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Denbighshire councillors have endured "absolutely dreadful" stress from the "botched" roll-out of the council's recycling scheme, according to a story in North Wales Live.
* For the full story, go to: Stress of botched recycling roll-out 'absolutely dreadful' for Denbighshire councillors - North Wales Live
Firefighters from Llangollen took part in an incident in which 40 people were rescued from a blaze at a property in Chirk last night (February 5).
* For the full story in the Denbighshire Free Press, see: https://www.denbighshirefreepress.co.uk/news/24915437.40-people-rescued-firefighters-evacuate-chirk-building/
Here is the latest column from Denbighshire Citizens Advice:
Q: We’re planning a summer getaway to Greece and I’m worried we’ll forget something important, which could ruin the holiday. What steps can we take to make sure we’re fully protected and prepared if anything goes wrong?
Booking a holiday can be overwhelming, especially if it’s been a while since you last went away. It’s unlikely anything will go wrong, but we’ve prepared a simple checklist to make sure you can relax into your holiday knowing you’re protected from the unexpected.
Check your passport is in date - especially for EU travel
Renewing your passport can take several weeks and isn’t something to leave until the last minute. Check the validity of your passport for your trip on GOV.UK by finding out the entry requirements of the country you’re travelling to.
If you’re heading to Europe, bear in mind EU countries don’t accept passports more than ten years old. This includes passports issued pre-Brexit, which may have longer expiry dates. Just remember, the golden rule for EU travel is: if your passport was issued over ten years ago, you’ll need to get it renewed.
Know your rights if something goes wrong
If your flight’s delayed long enough - usually two to four hours, depending on the journey - your airline must provide access to food and drink vouchers, phone calls and emails, and accommodation if you’re delayed overnight. If it’s cancelled, you’re legally entitled to a full refund or replacement flight to help you get to your destination. You’re also entitled to compensation if your airline delays, loses or damages your checked-in luggage.
Get travel insurance
Although it’s an extra expense, travel insurance can cover many of the things already mentioned, like flight delays and lost luggage, but also things like a holiday cancellation and medical emergencies.
Citizens Advice recommends getting insurance as soon as you book a holiday to make sure you're covered right away - but always check first to see if an existing insurance policy, or your bank account, covers what you need for your holiday. There’s no need to double up if you’re already covered!
The chances are your holiday will be problem-free, but early planning and preparation can make all the difference. If you need advice on a consumer problem, head to the Citizens Advice website.
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A cancer survivor from Llangollen has started a self-support group to provide help and advice to people using a stoma.
Moira Gleed’s own journey towards being fitted with the medical device, which connects the bowel to the outside of the body with a small disposable bag, began last June when she was diagnosed with Stage III bowel cancer.
After major surgery at the Wrexham Maelor hospital she was fitted with a permanent stoma. This means that when the bowel moves, waste exits through the stoma bag which is stuck to the skin and has to be emptied at regular intervals.
Moira said: “I’d been ignoring the symptoms of the cancer for some time and the doctors told me it could have been coming on for seven to 10 years.
“I had the surgery last July and, so far, it looks to have been successful. Becoming a stoma user myself has made me determined to share my experience with others who find themselves in the same situation.”
She added: “The new group I have formed, which is called Back to Front for obvious reasons, aims to support each other with kindness along the journey each person with a stoma takes and will provide a safe and confidential ‘what gets said in this room stays in this room’ environment while offering an opportunity for fellow ostomates, which is what stoma users are known as, and their companions or carers to have a cuppa and talk about what’s on their minds and look at latest products from suppliers.
“The friendly and informal monthly meet-ups will have guest speakers on a variety of subjects on alternative months.
“The group will be open to all ostomates wishing to offer their support and experience to the group and to people who have recently had or are awaiting surgery and to their loved ones and carers.”
Moira said that group meetings will take place on the first Monday of every month. While there will be no charge for membership donations towards the hire of the hall, speakers and refreshments are welcomed.
The meeting place chosen is St Collen’s Community Hall, off Regent Street (A5) LL20 8HU. Meetings will run between 2 and 4pm and the first one takes place on Monday March 3.
The meeting room is at ground level with ramps and has easy access to the toilets. Parking, which is next to the hall, will be free for the duration of the meeting.
