Senedd Member praises NHS's 'monumental' Covid jab efforts

* Ken Skates MS with Thomas Halpin, project lead for the vaccination programme (East) and Karen Evans, Assistant Area Director and vaccination programme lead (East). 

Member of the Senedd Ken Skates praised the “monumental” efforts of NHS staff after a visit to Wrexham’s vaccination centre. 

The MS for Clwyd South was invited to join Mark Polin, Chairman of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, at the Catrin Finch Centre at Glyndwr University on Monday (February 15). 

The facility opened on January 26 as one of the health board’s Local Vaccination Centres and has already seen thousands of priority patients given their jabs. 

Mr Skates said: “The team are doing an incredible job and I’m really grateful to the health board for inviting me to go and see how things are going first-hand. I’ve had a lot of feedback recently from constituents saying how impressed they’ve been with the organisation and efficiency at the Mass Vaccination Centre in Deeside and here in Wrexham, and it’s clear to see why.” 

The centre has been open six days a week as the roll-out programme across North Wales continues to accelerate, and Plas Madoc Leisure Centre has also been lined up as a second LVC in Wrexham.

Mr Skates’ visit followed the news that Wales had become the first UK nation to reach the milestone of offering jabs to everyone in the first four priority groups. 

He said: “It really has been a monumental effort by everyone involved and it’s something we can all be immensely proud of. Betsi Cadwaladr was the first health board in Wales to hit 100,000 and it’s fantastic to see the roll-out up here going from strength to strength. They deserve huge credit.” 

Mr Skates added: “We hit our first milestone ahead of schedule, but no one is resting on their laurels. The next phase is already under way and the health board has begun offering appointments to people in priority groups five and six as well as arranging second dose appointments to all those in the first four groups.” 

The next phase of the roll-out will see vaccinations offered to people aged 65-69; people aged 16 to 64 with an underlying health condition; younger adults in residential care settings and unpaid carers who are looking after vulnerable people. 

Mr Skates added: “Arrangements are in place to make sure no one is left behind. If someone missed an appointment because they were ill, or they changed their mind about having the vaccine, a new appointment will be made for them."

Tidy Town Team's 500 unpaid hours for Llangollen

* Tidy Town Team members in their high viz jackets donated by McDonalds.

Llangollen's Tidy Town Team has had another busy year despite the constraints of lockdown.

The band of volunteers' varied programme of activities has included tasks ranging from clearing litter from the path to one of the town's iconic landmarks to helping with the delivery of flu jabs to hundreds of residents.

The team's 500 hours of unpaid work on behalf of the community is detailed in its annual report, prepared by co-ordinator David Davies, which will be presented to the Town Council at its meeting tonight (Tuesday).

His report says: "Despite the shambolic variation of Covid rules and regulations since March, the team has still managed to undertake a significant amount of work during the year.

"Our litter picking activities this year specifically targeted Ceiriog top road/the Gwernant and the canalside opposite Dinas Bran School plus litter picking at all other work locations.

"We have continued to thin timber and clear scrub in Cemetery Woodlands and with DCC Countryside Services, cleared out the stream and tidied around the Army Cadet HQ off Wern Road. 

"As this is a key area clearly visible adjacent to the footpath to the Castle, we hope that the new lease between DCC and the Army will now clearly identify who is responsible for the on-going grounds maintenance.

"During the dry months of the year we have painted or re-varnished a number of seats around the town along Riverside Walk and in Riverside Gardens behind the Ponsonby.

"Our maintenance of the Centenary Town Square continues with weeding the beds and tidying especially for Remembrance Sunday. This year we also refreshed all the seating with a new coating of wood preservative.

"A couple of the team have cleared local footpaths and repaired broken stiles whilst others have cut the hedging at the Health Centre and tidied around the Hawthorn.

"At the request of the Llangollen Health Centre, we embarked on a special venture this year. Over two and a half days we provided traffic management duties for their drive-thru flu vaccination clinics at the Pavilion.  A successful operation vaccinating some 2,500 people.

"Regretfully this year three long-serving members have left us - Alan Williams has sadly died, and Bill Saunders (95) and Les Potts (89) have decided to retire from active duties.

"A big thank you to them, and all the other members of the team for still contributing over 500 hours of voluntary work this year.

"Our thanks also to all our supporters for their help and encouragement including McDonalds this year for our new hi viz jackets and grass cutting equipment."

Health centre holds Covid-19 jabs clinic in Glyn Ceiriog

* Volunteers guide people into the community centre car park.

* People waiting in the car park for their turn.

* Going inside for the jabs.

Llangollen Health Centre has been holding a Covid-19 vaccination clinic for people aged 65 and over and Glyn Ceiriog Community Centre, where it also has a surgery, today. 

Those receiving their jabs have once again praised the efficiency of the staff  and volunteers involved both inside and outside the centre.

People were parking up, going into the building three at a time and receiving their injections from staff manning three separate inoculation areas. 

They then had to wait for 15 minutes before driving off to ensure there had been no adverse reaction to the injection.

