Some seniors to get gift packs to celebrate VE Day

Llangollen Food Share is sending out gift packs to some of the town's senior citizens to help them celebrate the 75th anniversary of VE Day.  

People living in Llangollen's care homes and sheltered or supported accommodation will each receive a special pack containing a cake, an apple, a note and a commemorative keepsake.  

The distribution has been made possible thanks to funding from Llangollen Town Council, Llangollen Coronavirus Help Group, Llangollen Foodshare, and a generous contribution from an anonymous donor who was a baby when the war ended in Europe on May 8, 1945.

The gift packs are going out to coincide with the Town Council’s live streaming of its virtual Stay at Home VE Day Party on Friday afternoon.

Steve Kennedy of the Swan Inn at Pontfadog, who has done much to help the town’s coronavirus support group, used his culinary skills and his kitchen to produce homemade cakes for the gift packs. 

Dee Valley Produce has given 300 apples to go in the packs and Gecko T-shirts produced the bespoke VE Day anniversary keepsakes. 

Cat Meade, co-ordinator of the coronavirus support group, has assisted with the demographics and contents and its volunteers are distributing the gift packs this Thursday and Friday.

Kirsty Jones, who leading the project, said: “In conversation with Gareth Thomas, the Town Clerk, we realised that many of our older generation will be unable to go out at all on VE Day as they are shielding, in stark contrast to the sort of street party and parade we would ideally have had to celebrate the 75th anniversary.  

“We therefore decided to take a little bit of the celebration to them, so gift bags will be delivered to the doors of Llangollen's care homes, sheltered and supported housing. 

“Llangollen's elders will receive a bit of cheer in these difficult times, and will be assured that Llangollen remembers the sacrifice of so many before the guns fell silent in Europe.

“I'd like to thank the many individuals, funders and businesses that have made this project possible.

“It is more proof positive that community spirit endures in our #Llangollenfamily.”

Llangollen Town Council’s Stay at Home VE Day Party/Parti Aros Gartref Dydd BE Llangollen, is to be streamed live on the Llangollen & District Noticeboard Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/220715008050894/ at 3pm on Friday, May 8^th, and also a little later on the new Stay at Home VE Day Party/Parti Aros Gartref Dydd BE Llangollen page https://www.facebook.com/Parti-Aros-Gartref-Dydd-B-E-Llangollen-V-E-Day-Stay-at-Home-Party-103158784706199/?epa=SEARCH_BOX

Latest Welsh Government updates on coronavirus

Latest updates on coronavirus from the Welsh Government are:

• Education Minister Kirsty Williams has published a policy statement outlining what the Welsh Government is doing to support universities and students dealing with the impact of coronavirus.
• https://gov.wales/supporting-students-and-universities-dealing-impact-coronavirus

• Finance Minister, Rebecca Evans has announced that an extra £248,000 will be available to local authorities across Wales to help strengthen their cyber resilience in response to the coronavirus crisis.
• 
  
• To help to maintain high standards of cyber security during this particularly challenging time, the Welsh Government has brought forward its cyber funding plans to support our local authorities.  
• 
  
• Each local authority in Wales will receive an initial grant of £9,000 to help address their priority needs, with the option to apply for additional money from a £50,000 reserve fund.
• https://gov.wales/new-cyber-grant-scheme-announced-local-authorities-wales

• Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, has thanked independent food and drink sellers who have kept local supply chains flowing and supported NHS staff during the ongoing pandemic.
• https://gov.wales/minister-thanks-welsh-sellers-and-producers-who-have-kept-their-communities-supplied-and-fed-nhs

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Where to find the latest information

• Public Health Wales provides a daily update about the number of cases of coronavirus in Wales. It is available at: https://phw.nhs.wales/news/public-health-wales-statement-on-novel-coronavirus-outbreak/
• Information about coronavirus is available on the Welsh Government’s website at https://gov.wales/coronavirus and https://llyw.cymru/coronafeirws
• Queries about support for businesses, including about eligibility for the Economic Resilience Fund? Visit the Business Wales website https://businesswales.gov.wales/coronavirus-advice/
• If you can help the effort to produce PPE in Wales please visit https://businesswales.gov.wales/news-and-blogs/news/provision-critical-equipment-and-personal-protection-equipment-ppe
• The Welsh Government holds a daily media briefing about coronavirus. These are on-the-record, on-camera and routinely supported by a BSL translator. They will be held at 12.30pm every week day. They are live-streamed on our @WelshGovernment Twitter channel and are broadcast live on BBC One Wales and S4C.
• First Minister Mark Drakeford held today’s press conference – you can watch again at https://twitter.com/WelshGovernment/status/1257271774133116928?s=20

 

Tune in at 3pm today to see Town Council's virtual VE Day party

Later today Llangollen Town Council is to stage a virtual celebration of the day the Second World War ended in Europe 75 years ago.

