage.

"Denbighshire will have the role of ‘Engagement Authority’ with responsibility for promoting the offer to parents and childcare providers within the County, training staff to deal with enquiries on the Offer and providing Flintshire with information they require to process applications and administer the offer. Denbighshire will receive specific grant funding to deliver this function.

“We have already expressed concern that Denbighshire was not included in the last round of the roll-out of the scheme and have held constructive talks with the Welsh Government to ensure that Denbighshire families are not disadvantaged by the offer. The matter will now go before the Scrutiny Committee for further discussion."