Donate don't dump to help hospice

The first Donate Don’t Dump initiative is being held in Chirk in aid of Nightingale House Hospice today, Wednesday, November 20.

It is an opportunity to have a clear out of your unwanted items just before Christmas whilst helping those with life-limiting illnesses.

Caffi Wylfa, the social enterprise run café on Castle Road, is throwing its support behind the hospice and is also giving away a freeE coffee with every cake purchased for anyone who donates on the day.

Anybody wanting to donate their unused items can drop them off at Caffi Wylfa throughout the day.

The re-sale of donated items through the Nightingales retail outlets provide funds so the hospice can continue to provide free specialist care to patients within its catchment area.

All the hospice asks is that donated items are good quality clothes, furniture, electrical goods and bric-a-brac.

llanblogger in live TV election interview

* llanblogger's Phil Robinson, right, and Hannah Munro are interviewed by the BBC's Nick Servini. Picture: Mike Connolly.

llanblogger's Phil Robinson took part in a live general election broadcast by a BBC Wales team at the Bryn Howel Hotel last night (Tuesday).

Along with Mold business woman Hanna Munro, he was asked to take part in a short interview with presenter Nick Savini in which they were asked for their views on how the election campaign was developing in the local Clwyd South constituency and what had become the key issues.

While Ms Munro, who runs the IT firm ITAC, commented on Labour's proposal to supply free fibre broadband across the UK, Phil Robinson spoke of how he thought both major parties appeared to be entering into a "bidding war" with their plans to spend large amounts of cash on the NHS.

The interview was used towards the end of the BBC Wales evening news bulletin. 

Free after three parking in run-up to Christmas

* Llan's Market Street is one of those to offer Free after Three parking before Christmas. 

Denbighshire County Council’s festive free parking scheme is returning between November 21 and December 31.

To encourage more people to use their local high street for shopping in the run up to Christmas and New Year, free parking will be available in council-run town centre car parks from 3pm every day.

The Free After Three initiative will be available in the following car parks:

Llangollen:   East Street; Hall Street; Market Street; Mill Street

Corwen:        Green Lane

Denbigh:       Multi-Storey; Crown Lane; Factory Ward; Post Office Lane; Vale Street

Prestatyn:     Lower High Street; Kings Avenue; Railway Station

Rhuddlan:    Parliament Street

Rhyl:             Central; Morley Road; Queen Street; Sky Tower; West Kinmel Street, Rhyl Railway; Rhyl Library (disabled bays only)

Ruthin:          Crispin Yard; Dog Lane; Market Street; Park Road; Rhos Street; St Peter's Square; Troed y Rhiw

St Asaph:      Bowling Green

Morfa Hall private car park, Rhyl, is not included in the initiative.

Emlyn Jones, the Council’s Head of Planning and Public Protection Services, said: “The Free After Three parking initiative has been established now for a number of years and complements the on-going #LoveLiveLocal campaign to encourage more people to use our high streets for their festive shopping.

“We are delighted to be able to offer this opportunity as a Council again this year and hope that people will see the benefits of using our town centre car parks and will be return visitors.

“There are a wealth of independent shops and businesses county-wide that offer a wide range of goods and services. With our free parking initiative after 3pm, we hope more people will come into our main towns to see what they have to offer. I’m sure they won’t be disappointed.”

Planning starts for 2020 walking festival

Organisers are now planning the 2020 Llangollen Walking Festival.

And they say that back by popular demand are some of the festival's favourite walks.

The big change is the date of the event, which is Friday May 8, Saturday 9, Sunday 10.

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Council trials smart food waste caddies

A scheme by Denbighshire County Council to trial microchips on food waste caddies has just been launched.

Every week the council collects food waste through the orange caddy collection system.  

The food waste collected by Denbighshire  is taken to an anaerobic composting facility near St Asaph and turned into a valuable soil fertilizer that is used by North Wales farmers.  

The process also produces green energy for around 2,000 homes.

This six-month trial will involve installing the microchips for 630 properties in four communities (in parts of Corwen, Ruthin, Prestatyn and Rhyl) and is part of the council’s campaign to improve recycling rates, ahead of major changes to waste and recycling services in the county in 2021.