Earlier this year, the council tasked a small group to begin planning for a party to celebrate the milestone anniversary of VE Day.

The aim was to put this on at the town hall and to include a tea dance, music of the era and to generally make merry.

The coronavirus lockdown appeared to put an end to the project - until the group came up with the idea of staging the celebration online instead.

So at 3pm today they will live streaming the big VE Day Stay at Home Party on Facebook for what they hope will be a large social media audience.

The professionally-shot programme, which runs for half an hour, will feature memories of the wartime era recorded via Skype with a group of residents at the local Old Vicarage Care Home, favourite songs from the period such at A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square and Goodnight Sweetheart sung by local performers and a poignant wreath-laying ceremony by the town’s branch of the Royal British Legion.

Eleri Jones, a local actor and director currently on the trainee directorship at Theatr Clwyd, will perform local poet I D Hooson's The Red Poppy against the backdrop of 75 ceramic poppies placed near the war memorial on Centenary Square.

The programme, which was pre-recorded observing strict social distancing rules, will end with host and well-known local singer Charlie Jones performing Dame Vera Lynn’s iconic We’ll Meet Again.

Deputy town mayor Cllr Issy Richards, who heads the council’s Remembrance Day Working Group which organised the virtual party, said: “When the lockdown began we immediately cancelled our planned party at the town hall but then we decided that a version of the event could be streamed on social media.

“We have been extremely fortunate in having a Llangollen-based professional programme maker as director on the production and also being able to draw on the talents, in terms of organisation and performance, of quite a few people from this area.

“We were also very lucky to have a number of marvellous people still living in our community who remember the war very clearly and who allowed us to record their recollections of the time.”

* To tune into the VE-Day film, go to: https://www.facebook.com/groups/220715008050894/?ref=bookmarks

It will also be streamed later on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Parti-Aros-Gartref-Dydd-B-E-Llangollen-V-E-Day-Stay-at-Home-Party-103158784706199/?epa=SEARCH_BOX

Air ambulance called to Llangollen this afternoon

* The air ambulance takes off after attending the local incident. Picture by Stuart Davies.

The Wales Air Ambulance was called to Llangollen earlier this afternoon to attend an incident following which a casualty was taken to hospital

An air ambulance spokesperson said: "I can confirm that Wales Air Ambulance attended an incident in the Llangollen area this afternoon (04/05/20). 

"Our medics arrived at 15:28 and, following triage and treatment at the scene, the patient was conveyed to hospital by a Welsh Ambulance Service land crew. Our involvement concluded at 16:00."

Do you know any more about this wartime picture?

The group in charge of next Friday’s celebration of the 75^th anniversary of VE Day arranged by Llangollen Town Council has been sent this fantastic old picture showing a scene which it believes is connected to the event.

From the collection of Llangollen Museum, it shows an inter-denominational service at Plas Newydd in 1943, which is all that is known about it.

If you know anything more about the picture, please contact llanblogger@gmail.com

On Friday, May 8^th, as the country does its best amidst the lockdown to celebrate the 75^th anniversary of VE Day, which marked the end of the Second World War in Europe, the Town Council will be marking the occasion in style by staging its own Llangollen Stay at Home Party/Parti Aros Gartref Dydd BE Llangollen.

This is a specially made half-hour film to be streamed live on Facebook with which people can join in without leaving their homes.

