Llangollen RAFA Club has featured in an RAF national news magazine ahead of its sold out ABBA Tribute concert this weekend.
The profile on the club, which also recently had a disability ramp installed for wheelchair access to its outside green, is below:
For the first time ever three of Llangollen’s most popular amateur stage groups are joining forces to present an all-star variety and music hall show to raise funds for the earthquake victims of Turkey and Syria.
Llangollen Operatic Society, Llangollen Twenty Club and The
Collen Players are combining their considerable talents to stage Llangollen on Show for Turkey and Syria
at Llangollen Town Hall over two nights on Thursday and Friday May 11 and 12.
All proceeds will go to support the Disaster Emergency
Committee in which 15 of the UK’s top charities have come together to supply a
lifeline to thousands of survivors of the earthquake which devastated southern
and central Turkey and northern and western Syria on February 6.
Organisers say it will also be the perfect way to
celebrate the coronation of King Charles III which will have taken place the
previous weekend.
The Llangollen entertainers have spent months planning
for the big show which will see each of the groups involved showcasing their
skills to audiences of up 250 on each of the two performances.
The Operatic, an all-singing and dancing outfit, will perform
numbers from the smash-hit shows Hamilton, Six, Oliver Les Miserables and Half
a Sixpence, while the Twenty Club drama
group will present comedy sketches – some specially written for the occasion –
based on their hilarious past hits such as Blackadder and Absolutely Fabulous.
The Collen Players plan to provide a taste of the rip-roaring
Victorian music hall shows for which they have rapidly become famous, with
their founder, Lee Taylor, acting as chairman for the show, which starts each
night at 7.30pm.
There will be a bar and prize raffle on both nights and a
number of local businesses have pledged their financial support.
Tracey Kempster Jones, one of the show’s organisers,
said: “Llangollen is famously bursting with entertainment talent and this will
be a historic occasion because never before have all three of Llangollen’s main
stage groups come together to put on such a show.
“Almost as soon as all of us heard about the dreadful
earthquake in Turkey and Syria we know we had to do something.
“Each of the groups taking part will be presenting an act
based around their particular speciality, be it something from their past musical
productions from the Operatic, selections of the stage comedies which the
Twenty Club does so well, or the rousing sing-along material with which The
Collen Players please their audiences.
“We’ve had some really dedicated people working on the
show, both on stage and behind the scenes, and we’re counting on our respective
regular audiences and others to come along to support this fantastic cause and
have a great night into the bargain.”
* Tickets for the show, priced at £12 (no concessions) are available online at www.ticketsource.co.uk/llangollenoperaticsociety, or from Courtyard Books, Llangollen, and the Llangollen Oggie Shop in Caste Street or on the door on the night. Demand is expected to be such that organisers advise on booking early.
Development work will give Llangollen’s Riverside Park a refreshing new look.
Contractors are working on a raft of new features for the site.
The work has
been made possible through the Welsh Government’s Brilliant Basics funding
round for 2022/23 that is available to enhance parks and recreational spaces.
Brilliant
Basics is a fund to deliver basic small-scale tourism infrastructure
improvements across all of Wales in order to ensure that all visitors have a
positive and memorable experience throughout all aspects of their stay.
A new 9-hole bespoke mini golf is due to be finished end of March with holes representing places and features of interest within Llangollen and the Dee valley.
This will include an active travel interpretation map for the area and replaces
the old course at the site.
New play
equipment for the 5-12 year old age range will be installed early April.
This will include multi-use climbing frame and basket swing.
Work is
underway at the bandstand to install electricity power points to increase
opportunities for entertainment along with seating block created in to the bank
area for spectators.
Green
infrastructure has been introduced sat the park with trees to create shade,
wildflower planting and shrub planting around the park. A green
space area will be extended by introducing grass up to and around the blocked
dragon area.
Paul Evans, Plas Newydd site manager, said: “While planning this work, we worked closely with Llangollen Fringe along with Llangollen Parks Community group and Llangollen Town Council, who both provided some of the match funding towards the project.
"We look forward to all works being complete very soon.”
Cllr
Win-Mullen James, Lead Member for Local Development and Planning, said: “It is
great to see this work underway at the Riverside Park and I look forward to
seeing people enjoying the end result. I am also pleased to see the green
environmental work taking place alongside a fantastic new play area for
youngsters.”
A teenager groomed by a vicious county lines gang to become a drugs supplier has been sentenced to 18 months in youth custody.
