MP signs holocaust book of commitment

Clwyd South MP Simon Baynes this week signed the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Book of Commitment in the Houses of Parliament, marking Holocaust Memorial Day 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

After signing he said: "May we never forget the persecution of the Jewish people. I know my constituents in Clwyd South will join me in pledging to honour those who died in the concentration camps of Europe during the Holocaust, paying tribute to the survivors and ensuring that anti-semitism is eradicated from our lives.”

Police appeal follows serious A5 collision

Two people sustained serious injuries following a road traffic collision on the A5 in Glyndyfrdwy near Corwen yesterday afternoon (Wednesday, January 29th).

North Wales Police were called shortly before 3:30pm to a report of a two vehicle collision involving a Honda Civic and a Ford Ka.

The driver of the Honda was initially taken to the Wrexham Maelor Hospital but he has since been transferred to hospital in Stoke.

The female driver of the Ford Ka was airlifted by the Air Ambulance to hospital in Stoke.

Both have sustained serious but not life threatening injuries.

PC Anja Macleod of the Roads Policing Unit is appealing for any potential witnesses to come forward. She said: “The black Honda was travelling towards Corwen from Llangollen with the Ford Ka travelling in the opposite direction and I am appealing to anybody who saw either vehicle prior to the collision, or anybody who may have been travelling in the area and who may have dash cam footage to contact us.”

Anybody with information that could assist with the investigation is asked to contact officers at the Roads Policing Unit on 101 or via the live web chat quoting incident number Y012719.

Snowdrop service planned at St Tysilio's Church

* The carpet of snowdrops beginning to emerge at St Tysilio's Church. 

The picturesque church of St Tysilio’s in Llantysilio will celebrate the vast array of snowdrops in its churchyard with a special service on Sunday February 9.

The Snowdrop Service is open to all and takes place overlooking the Horseshoe Falls, the start of Llangollen Canal, a World Heritage site.  

The carpet of snowdrops which is beginning to emerge between the gravestones at St Tysilio's Church.

A5 re-opens following serious collision

Emergency services were called to a crash just outside of Llangollen earlier this evening, according to Wrexham.com

The incident took place on the A5 at Glyndyfrdwy – with police asking people to avoid the area as the road was closed.

The air ambulance was also called to the area just before 4pm, and took off around 30 minutes later heading to Stoke hospital.

The incident involved two vehicles.

Traffic Wales said on Twitter around 7.40pm that the road had been re-opened in both directions.

Denbighshire supports day for young carers

Denbighshire County Council is backing an initiative to support young carers.

Young Carers Awareness Day, led by the Carers Trust charity, is taking place tomorrow (Thursday) to raise awareness of young people looking after someone in their family, or a friend, who is ill, disabled or misuses drugs or alcohol.

As part of its Corporate Plan, the council has committed to support carers by improving the services that exist and ensuring carers of all ages are aware of the services and support available.

Cllr Huw Hilditch-Roberts, lead member for Education, Children’s Services and Public Engagement, said: “Young carers play an important role in our society when they themselves are having to cope with growing up.

“They are to be congratulated for the support they provide and I want to let them know we are working hard to support them.  Young Carers Awareness Day aims to make carers aware of their rights, to inform them of where to get help and support and to raise awareness of the needs of carers.  I would encourage any young carers to get in touch so we can let them know about the help that is available.”

The Young Carers Service in Denbighshire is provided by WCD Young Carers through Credu Connecting Carers and is currently working with 462 known young carers in the county.

Denbighshire schools will be holding a number of events to mark Young Carers Awareness Day.

* For information and support for young carers contact Denbighshire’s Children and Families Gateway on 01824 712200 or cfsgateway@denbighshire.gov.uk.  Alternatively contact WCD Young Carers for access to information, training, groups, activities, days out, and support on 01597 823800, info@wcdyc.org.uk, or https://credu.cymru/for-you/meet-wcd/ycnw/about-wcd/

Welsh towns to get £90m boost from government

Wales’s towns are to receive £90m of additional investment as part of a new Welsh Government approach to transforming town centres across the country, Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government, Hannah Blythyn has announced.

The Transforming Towns package includes measures to increase footfall by making sure the public sector locate services in town centre locations, tackle empty buildings and land to help bring them back into use, and greening our town centres.

Towns are vital to environmental, economic, social and cultural well-being in Wales – around 40% of our population live in small towns of less than 20,000 people but nearly everyone identifies emotionally with a town – or city – in some way.

Many towns are struggling in the wake of declining retail sales and the way we use town centres has changed.

To help breathe new life into town centres, the Welsh Government has unveiled a new ‘Town Centre First’ approach, which means locating services and buildings in town centres wherever possible. 

As part of this approach, all Welsh Government departments will put the health and vibrancy of town centres as the starting point for their location decision-making processes.

Utilising this approach, the public sector is also being encouraged to support towns by locating offices, facilities and services within them in order to drive footfall and create or sustain vibrancy.

To support this new approach, the Welsh Government is announcing a £90m investment to transform Wales’ town centres. Investments include:

• £36m for town centre regeneration projects, extending our current capital programme for a further year and bringing in an anticipated total investment of almost £58m;
• £13.6m to tackle empty and dilapidated buildings and land. This will enable local authorities to take enforcement action to bring empty buildings and land back into use;
• £2m for coastal towns to support projects to an anticipated value of £3m which will contribute to town centre / high street regeneration;
• £10m of additional funding for the Town Centre Loans scheme, taking the total to £41.6m, to bring vacant and underutilised buildings back into use in our town centres;
• £5m funding for Green Infrastructure and Biodiversity within town centres. This will support greening projects which will deliver environmental benefits and make town centres more attractive places to visit.

The £90m Transforming Towns package builds on the £800m investment in our towns as a result of significant Welsh Government investment since 2014.

The Deputy Minister made the announcement at the Queen’s Market building in Rhyl, which has received £5m of Welsh Government funding. This forms part of a total investment of £16.5m in the town centre as a result of regeneration schemes.

St Collen's bells toll for Holocaust remembrance

* The bell-ringing team get ready in the bell tower for the quarter peal.

To mark National Holocaust Memorial Day and the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp bell ringers at St Collen's Church rang a quarter peal this afternoon  (Monday) starting from 4.30pm.

This meant about 45 minutes of continuous ringing with the bells half-muffled as they traditionally are for Remembrance Sunday.

Six ringers took part and the quarter peal was made up of 1,260 changes.

The bells at St Collen's, high up in the tower, were installed in 1887 to mark Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.