Llangollen Methodist Church has launched its annual and very popular Christmas Tree Festival which gives visitors the chance to vote for their favourite one.
The church is open at various times for people to admire the 11 trees, each colourfully and sometimes creatively decorated, before the winners are chosen based on the number of votes they attract.
One category specially marks the 75th anniversary of the NHS.
Creative residents of Tan-y-Doll off Abbey Road have come up with another fabulous Christmas scene.
Last year they hit a highspot when their roadside tableau featured the King of Rock 'n Roll himself, Elvis Presley, in all his jump-suited glory.
An upside-down Santa heading down a chimney also put in an appearance and he's back again this year with his boots in the air.
The key theme for Christmas 2023 is a seasonally decked-out living room complete with decorated fireplace, cards and a tree plus a table laid out with some well-earned goodies for the grand old man when he eventually makes it to the other end of the chimney. There's even a little dog in a basket waiting to welcome him.
Reductions in the number of out-patient waiting times and ambulance delays is flagged up in the latest response to being in Special Measures from the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.
The
organisation, which covers Llangollen, was placed in Special Measures by the
Welsh Government last February due to serious concerns about board effectiveness,
organisational culture, service quality and reconfiguration, governance,
patient safety, operational delivery, leadership and financial management.
Board
members receive regular reports about the situation and the latest update at the
end of November listed a number of key achievements.
Board
members were told by their officials about:
* A 52% reduction in people waiting 52
weeks for their first outpatient appointment - equivalent to 13,000 people
* A 42%
reduction in people waiting 104 weeks in comparison with the position last year
which is in excess of 6,000 people
* A consistent
reduction in four-hour ambulance delays with some local variation being closely
monitored
* All people
waiting over 156 weeks have now either received a date for their first
appointment or have started treatment, with some challenges remaining within orthodontics
which are under review
* A significant
reduction in the usage of agency interim staff from 41 in December 2022 to just
seven in September 2023
* A new leadership
development framework is being put in to place to help develop and attract
leaders within the health board
* Appointments to
a number of vital clinical roles, including a new clinical radiotherapy lead to
support improvements in oncology
* An
ophthalmology “train and treat” model allowing more patients to be treated
closer to home by optometrists, getting more convenient and faster care
* An ongoing series of ‘health conversations’ with local communities with a number of community engagement events scheduled for the new year to build a stronger relationship between our board, executives and local communities.
This year's Llangollen Illuminated Tractor Run raised over £6,000 for two local charities.
A post on the event's Facebook page thanks everyone who: "Gave, who volunteered, organised and who showed up to enjoy this incredible event.
"Thank you Llangollen, Trevor, Acrefair, Plas Madoc, Ruabon, Rhosllanerchrugog, Rhosstyllen, Bersham, Wrexham, Coedpoeth, Minera, Legacy, Bylchgwyn, and all the other areas that we went through.Hundreds of cheering spectators lined the route of last Sunday evening's run which was jointly organised by the Vale of Llangollen Rotary and Llangollen Young Farmers Club and involved 50 colourfully-lit and decorated vehicles.
Starting at 5 pm from The Pavilion in Llangollen, the convoy embarked on a picturesque journey through towns and villages in the area.
Leading the way, shouting "Merry Christmas" as he went was Santa himself.
A total of £6,122 was raised for three worthy causes - The Teenage Cancer Trust, Nightingale Hope Hospice, and a community defibrillator.
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Tomorrow's planned Christmas event at Plas Newydd has been postponed due to the weather.
A note on the historic site's social media this afternoon (Friday) says: "We will be postponing the Christmas at Plas Newydd event that was due to take place on Saturday 9th December.
"There has been a weather warning issued for heavy rain and high winds of up to 50mph throughout the day and with the outdoor nature of the site (and many veteran trees) we must take precautions for the safety of our visitors.
An Eisteddfod vice president said he was ‘immensely proud’ to announce one of the biggest coups in the event’s history earlier this week.
Ken Skates, Member of the Senedd for Clwyd South, unveiled Sir Tom Jones as the headline act for next year’s event at a press conference at St Collen’s Community Hall on Monday morning.
The Welsh icon will top the billing at the 2024 showpiece, which will also include Katherine Jenkins, Gregory Porter, Madness, Kaiser Chiefs and Paloma Faith.
Mr Skates, who is based in the town, said: “I was immensely proud to officially announce that Sir Tom Jones will be headlining next year’s Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.
“I’m a proud vice president of the Eisteddfod, so I was thrilled to represent Clwyd South at the press conference on Monday morning when Katherine Jenkins and Gregory Porter were also announced to add even more stardust to an extremely exciting line-up for the 2024 event.
“Huge credit must go to the board for pulling together so many big names. The event injects millions of pounds into the local economy every year, and after a difficult few years next summer’s showpiece is set to be one of the best Eisteddfods yet.”
Board member Dave
Hennigan said: “We are absolutely delighted and we’d like to thank Ken for his
extraordinary and valued support, not just now but during times of financial
difficulty too.
“We’re really pleased that, after many years of trying, Sir Tom Jones will be coming to Llangollen as part of our exciting programme.”
Members of the Llangollen Tidy Town Team enjoyed their annual Christmas dinner at the Sun Trevor last night (Thursday).
Their co-ordinator David Davies told them that during the year they had completed a total of 400 unpaid hours of work on behalf of the town.
This ranged from planting 25 fruit trees at the St John's Road landscaping project to helping with the clean-up effort which followed a flood at the town's museum.
They also undertook a major litter-pick on the Aldi car park and assisted in a number of roles with both the food and Christmas festivals.
Total donations to the work of the team, which has now been in existence for 18 years, amounted to £1,000.