Magistrates heard the 16-year-old called Darren was
forced to sell illegal drugs after he started taking drugs himself and fell into
debt.
He was caught when he was seen passing drugs to
another person at a party and was arrested. Police officers found him to be in
possession of MDMA or Ecstasy, a Class A controlled drug.
When he appeared before Wrexham Magistrates Court
he pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing drugs with intent to supply. The
youngster also admitted possessing a bladed article, a knife.
There were emotional scenes at the court as Darren
was led away to begin his sentence.
But although based on real events, this was
actually a drama workshop organised as part of the pioneering Justice in a Day
project and 'Darren' was actually actor called Iwan Garmon.
It was organised by the North Wales Police and
Community Trust (PACT) with the aim of giving young people a taste of how the
criminal justice system works and the devastating effect crime can have on
families and the community.
The day-long workshop, created by actors and
creatives at Mold-based Theatr Clwyd, was attended by 40 Year 10 students from
Ysgol Dinas Bran in Llangollen as part of their BTEC in Public Service
course.
PACT project manager Dave Evans said the aim is to
give young people a taste of how the criminal justice system works and the
devastating effect crime can have on families and the community.
He said: "The purpose is to educate young
people about the criminal justice system and the consequences of crime. In
addition it helps prevent them becoming offenders and equally importantly the
victims of crime.
"The feedback we have had from schools and some
of the case studies we've done with young people over the years and how they've
benefitted from the workshops has been quite profound."
He added the scenario presented during the day-long
course was nothing like how crime is portrayed on television and elsewhere.
"This is absolute real life," said Dave.
Real life magistrate Celia Jenkins told the
students the project aims to get the message across to young people that crime
"really isn't worth it"
She said she became a magistrate about 20 years ago
and now sits on the bench about once a week hearing all manner of cases.
Answering questions from the youngsters, she said:
"Every case starts in the Magistrates Court. Some are so serious we
have to send them to Crown Court but we deal with all manner of cases.
Some of the worst ones I have dealt with have involved young people."
Pupil Jasmine Wright, 15, sat alongside Ms Jenkins
and played the role of a magistrate in the workshop.
She said: "I've learned a lot about how the
justice system works and the difference between adult and youth courts.
More time is spent on youth justice so they don't do it (offend) again.
Her classmate Bradley Richards said: "I knew a
few things about the justice system before but didn't know the things the court
took into account which is to try and help the offender."
Megan Bowen, also 15, added the course could lead
to her becoming part of law enforcement at some point in the future.
"I've had my eyes on becoming a police officer
and maybe I'll look into it a bit more," she said.
Another Ysgol Dinas Bran student, Emily Curtis, 15,
said. "The best part of today was being in the courtroom, just sitting
there listening and seeing what happens and how they get sentenced and how the
whole system works."
Written and directed by Emyr John, Theatr Clwyd's
creative engagement associate and the son of a former North Wales Police
Superintendent, he said Justice in a Day was created to help educate young
people about the consequences of crime.
He said: "The actors tell the story. Students
decide what they think the sentence should be but we have a real magistrate to
deliver what was the actual sentence and explain why the court came to the
decision it did.
"Darren is sent into youth detention for 18
months and we look at what happens and his experiences while locked up.
"It's about talking to young people in a way
they can understand and in their own language. It also helps explain what can
happen if they get involved in crime and how it affects not just them but their
whole family and friends."
Among those present was North Wales Police and
Crime Commissioner Andy Dunbobbin. He said the scenario was typical of the
threat posed to young people by criminal gangs.
"The Justice in a Day project is an ideal way
to teach young people all about how the justice system works and how committing
criminal offences can destroy the lives of victims and offenders.
"It's really important that we educate our
children but you have to get the presentation right and all credit to the
actors here from Theatr Clwyd who have pitched it at just the right level.
"The young people here today are really getting involved and all the knowledge that's being shared raises their awareness of what could happen to them in a way we couldn't do in a classroom setting."
South Denbighshire Community Partnership has a full-time job vacancy based in Llangollen.
It is seeking someone to join its award-winning team as a Community Project Co-ordinator.
The job description says the post holder will be based at the Pengwern Community Hub in Llangollen Centre and will be responsible for its day-to-day operation ensuring, in partnership with Denbighshire County Council Housing Department, that it is a warm welcoming centre that provides appropriate services that tackle social isolation, rural poverty and improve access to services.
* Application by CV, Closing date 30.03.23 please see link to Indeed South Denbighshire Community Partnership Latest Jobs | Indeed.com
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