Eisteddfod stars perform at Berwyn Prison

* Real Folk International Academy appeared at Berwyn Pirson. 

As part of the Llangollen Musical Eisteddfod, international performers were invited to entertain audiences at a number of outreach events including the HM Prison Berwyn.

The prison event, details of which have just been revealed, was a culmination of workshops and competitions organised by the collaborative efforts between the eisteddfod, Coleg Berwyn, Berywn residents, Reducing Re-offending and Welsh Lead for Equalities.

Throughout the months of May and June residents were encouraged to engage their imagination with creative writing and performance. 

Themes for the Berwyn Eisteddfod included Welsh culture and Hope & Friendship where residents produced art, short stories, poetry and song.

The final took place on July 4 when each performance category was judged by a panel of judges including the HR Manager at Berwyn Jason Kelsall, Rachel James, Head of Business Assurance at Berwyn, and eisteddfod representative John Gambles.

The event concluded in a colourful display by special guests Real Folk International Academy from the Panjab performing in the prison. 

They received a standing ovation from the audience as they performed a vibrant and traditional dance. 

The Real Folk International Academy then shared a multicultural buffet with the residents.

Other outreach events took place throughout North Wales during the week of the festival. 

These included special appearances by international performers from Columbia and Malaysia at the Pendine Park and Abby Dingle care homes.

John Gambles, who is the eisteddfod's Town and Outreach Coordinator: “The mini eisteddfod has been a huge success at Berwyn Prison and I am honoured to have been on the judging panel.

“The key message of Llangollen Musical Eisteddfod is to promote peace and harmony within communities. These outreach schemes offer people who do not have the opportunity to attend the festival a chance to enjoy performances from international guests.”

Police boss welcomes MPs’ call to decriminalise cannabis

* North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones.

The North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner has welcomed a report from a group of cross-party MPs who predict the UK will fully legalise cannabis within five to 10 years.

Arfon Jones, a former police inspector, is a long-time advocate of drugs reform and says the conclusions of the MPs’ fact-finding trip to Canada are a step in the right direction.

Last year Canada became the first G7 country to allow recreational use of cannabis which is designated as a Class B drug in the UK and anyone caught with it could face up to five years in prison.

There has already been some change in the UK with a shift in approach towards medicinal cannabis products, which can now be legally prescribed to some patients.

According to the MPs, they would like to see cannabis being decriminalised and regulated so that it cuts out the drugs gangs.

Mr Jones said: “I very much welcome this report and an important contribution to the debate about our antiquated drugs legislation which is not fit for purpose.

“We lost the war against drugs a long time ago and it is time we recognised this and tried a new approach.

“I also sense the tide of public opinion is turning in favour of doing things differently.

“It’s clear the current method of tackling organised crime through the Criminal Justice System is not effective.

“Once one group has been removed, another replaces it within days, which inevitably leads to further violence and exploitation.

Trying to arrest our way out of the distribution and cultivation of drugs is not working and quite frankly hasn’t been working for a long, long time - so we clearly need to look at other ways we can remove organised crime from our communities.

“It is a nonsense to criminalise people who take cannabis for recreational use and cause no harm to anybody else.

Cannabis should be regulated just like alcohol and tobacco – which actually cause more harm to individuals and to society in general.

“We should introduce a licencing system so that cannabis can be sold through pharmacies and in shops as happens in Canada, Uruguay and certain states in America.

“The best way to reduce the role of organised crime in the supply of drugs is to put it in commercial hands and to price it appropriately so people don't need to go to the illegal market.

“Commercial organisations have taken over the medicinal cannabis market and are selling prescriptions at a vast cost even though it is cheap to grow.  That’s just exploitation in my book.

“My view is that people should be allowed to grow a limited number of cannabis plants for their own use.

“Let’s face it there are probably hundreds of thousands of people in this country who grow cannabis in their own homes now.

“They're not harming anybody else and there is no reason why they should be punished through the criminal justice system.

“It would be sensible to follow the example of Spanish cannabis clubs where people are allowed to grow seven or eight cannabis plants in the club.

“If you were starting from scratch, I think cannabis would be more lightly regulated than alcohol is now because I think everybody agrees that alcohol is far more harmful to individuals than cannabis is.

“Just like alcohol, you should have age restrictions on the purchase and consumption of cannabis is a regulated market.

“In the autumn I will be launching a new scheme called Checkpoint in North Wales – after it was developed by Cambridge University and successfully trialled in Durham - which is designed to divert low level offenders away from criminality.

“We need to recognise that 90 per cent of drug consumption including cannabis is recreational use and non-problematic.

"In those cases, people should be given some educational information and that would be the end of the matter.

"Meanwhile, the legal position in relation to medicinal cannabis has been well and truly fudged as a matter of political expediency to avoid a PR disaster caused by the heart-rending cases of several children like the chronically ill Billy Caldwell who needs cannabis oil to ward off life-threatening fits.

“It is also unjust and cruel that people living with conditions like multiple sclerosis who use cannabis are putting themselves at risk of being prosecuted.”

Colourful parade remembers the town's patron saint

* The statue of St Collen is carried aloft.

* Father Richard Peers performs the blessing of the statue at St John's.

* Parishioners leave St John's on the parade.

* The parade passes over the bridge into Castle Street.