The information collected will inform the council which properties have put out their caddy and which ones have not.   

It will help the council to gather monitoring data quickly and efficiently so it is able to visit people who are not using the orange caddy system over long periods and offer support to encourage them to recycle. 

The council already collects this information manually but it is time consuming and releasing this time would allow staff to talk to people who need more support to recycle. The data it receives manually can also be inaccurate as it is not always possible to know which house a caddy belongs to.

The council is working with a company called Schaefer who have developed the software and have offered the trial free of charge so the council can explore the benefits of the new system and gain an understanding of feedback from residents, as well as see how well the software works. 

If the system helps increase recycling rates the council says it will consider expanding the trial areas in January.

Tony Ward, Denbighshire’s Head of Highways, Facilities and Environmental Services, said: “Despite people in Denbighshire being amongst the highest recyclers in the UK, a quarter of the waste we throw away in our black bins is food waste.  

"To hit the recycling targets set by Welsh Government we need to make sure all our food waste is recycled and not wasted.

“Over the next six months we are launching a range of projects aimed at getting people to recycle food waste for the first time, as well as encouraging active recyclers to recycle even more.

“This is a ground-breaking project and we will be following the results of this initiative with great interest, to see whether it makes a difference to recycling rates and the public’s response to the scheme."  

Sion Corn tries a husky team to reach festival

* Natalie Hallmark Jones, right, and daughter 

Holly help Sion Corn try out the team of Siberian Huskies.

Sion Corn – the Welsh Santa Claus – has been checking out the quickest way to reach Llangollen when the town stages its annual Christmas Festival on Saturday November 30.

Thousands of seasonal revellers are expected to come flocking to the Denbighshire tourist spot for the big event.

As Sion Corn will be starring in the traditional parade and wants to make sure he’s there in good time on the day he’s been trying out various modes of travel.

And he reckons he had the most fun so far when he put a pack of Siberian Huskies to the test.

The magnificent dogs are part of the Wrexham-based Wolf Pack which races regularly across the UK and will be making a special guest appearance alongside him in the big parade on festival day.

Wolf Pack owns 11 huskies, nine of which are Siberian, one an Alaskan and another a Northern Inute Kelip. 

All the huskies are looked after by Rob and Natalie Hallmark Jones and their daughter Holly who helped Sion Corn get the feel of the reins as he settled in behind the team during his practice session.

Later he said: “That was very exciting and you wouldn’t believe how fast these fantastic dogs can travel. I should be able to make it from Lapland to Llangollen in no time on festival day.”  

Kicking off at 1pm with the famous parade, which sees Sion Corn being escorted into town over the historic bridge by a colourful cavalcade of entertainers and local groups, the event features children’s fairground rides, food stalls, choirs, craft stalls, circus acts and face painting.

There will also be a chance for youngsters to visit Sion Corn in his glorious grotto and put in their early requests from what they’d like to see him bring them on Christmas morning. 

During the afternoon visitors can look forward to an eclectic mix of musical entertainment from local groups on two outdoor stages and other on-street entertainment.

The fun-packed day rounds off at 5pm with the ceremonial switching on of Llangollen’s legendary Christmas lights and a firework extravaganza. 

Llangollen Christmas Festival is organised by a group of dedicated community volunteers. It costs over £4,000 to stage each year and is self-funding.

The festival aims to provide a free family-orientated event in the safety of the town centre with surplus funds being donated to Wales Air Ambulance and local community groups.

Over the last couple of years the police have estimated that the spectacular event draws over 2,000 people into town during the course of the afternoon.

For the third year the festival has teamed up with Light Up Local Food, a project aimed at promoting Llangollen-based food and drink producers.

Chairman of the festival committee Austin ‘Chem’ Cheminais, who is also the local town crier and a member of the town council, said: “With the help of the community we manage, each year, to raise just about enough to fund the event and give a little to charity.

“Last year’s festival was particularly successful thanks to the good weather and the feedback from those attending was very positive.