The Stay at Home VE Day Party/Parti Aros Gartref Dydd BE Llangollen, is to be streamed live on the Llangollen & District Noticeboard Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/220715008050894/ at 3pm on Friday, May 8^th, and also a little later on the new Stay at Home VE Day Party/Parti Aros Gartref Dydd BE Llangollen page https://www.facebook.com/Parti-Aros-Gartref-Dydd-B-E-Llangollen-V-E-Day-Stay-at-Home-Party-103158784706199/?epa=SEARCH_BOX

Fewer than average Llan businesses apply for Covid-19 grants

* County Councillor Graham Timms.

llanblogger exclusive

Less than three-quarters of eligible Llangollen businesses have so far applied for Welsh Government grants to help them through the coronavirus crisis – lower than the average take-up rate for Denbighshire.

And one of the town’s county councillors is urging them to apply for the cash aid as soon as possible.

Cllr Graham Timms said: “Llangollen has almost 300 businesses that are likely to qualify for a grant of either £10,000 or £25,000.

“However, I’m concerned that some businesses in the town have not applied for this vital support.

“Denbighshire County Council are administering the scheme on behalf of the Welsh Government, but so far only 189 businesses have applied.

“This means that more than 100 who are likely to be eligible have not yet submitted an application.

“Only 65% of Llangollen businesses have applied, a much lower figure than the Denbighshire average of 81%.”

He added: “The small business sector in Llangollen is a vital part of our economy and we need to ensure that they receive all the help that they are entitled to.

“Tourism has been hit very hard by the lockdown, with a devastating effect on all those who work in the sector or benefit by the trade that our visitors bring.

“The closure of shops and the fall in demand for most businesses is putting them under huge financial pressure.

“I urge those who operate from premises that have a rateable value of less than £51,000 who have not yet applied to look carefully at the two grants that are available.

“The application process is by a straightforward online form and payments are usually made within seven to 10 working days.

“There are bound to be some individual problems when dealing with so many applications and I have been kept busy working closely with some local businesses to help resolve some issues. I urge anyone having problems to contact either myself or Cllr Melvyn Mile to help speed things along.”

“I’d like to pay tribute to all the county council staff who have worked so hard at this difficult time to ensure that payments have been made as quickly as possible.

“Most of the staff are home-working at the moment and many have worked evenings, weekends and bank holidays to get the grants paid quickly. Diolchynfawr!”

Grant facts

* Business premises that have a rateable value of £12,000 or less are eligible for a grant of £10,000.

* Those with rateable value of between £12,001 and £51,000 and is in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will get £25,000.

* There are an estimated 293 businesses in Llangollen eligible to apply for grants.

Only 189 businesses (65%) have so far applied.

* In the whole Denbighshire there are an estimated 2,836 eligible businesses of which 2,295  (81%) have applied.

* The county council has so far paid out in 1,699 cases which is 74% of those which have applied.

* The council says it will start to do outreach work and signposting to help ensure that as many of those business that it thinks may be eligible have applied.

Call for tourist hotspots to have Covid-free certification

* Tourists may stay away from places like Llangollen 

unless they can be reassured about their safety.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have called for the introduction of a new certification to help tourists identify when a company is compliant with hygiene measures necessary to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Since the beginning of the lockdown, hundreds of businesses across Wales have been forced to temporarily close or adapt their working practices to help limit the spread of the pandemic.

Many in Llangollen are affected.

This has hit the tourism industry, and areas which rely on tourism, particularly hard. 

It also poses a distinct risk that when the lockdown ends, and businesses reopen, tourists may stay away unless they can be reassured it is safe to return.

In response, the Welsh Liberal Democrats are calling for Visit Wales to bring in their proposed new certification in time for the end of lockdown. 

This would then give companies time to apply and receive their certification before further restrictions are lifted.

Jane Dodds, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said: “It’s important to remember that when this lockdown ends, Covid-19 is not just going to disappear. We must remain vigilant and start thinking about the future, as we cannot simply go back to the way things were overnight.

“So many businesses in our tourist hotspots will struggle when they re-open, unless visitors and customers have confidence that they are meeting a higher level of hygiene standard than before.

“That’s why we are calling for the introduction of a new ‘Clean & Safe’ certification for businesses, as Portugal has. A clear stamp to give tourists the confidence to return after being told to stay away for so long.

"Not only will this reassure potential visitors, it will also encourage businesses to step up their game and play their part in helping prevent a resurgence of this deadly pandemic.

"Visit Wales does an amazing job in promoting our diverse range of communities to the world. I hope they will adopt our proposal to ensure this appeal is robust and strengthened as we move out of lockdown."