“We hope to see as many people as possible at our meetings, which are not just for Llangollen people but also those from surrounding areas, said Moira.
* For more information contact Moira Gleed, in confidence, on 07484 772772.
An extra £25m to renew Wales’ major roads and prevent around 30,000 defects and potholes has been announced by the Welsh Government.
The funding boost will see an extra 100km of the strategic road network resurfaced in the new financial year.
Roads that are most in need of repairs will be renewed, with thousands of potholes fixed.
Since 2021 the Welsh Government has spent more than £81m on resurfacing around 321km of roads on the trunk network across Wales.
Combined with the forecasted spend for 2025-26 this means that by the end of this Senedd term £118m will have been spent to repair more than 500km of road defects and potholes.
Ken Skates, Senedd Member for Llangollen and Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales, said: "It is crucial that we fix our roads.
"I’m delighted to be announcing a further £25m of funding to help support a comprehensive refurbishment programme to improve the future resilience of our strategic roads network and prevent potholes.
“We are already working hard to fill potholes and renew, as fast as possible, key sections of our road network, but this additional funding will help to accelerate this work.”
Mr Skates has also pledged to announce details of new financial support for councils to fix more local roads. Details of the scale of support are due to be revealed in the coming weeks and will help fix potholes across Wales.
He added: “On rail we’re delivering £800m of new trains and on buses we’re going to legislate to take control of routes and timetables.
"On roads and pavements, we are demonstrating real commitment to fixing potholes as we seek to renew and enhance connections between communities.”
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* Centuries-old Llantysilio Parish Church was the "best thing" a New Zealand travel writer saw.
Two well-known Llangollen landmarks get a strong mention in a travel story which has just appeared in a New Zealand national newspaper.
Historic Llantysilio Parish Church and Llangollen Oggie Shop & Fine Foods in Castle Street are now hitting the headlines on the other side of the world.
The piece in the Sunday Star-Times is written by Alistair Deverick, an Auckland-based recording artist, producer and session drummer who was in the UK on a three-week holiday based around a family wedding in Edinburgh.
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He and his wife also took the opportunity to visit Wales where he has more
family connections.
In his
travel article he answers a question on the best thing he saw while in the UK
and says: “Very powerful for me was visiting the Llantysilio Parish Church,
built circa 1254, where my grandmother Eirlys Gwyneth Morris-Jones is buried, along
with her parents Dorothy and Hugh (the town doctor for 40 years) and my mum’s
namesake Ailsa, her aunt, who died when she was six from tuberculosis.”
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And responding to a question on the best thing he ate, he writes: “Shout out to Llangollen Oggie Shop & Fine Foods in Llangollen! We ate some of its oggies, which are a type of pasty and my god!”
And the
best souvenirs he bought while in the UK: “A big ugly Welsh dragon coffee cup
that I drink from daily.”
Sam Rowlands, Member of the Welsh Parliament for North Wales, is backing a call to raise awareness of scams when booking holidays online.
He is supporting a call from North Wales Police who are warning people to be aware of fraudsters when using Booking.com.
Mr Rowlands said: “These days more than ever we all have to be on the lookout for scammers and be especially aware of suspicious emails and messages you may receive about your holiday.
“It is a great shame that there are unscrupulous people out there who think nothing of targeting people who have booked their well-earned holidays and I would urge everyone to be extra vigilant.
“I am happy to add my voice to warn my constituents about this scam.”
The warning comes from Dewi Owen, North Wales Police, Cyber Crime Officer, North Wales, who says that Action Fraud is warning those using Booking.com to book their holidays or accommodation that they could be targeted with suspicious emails or messages from hotels who have had their account taken over by fraudsters.
Between June 2023 and September 2024, Action Fraud received 532 reports from individuals, with a total of £370,000 lost.
The advice is that no legitimate Booking.com transaction will ever require a customer to provide their credit card details by phone, email, or text message, including WhatsApp.
If you receive any urgent payment requests that require immediate attention, like a booking cancellation, immediately reach out to the Booking.com Customer Service team via the details on the official Booking.com website and/or app to confirm that the message is legitimate.
Any messages purporting to be from Booking.com that contain instructions to follow links and/or open/download files should be treated with caution. Again contact Booking.com directly using verified contact details to verify that the link or file is legitimate.