County councillors outline changes to town centre parking

* Market Street car park where changes are due to take place. 

County councillors Graham Timms and Melvyn Mile have been successful in getting Denbighshire to lift the ‘one size fits all’ parking regulations in the county to enable Llangollen’s own problems to be addressed, they say. 

“We have been asking the county for 30 minutes free parking in Llangollen’s town centre car parks for a while, but we were told that car parking rules don’t allow for local changes.  

"But in a recent committee meeting we’ve been successful in getting the county to agree to relax the rules in Llangollen," they say in a joint statement. 

The two councillors add: “Parking continues to be one of Llangollen’s biggest problems and we are determined to work with the community on solutions that will improve the current situation.

"Parking rules will be better able to respond to local needs. This will help nearby residents who 'pop and shop' to support local businesses in the town centre more easily. 

"It will also allow Llangollen to adapt its parking regulations to make it easier for residents in the centre of the town to park closer to their homes.

“We want to strike a balance between local residents who live and shop in the town and the large number of visitors who come to visit. 

"The widely-consulted Llangollen 2020 plans aim to provide a good deal for residents so that the parking works for them whilst continuing to encourage visitors to spend time in the town centre.

"Changes in the Market Street car park will also provide extra spaces to increase capacity and we also need free parking for ‘pop and shop’ visits. 

“The emphasis will be on providing more short stay parking in the centre. Town centre businesses rely on both locals and visitors and so we need to have a plan that supports them too. 

 “The council committee agreed that Llangollen could have an exception to the current rules and introduce a pilot project where parking charges could be varied but on the basis that, where possible, there should be no net loss in car park income from all the car parks in Llangollen town centre. 

"Changes to the parking regulations are expected to be introduced over the winter 2021/2 and will coincide with the much more extensive street works in Llangollen’s town centre, many of which were outlined in the Arcadis Llangollen 2020 report."

High tech revolution to keep bobbies on the beat

* Police Crime commissioner North Wales Arfon Jones (Right) with superintendent Paul Jones of North Wales Police.                                          

A police boss has revealed a high tech revolution will help to keep bobbies out on the beat.

North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones has described the project to equip every frontline police officer with a sophisticated mobile communications app that cuts form-filling and even checks fingerprints as a “game-changer”.

The app will be loaded on mobile phones and laptops as part of the four-year digital communications strategy which also aims to keep communities across the region and their local policing teams in close contact.

It will mean that officers will be able to spend more time out on the streets catching crooks and helping the public and cut lengthy bureaucracy back at the police station.

The project is one of the last flagship programmes of Commissioner Jones, who has announced will be standing down at the next election which is due to be held on May 6.

His final precept-setting proposal for a 29p weekly increase, a 5.5 per cent rise costing Band D Council Taxpayers just £14.94 extra a year, has just been approved unanimously by the North Wales Police and Crime Panel.

Superintendent Paul Jones is said: “The development of this frontline app for mobile phones and laptops will revolutionise the way we work.

“It will bring North Wales Police to the forefront of the Forces in the UK when it comes to digital frontline capability.

“We aim to have an all-encompassing app that enables us to do everything we need to do out there - it will even check someone’s fingerprints.

“It will be very user-friendly and as easy to operate as any commercial app– one function on it will search all the different computer systems that we need to access simultaneously, including the Police National Computer. It will all be quicker, more intuitive and more accurate.

“If an officer can do all their paperwork at the scene electronically, without duplication and without having to go back to the station, it’s a big saving of time which can then be spent on the front line.

“At the same time if the control room contacts an officer, a lot of  the information needed will already be on the mobile phone or laptop, even including satnav directions. This means that the officer won’t have to waste time taking notes, speaking to control or conducting lengthy computer searches.

“It is a significant investment but the time we will save and can reinvest in the community makes it money well spent.

“We have worked with app providers to ensure we will have the same connectivity as other forces who have similar apps.

“We have also worked with our officers to prioritise their needs and we hope to have the system finalised for rollout towards the end of the year.

“We do need to undertake a competitive tendering process, conduct functionality tests and make a final assessment, but the plan is to have the app rolled out as soon as we can.

“We want everyone on the frontline whose job will be made more efficient, more accurate and more effective, to have this.

“That includes Community Support Officers and Crime Scene Investigators for example, in addition to response officers and detectives.

Mr Jones, a former Police Inspector himself, said: “As someone who knows what it’s like to be on the frontline of policing, I welcome this and the part played in its introduction by the Chief Constable, Carl Foulkes, who is the National Police Lead on innovation and technology.

“It’s really exciting to be making this announcement because it’s something we’re really proud of and it something that our frontline officers really want and will find of huge benefit to them. It’s going to be a gamechanger.

“This is part of the connected officer’s project which is about giving our officers more time out on the streets by equipping them with devices like laptops, notebooks and mobile phones that can do everything they would once have had to go back to the station to do.

“Instead, they can now do this while they’re out, in the street or even in the local café which means more time with the public.

“It’s a much more efficient use of their time and means they only have to do things once rather than two or three times.”

The project is one of a series of measures set out in the Commissioner’s policing plan.

It’s being launched against a backdrop of £2.9 million of savings identified by Force despite the £33 million a year cuts inflicted on North Wales Police as a result of Conservative austerity cuts since 2010.

The Force’s digital communications project also aims to keep communities and their local policing teams in closer contact and Superintendent Helen Corcoran said: “It will enable members of the local community to get online to reach their local policing teams with any concerns they have.

“At the same time, we can warn the public of specific local threats and keep them up to date with what we are doing, where and when.”

North Wales Police will also be bolstered by 62 new officers with 20 of joining a new task force to spearhead a crime prevention drive helping and another ten bolstering the fight against Serious and Organised Crime in the region.

* For more information on the work of the North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner go to https://www.northwales-pcc.gov.uk/en/home.aspx

Young 'Uns to livestream musical memories show

* Members of the Young 'Uns in a recent performance of Wizard of Oz.

An all-star cast from the junior section of Llangollen Operatic Society are taking a musical trip down memory lane on Saturday evening of next week. 

Prevented from performing in front of a live audience because of the Covid-19 lockdown, a talented team from the Young ‘Uns are going online to livestream a show packed with highlights of their productions going back over the past decade. 

Favourite numbers will come from Annie, The Vackies, Beauty and the Beast, Oliver!, Half a Sixpence, Honk, Bugsy Malone, Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Grease and Wizard of Oz. 

The show which will go live from 7.15pm next Saturday, February 20 on the Young ‘Uns own Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Llangollen-Operatic-Young-Uns-428765077289488 

Taking part will be Shea Ferron, Celyn Orton-Jones, Aled Morris, Katie Clark, Kamil Grzelak, Ethan Le-Cheminant, Ethan Roberts, Grace Roberts, Heledd Edwards plus Cassius Hackforth who is joining for one show. 

According to Shea Ferron, who has played a key role in putting the show together, there is also a possibility of an appearance by Young ‘Uns past members Louise Cielecki and Nathan Lloyd.  

Shea said: “For obvious reasons this year our cast cannot perform a show at the town hall, but a few of our members have teamed up together to create a virtual performance for you all. 

“We will be taken down memory lane with the past 10 years of shows looking at our favourite memories of them and hearing some memorable songs performed by our cast. 

“The livestream starts at 7.15pm with the show beginning at 7.30pm and we look forward to seeing you all there.” 

Father Lee tells Mail how hard pandemic has hit weddings

* Father Lee Taylor conducts a pre-pandemic wedding at St Collen's.

The thoughts of Llangollen’s vicar on the damage being caused to the £14 billion UK wedding industry by the Covid pandemic has been aired in a national newspaper’s website

The Mail online spoke to a group of wedding specialists affected by the lockdown including a hair and make-up artist, a florist, a photographer, a caterer and a cake maker.

Father Lee Taylor, who looks after St Collen’s and three other local churches, gave the priest’s perspective.

While venues are normally fully booked year-round with couples from all over the UK, he said the pandemic has left pews empty, with no help from the Government to cover the £8,000 a year the church makes from both weddings and collection plates.  

He told Mail Online: “Needless to say, it’s been pretty stressful for me recently. There should have been 21 weddings here last year and around the same number planned for this year.

“Most of these couples are now considering postponing their wedding until 2022 because they want a big wedding with all their friends and family in attendance.   

“The cancellation of weddings has not only impacted couples, their families and friends. It has also affected our local congregation to. Many of us are feeling dispirited and a sense of loss. Our local congregations look forward enormously to weddings because they like to feel part of all the preparations and the ceremony. 

“They enjoy connecting with the couple and hearing thier story of how they met and why they think a church wedding is important. It also brings back memories for them too as they think back to their own wedding day.”

Father Lee added: “The cancellation and postponement of weddings has also affected our church financially. The churches income - to pay for bills, maintenance, repairs and mission work etc - relies on the collection plate and the fees we receive from weddings.

“This is our only source of income. Contrary to what many believe, we do not receive financially assistance from the government.  

“There are a few weddings still going ahead this year but on a small scale. I have to follow strict guidelines and am having to consider altering certain components of the marriage service as well as work out a COVID-choreography: how the bride, groom, best man, father-of-the-bride, myself and witnesses will move around during the ceremony. 

“The father-of-the-bride and the best man are unlikely to be from the same household and so this is one example of how it fundamentally alters the format of the marriage ceremony.

“Looking more positively, Zoom has been a great facility. I’ve offered pre-nuptial blessings to couples over Zoom on what would have been their wedding day. Families from all over UK and, more recently, Australia, have joined in on virtual ceremonies.”  

* To see the full story, go to: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9249309/Wedding-industry-reeling-without-post-Covid-roadmap.html?ito=native_share_article-masthead 

* Father Lee has his next Mission Halls to Music Halls online singalong this Sunday at 6pm. Go to: https://www.facebook.com/LlanGroupChurches/