* Father Lee Taylor walks across the bridge, singing all the way.

* The parade arrives back at St Collen's.

Members of St Collen's along with civic leaders and representatives of various local organisations paraded through the centre of Llangollen this morning to celebrate the town's patron saint, St Collen.

Following a short service of blessing performed by Father Richard Peers of the Liverpool Diocese at St John's Church on Abbey Road, the parade, headed by town crier Chem Cheminais and with music provided by Llangollen Silver Band, walked through the temporarily closed streets to St Collen's where a full service was held. 

Vicar Father Lee Taylor commissioned local artist Christian Lancaster to carve an image of St Collen, whom Llangollen is also named after, and it's the first one ever done of a Welsh saint, he believes.      

Father Lee said: "The saint was carried aloft on a carrier with wreaths of flowers.

"It was a very important day for the town."

Saint Collen was a 7th-century monk who is said to have arrived in Llangollen by coracle and founded a church beside the river. 

As there are no other churches in Wales dedicated to St Collen, it is possible that this St Collen may also have connections in both Colan, Cornwall, where Colan Church is dedicated to him, and Langolen in Brittany.

St Collen died on May 21, probably sometime in the early 7th century. He was buried in his chapel. 

For centuries it was known as the 'Old Church' and stood immediately to the west of the present medieval church of St Collen in Llangollen.

County sports awards deadline extended

The deadline for nominations for this year’s Community Sports Awards in Denbighshire has been extended until Wednesday, August 12.

Over the last seven years Denbighshire has recognised over 80 individuals, teams, schools and clubs for their dedication to local community grass root sport in the county. 

There are also elite level athletes representing Wales and Team GB in their chosen sport from the local area, which will continue to be rewarded.

Now nominations are open for the Denbighshire Community Sport  Awards 2019.

All of the award finalists will be forwarded to the Sport Wales and BBC Wales sport personality awards held nationally in Cardiff, where Denbighshire will be looking to add to the success of 8 finalists and six national winners over the last few years.

Nominees must live in Denbighshire, or be affiliated to a Denbighshire club relevant to their nomination and achieved their success in the last 12 months up to the application closing date.

This year’s categories include sports performer, junior sports performer, coach of the year, team of the year, volunteer of the year, disability sport award, young inspiration award, lifetime achievement award and the ‘Sport in School’ award.

Nominations can be made on-line: www.denbighshire.gov.uk/sportsawards

* For more information on the awards please visit www.denbighshire.gov.uk/sportsawards or contact Sian Bennett, Health and Wellbeing Manager, sian.bennett@denbighshire.gov.uk 01824 712710

High-flying charity spectacular is tomorrow

* The REME parachute display team will drop from the sky.

Armed Forces charity SSAFA is holding a fundraising event at Brickfield Rangers Football Club in Wrexham tomorrow, August 4. 

It begins at 11am and finishes at 2.30pm. The REME parachute display team will be dropping in from the sky at 1.30pm.

There will also be stalls, dancers, bands and animals.

Anyone interested can go to: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tracey-smith106

Police appeal after man injured on A5

Police are appealing for witnesses following a serious road traffic collision on the A5, which has left a man in his 30s in a critical condition.

The collision, involving a white Mini Cooper and a white Mercedes box type van, happened at about 10.56pm yesterday, Thursday 1et August, on the A5 between Llangollen and the village of Glyndyfrdwy.

The incident resulted in the male passenger of the Mini being taken to hospital in Stoke with injuries which are described as critical. The female driver suffered minor injuries.

The driver of the van has been arrested for causing serious injury through dangerous driving.

Sgt Raymond Williams of the Roads Policing Unit said “We are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the collision or who may have seen the van being driven on the A5 between Chirk at around 10.20pm and the time of the incident near Glyndyfrdwy to come forward.”

“We would also like to speak to anybody who may have dash cam footage from their vehicles prior to the collision.”

Please contact the Roads Policing Unit on 101 quoting reference 19100423875.  Alternatively use the live webchat https://www.north-wales.police.uk/contact/live-chat-support

Walk will celebrate the town's patron saint

* The specially-commissioned statue of St Collen.

Llangollen vicar Father Lee Taylor is planning a major event on Sunday to celebrate the town's patron saint.

Father Lee has commissioned local artist Christian Lancaster to carve an image of St Collen, whom Llangollen is also named after, and it's the first one ever done of a Welsh saint, he believes.      

The statue will be dedicated and blessed during a service at St John's Church in Abbey Road, starting at 10.30am.

The blessing will be followed by a colourful procession through the town up to St Collen's Church for a celebratory mass and refreshments afterwards. 

Father Lee said: "The saint will be carried aloft on a carrier with wreaths of flowers.

"Llangollen Silver Band, a choir and local dignitaries and representatives from the town will join in the procession. It will be an important day for the town."

Saint Collen was a 7th-century monk who is said to have arrived in Llangollen by coracle and founded a church beside the river. 

As there are no other churches in Wales dedicated to St Collen, it is possible that this St Collen may also have connections in both Colan, Cornwall, where Colan Church is dedicated to him, and Langolen in Brittany.

St Collen died on May 21, probably sometime in the early 7th century. He was buried in his chapel. 

For centuries it was known as the 'Old Church' and stood immediately to the west of the present medieval church of St Collen in Llangollen.