“The ‘market’ feel to the event provided by Light UP Local Food was particularly commented upon and helped to attract visitors from much further afield.

“Once again we’re expecting a bumper crowd to come along and help us to give a great early start to Christmas.” 

Festival organisers have also arranged for free parking throughout the day at local car parks.

llanblogger's guide to the 2019 election in Clwyd South

llanblogger has produced this guide to the General Election battle in the local Clwyd South constituency.

The seat has been held for Labour by Susan Elan Jones since 2010.

In the 2017 General Election she held on to it with a majority of 4,356. The Welsh Conservatives’ Simon Baynes, who is once again contesting the seat, came in second place.    

According to analysis by electionpolling.co.uk, Clwyd South is at number 72 in the Conservatives’ list of target seats.

2017 General Election result

Susan Elan Jones LAB 19,002 share of vote 50.7% swing +13.5

Simon Baynes CON     14,646                        39.1%           +8.7 

Chris Allen PLAID            2,293                            6.1%          -4.2 

Jeanette Stefani Bassford-Barton UKIP  802      2.1%           -13.5 

Bruce Roberts LIB                                731       2.0%           -1.9 

In the 2016 EU referendum the constituency voted Leave by 59.88%, according to estimates from the House of Commons Library.

Five candidates will contest the seat on December 12, including incumbent Susan Elan Jones for Labour and challengers Simon Baynes for the Welsh Conservatives and Christopher Allen for Plaid Cymru. Also fighting are Jay (Jamie) Adams for the Brexit Party and Calum Davies for the Welsh Liberal Democrats.

Here is a brief guide to each of the candidates:

Jay (Jamie) Adams

Welsh Brexit Party

Mr Adams is a 31-year-old area sales manager in the construction industry.

He has worked for three major PLC companies in senior sales positions which he says has taught him the importance of good negotiation skills, determination and hard work. He is married and is the father to a four-year-old girl.

He says he is standing to protect democracy for his family and future generations and does not feel like any of the current parties represent him, his friends or family. He feels like Westminster has turned their back on him and everything he cares about.

Christopher Allen

Plaid Cymru

Aged 52 and living in Trevor he was born in Warwickshire and has lived in Clwyd South for 20 years.

He works as a production engineer in Llangollen. His wife is a teacher in Llangollen and they have two children.

He says that after becoming increasingly frustrated with politics at UK level and the inability of the system to adequately represent Wales, he joined Plaid Cymru in 2015. He stood for election in 2017.

Mr Allen said: “My challenge is to represent everyone here, and not prioritise one community over another. I’m standing again because I want to stand up for everyone and make Clwyd South, and wider Wales, healthier and happier for all our citizens.”

Simon Baynes

Welsh Conservatives

Simon Baynes from Chirk is a former businessman, founder of the charity Concertina – Music for the Elderly and author of the recently published book “Lake Vyrnwy – The Story of a Sporting Hotel”.  

He stood in Clwyd South in 2017, increasing the Conservative vote by almost 4,000.

Mr Baynes said: “I am extremely pleased to have been selected, and I will be campaigning hard on the issues that matter most to the people of Clwyd South.”

He says his number one priority is Brexit. 

Calum Davies

Welsh Liberal Democrats

Mr Davies is a 23-year-old and from Gwynedd. He is a first language Welsh speaker. Currently, he works in retail, he has always had a passion for politics and wanting to help the people of the local area and contribute to Clwyd South having a brighter future. 

He says he will put the interests of Clwyd South first by fighting to stop the Conservatives’ “extreme” Brexit that will likely to hit Wales hard, with its key industries of tourism and agriculture.  

Susan Elan Jones

Welsh Labour

Ms Jones has represented Clwyd South since 2010.

She went to Ponciau, Grango and Ruabon schools, and Bristol and Cardiff universities. After university, Susan taught English in Japan.

She won cross-party support to introduce a bill to Parliament that sought to review sentencing for unlicensed or uninsured drivers who kill or seriously injure people.

After serving as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Harriet Harman she was a member of Labour’s frontbench team between 2011 and 2016. She is currently a member of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee and the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments.