Search is on for unsung social care heroes

* MC Wynne Evans.

A search has been launched to find the unsung heroes and heroines of social care in Wales who have “risen magnificently” to the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Entries are being sought for the 2022 Wales Care Awards, to honour the skill and devotion of people who work in social care looking after vulnerable children and adults.

The event is making a welcome return after being cancelled during the last two years because of the pandemic

The awards were introduced Care Forum Wales to inspire excellence in the care sector.

As ever, this year's event will take place in the magnificent surroundings of City Hall in Cardiff, on Friday, October 21. The deadline for nominations is Friday, April 29.

Anybody who has been nominated over the past two years will be automatically entered this time.

Short listed finalists will receive a Gold, Silver or Bronze Wales Care Award, an invitation for themselves and a guest to the Oscars-style gala award ceremony.

The event will be hosted by the top opera singer, Wynne Evans, perhaps best known these days as Gio Compario, the moustachioed tenor from the Go Compare TV ads.

There are over 150,000 people in Wales receiving social care and the sector employs more than 80,000 staff. That's equivalent to five per cent of the Welsh workforce.

Mario Kreft MBE, the chair of Care Forum Wales and the founder of the Wales Care Awards, "Care Forum Wales is engaged at every level in trying to raise the status of the social care profession and in particular the value to society of the many thousands of social care workers who provide such an important service to communities across Wales.

"The Wales Care Awards is now firmly established as one of the highlights in the Welsh social care calendar although over the past two years everything had to be put on hold because of the pandemic.

“Front line staff working in care homes and in domiciliary care have been in the eye of the Coronavirus storm, protecting the most vulnerable people in Wales from the ravages of this dreadful virus.

“The pandemic has caused unprecedented challenges and our fantastic workforce responded heroically, putting their own lives on the line to shield their beloved residents and staff.

“Care Forum Wales continues to campaign vigorously to ensure that these frontline heroes and heroines are properly rewarded.

“In Wales, pay rates for carers are effectively determined by local councils who set the level of fees care homes and domiciliary care companies receive.

“Most local authorities and health boards use a formula which calculates how much they want to allocate towards all care home costs, including what staff are paid.

As a result, wage levels have been unfairly suppressed by the local authorities who have managed the budgets for a quarter of a century.

“This  is an opportunity to nominate the champions and ambassadors of social care and contribute to raising public awareness of the vital contribution of our sector, a contribution that has been even greater during the nightmare of the past two years.

"The dedication, professionalism and quality of the workforce within the care sector are an absolute inspiration.

"It is occasions like the awards night that enables Care Forum Wales to recognise and celebrate such skills, talents and heroic commitment.

"Our aim is to acknowledge the unstinting and often remarkable dedication of the unsung heroes and heroines working in the care sector.

"It is always a pleasure to honour the contribution of all the finalists. Each and every one of them should be very proud of their achievement.

"We are now accepting entries for the 2022 awards and we are looking forward to a fantastic occasion during which the dedicated men and women who work in social care can enjoy their well-deserved moment in the sun."

* Further information, including nomination forms can be found on https://walescareawards.co.uk/ or you can call 01978 755400 or email janet@careforumwales.co.uk

Updated story: Council admits damage to bridge and says repairs are underway

* The picture of the bridge on social media yesterday evening.

Denbighshire County Council has admitted that stones were ‘displaced’ from Llangollen Bridge by contractors working on the town’s 2020 Project yesterday afternoon. 

They say work is now going on to replace the stones while a full site survey is carried out to see what other work may be needed.   

Pictures were posted on social media yesterday afternoon showing what seemed to be cracks in the stonework of the ancient monument as the contractors worked on the pavement to renew pavements on Castle Street above.

Llangollen town councillor Stuart immediately asked questions about the consequences of any damage to the bridge, which is one of the Seven Wonders of Wales, and urged that a full structural survey being carried out.

This morning the county council has told llanblogger: “Stones displaced on Castle Street Bridge in Llangollen on Thursday afternoon are currently being relocated back into position. 

“During ongoing public realm improvement works in the town, a small number of stones were displaced from the bridge during the removal of the base of a street lighting column. 

“Work is ongoing to put them back into position and there is no risk to the structural integrity of the bridge. 

“A full survey of the site is being carried out in partnership with CADW to determine what further repair works will be required.”

Stuart Davies said yesterday evening: “Back in 2017, when I served as a county councillor for the area, we received a report from engineers to say that water ingress had caused some damage to the structure of the bridge. They said it was alright for the moment but that we would have to keep an eye on it.

“I have now written to the county council’s chief executive and leader to say that what appears to have happened yesterday means that we should have a structural engineer take a good look at it to see if there has been any damage which might weaken the bridge.”

He added: “If there has been any damage, repairs cannot be done quickly as this is a Grade 1 Listed structure and an ancient monument for which permission needs first to be obtained from CADW.

“If there has been any damage there is also the question of whether heavy traffic can still be diverted through Llangollen and over the bridge as happens when the A483/A5 viaduct is closed.

“These are the questions I have asked of the county council leaders.”  

Residents reminded to vote in elections on May 5

Denbighshire County Council is reminding residents to make sure they are registered to vote in the County Council and Town, Community and City Council elections taking place on Thursday, May 5.

Voting also ensures residents have a say on the issues of the day while being on the electoral register can maintain people’s credit rating.

In order to vote in the upcoming elections, people’s name needs to be on the electoral register.  Residents are urged to check the letter that has been sent to homes, to ensure everyone entitled to vote is on the list.

Everyone is responsible for registering themselves – if their name or the name of another person residing at your address is not on the list, then they are not registered.

* To register, go to: www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

The deadline is midnight on Thursday 14 April to register to vote.  People also have until 5pm on Tuesday 19 April to apply for a postal vote and 5pm on Tuesday 26 April to apply for a proxy vote.

 

Have your say on management plan for local beauty spots

Members of the public can have their say on a draft management plan for the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley.

A consultation has been launched for the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty draft Management Plan 2020-2025.

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) contain some of the most beautiful, spectacular and dramatic areas of countryside in Wales and have strict guidelines for the conservation of landscape.

The Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB covers approximately 390 square kilometres, stretching from the coastal hills near Prestatyn to the north and extending as far south as the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and the Berwyn Mountains.

It includes land in Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham and is managed by the three county councils with Denbighshire County Council as the lead authority for the joint AONB committee.

Cllr Tony Thomas, Denbighshire County Council’s Lead Member for Housing and Communities, and Chair of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB Joint Committee, said: “In late 2020, Denbighshire County Council on behalf of the joint AONB committee carried out a consultation which was used to help develop this draft management plan.

“Now the draft management plan has been written, the AONB committee is keen to understand whether the contents and aims reflect what people told us was important.

“We know that many residents and visitors enjoy visiting the area every year and it is therefore important people have their say on the future management of the AONB by taking part in this consultation.”

* The consultation runs between 9th March and 20th April 2022 and to get involved and have your say visit https://countyconversation.denbighshire.gov.uk/project/661

Hard copies of the management plan are available for viewing in:

Loggerheads Country Park Visitor Centre, Ruthin Road, CH7 5LH

Llangollen Library, Castle Street, Llangollen, LL20 8NU

Hundreds join hospice's walk along Llangollen Canal

* Above and below: People who took part in the canal walk.

Hundreds of walkers joined the popular Llangollen Canal Walk to support Hope House and Tŷ Gobaith Children’s Hospices, raising more than £15,000. 

The event, which was held last Sunday saw walkers take in the stunning Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and beautiful canal-side scenery under stunning sunshine.   

The 10-mile walk began early at The Trevor Basin before ramblers headed over the aqueduct towards the Poachers’ Pocket and back again. 

Fundraiser Cat Dowdeswell said: “It was amazing to have everyone back together for our Llangollen Canal Walk.  

“Our supporters really do make the events and in the glorious sunshine, we all had a lot of fun.  

"To raise more than £15,000 is incredible and we would love to thank everyone who joined us on the day and supported us to reach this amount, which will do so much to help support children and their families who receive care at Hope House and Tŷ Gobaith."

The event was sponsored by Wrexham-based Net World Sports.  

* If you were unable to take part, but would still like to donate then you can do by visiting www.hopehouse.org.uk/donate

Latest Cittaslow webinar is tomorrow evening

 
For the latest in its series of community conversation webinars Cittalow Llangollen is holding an online session on the theme of Community, Health and Wellbeing tomorrow (Wednesday) March 9, starting at 6.45pm.

Speakers will be Eleri Jones of Denbighshire Citizens Advice, Margaret Sutherland of the Pengwern Community Project and Rebecca Roberts of Nature for Health.

* To obtain the link should you wish to attend, email: townclerk@llangollentowncouncil.gov.uk

Railway now protected against vandalism thanks to local firm

* Francis Johnson, managing director, and Mel Pengelly, director of Parallel Security with Phil Coles, vice chairman of Llangollen Railway (centre).

* One of the two vandalised railcars, now fully repaired and in service.

A local security company has come to the aid of the Llangollen Railway (LR) following the vandalism of several of its historic items of rolling stock last August. 

During the incidents two 60-year-old railcars were daubed with graffiti and had windows broken.

Parallel Security is a Welsh security provider based in Mold, which prides itself on supporting local communities and businesses.  

When its directors heard about the vandalism they quickly contacted the railway to offer their security services

Managing director Francis Johnson and director Mel Pengelly arranged a meeting with railway vice-chairman Phil Coles to discuss what had happened and how Parallel may be able to help prevent similar attacks happening again.

After several site surveys and discussions over potential issues with securing the very remote storage yard where the vandalism took place, a plan was put together and offered to the railway free of charge to help protect their carriages and engines from theft and vandalism.

Parallel has provided state-of-the-art CCTV, which is now installed at the rail yard. 

The cameras are monitored 24 hours a day and use artificial intelligence and motion detection to secure the areas.  

If required, a Parallel Response vehicle will also attend to police the areas should an alarm be activated.  

Senior management of the railway also have the facility to look at the cameras using mobile technology on their smart phones, giving additional operational and Health & Safety functionalities in addition to the system’s security provision.

Francis Johnson said: "It was great to be able to support Llangollen Railway in this way, but we obviously wish that this incident had not have happened in the first place.  

"It is vitally important to our business to support the Welsh community in this way and we are more than happy to support the railway on an ongoing basis to enable the services it provides to the public to continue without disruption from theft and vandalism."

Phil Coles thanked Parallel Security for their speedy response to a post on Facebook showing photos of the vandalism. 

Phil said “We’ve had a lot of challenges over the past 12 months and could really have done without damage to the rolling stock that we have been able to retain. With our finances continuing to be stretched as we work to re-open the railway to Corwen and invest in our existing infrastructure, Parallel’s generous support to manage our security is very much appreciated indeed. 

"It’s a great example of how local businesses can pull together and support one another through challenging times. As we look to reposition the Llangollen Railway at the heart of the local community we hope to engage with other local businesses and organisations for everyone’s benefit."

The railway successfully reopened for the 2022 season on Saturday February 19 using two of the diesel railcars that suffered from the vandalism, which have been fully repaired at considerable expense.

Railcar services will run every Friday to Sunday throughout March, with steam and diesel locomotive-hauled services due to return at Easter.