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The churches of Llangollen area have sent wishes for "a happy and blessed Easter" and say they warmly welcome you to any of their Easter services.
Details of these can be found at any of the churches or on their own websites:
* Church in Wales - St Collen's Parish: www.stcollenschurch.org.uk
* Methodist Church - www.llangollenmethodist.org.uk
* Catholic Church - www.strichardgwynparish.co.uk
Events including lighting the Town Hall in red, white and blue and the serving up of 1940s-style fish and chips in newspaper feature in a two-day programme to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Europe next month.
This year sees the landmark anniversary of VE Day, a moment of great national and international significance.
Although VE Day falls on Thursday, May 8, the Together Coalition, which promotes community cohesion and kindness, has designated Bank Holiday Monday May 5 as the day for community-based celebrations.
At its meeting last night (Tuesday) Llangollen Town Council approved a package of events to celebrate the occasion.
While the Town Council has not yet been approached by any community group to coordinate local events, it considered it appropriate to take the lead in developing commemorative activities.
And given the prominence of the Town Hall as a civic and cultural focal point, it has arranged a series of events to take place there on both on the Bank Holiday Monday (May 5) and VE Day itself (May 8).
On Bank Holiday Monday, there will be a daytime Community Celebration at the Town Hall featuring:
* The screening of historic VE Day footage and still images from previous national celebrations, including materials from Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, reflecting its ethos of promoting peace through music
* Live interactive dance
performances by local groups who regularly use the Town Hall
On Thursday May 8 there will be an event entitled VE Day – Evening of Commemoration where Llangollen branch of the Royal British Legion will lead a short service of Remembrance on Centenary Square followed by a formal ceremony at the Town Hall, including a proclamation by the Town Crier, after which the Town Mayor will switch on the illuminations to turn the front of the Town Hall red, white, and blue, symbolising peace and unity. The light display is seen by the council as a symbolic alternative to the lighting of a beacon.
North Wales Police posted on Facebook around 6.30pm:
⚠️ ROAD CLOSED ⚠️
Trevor Road and Llangollen Road in Llangollen (A539) are currently closed due to an ongoing incident with Emergency Services on scene. Please avoid the area and consider alternative routes on your travels.
* A full update appears on Leader Live at:
https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/25093118.recap-police-shut-a539-incident-reported-llangollen/
Churches Together in Llangollen (Cytun) is inviting everyone to join together on Centenary Square from 12 noon on Good Friday for songs and readings.
An organiser of the event says: "You are also invited to join with those from the Methodist Church in Princess Street as they leave the church after the 11am service in a Walk of Witness to the square.
"Mini Easter eggs and hot cross buns will be distributed to bystanders. Please come and join in."
A number of projects aimed at improving infrastructure in Denbighshire - including a major scheme in Llangollen - have recently been completed by the county council’s Streetscene services.
The county was awarded £340,000 from the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund to improve the public realm and open spaces.
The funding was spilt over three separate projects in Llangollen, Rhyl and Prestatyn.
Riverside Park in Llangollen was in need of some much-needed public realm improvements and underwent a comprehensive refurbishment, including aesthetic improvements such as painting metal railings and street lighting upgrades, and practical upgrades like bench refurbishment and new bin installations.
Further structural work included the installation of a timber knee rail fence around the bandstand, repairs to the Multi Use Game Area (MUGA), retaining wall, and fencing adjacent to the A5, alongside some drainage improvements.
New signage and posts were also installed to increase the visibility of the park, contributing to refurbishment of the public space.
Councillor Jason McLellan, Leader and Lead Member for Economic Growth & Tackling Deprivation said: “The completion of these projects across the County is fantastic news, and this much-needed work to our green spaces would not have been possible without funding from the UK Governments Shared Prosperity Fund and the hard work of our Streetscene team.
“The restoration of these areas across Denbighshire will preserve their longevity and ensure their future use for years to come."
* For more information on Denbighshire’s Shared Prosperity Fund projects click here.
A social care champion has given a “cautious welcome” to a new ratings system for care homes and home care services in Wales.
But Mario Kreft MBE, chair of Care Forum Wales, believes it has been introduced too soon without sufficient safeguards or proper funding.
As a result, he fears some care homes and domiciliary care companies will be unfairly labelled as failing organisations.
Under the new system, care homes and home care services will be graded on four different aspects of care.
Inspections by regulators Care Inspectorate Wales will focus on well-being, care and support, leadership and management and the environment at the home.
Care homes will then be legally obliged to display their ratings at the home and online.
According to the Welsh Government, they hope the new system will improve standards across the sector.
While supporting the idea behind it, Mr Kreft has concerns about the speed of the implementation and the unfairness of the post code lottery of social care funding in Wales.
“Unfortunately, there is a total disconnect in terms of resources because Wales is blighted by a post code lottery of fees that promotes unfairness and inequality.
“If you’re having a national ratings system for care homes you also need a national framework for fees to provide care.
“For example, there’s a massive difference between the fees paid by Denbighshire County Council and the ones in neighbouring Conwy.
“A care home on the Conwy side of the Foryd Bridge in Rhyl will get £9,000 a year per person more than a home in Denbigh.
“It’s also a bit of blunt instrument. You can be a hair’s breadth away from needing improvement or a hair’s breadth away from being rated excellent and you still get the same rating and the system does not take any account of resources.
“In some parts of Wales there are care home receiving £12,000 per resident more than others but they’re all being rated against the exactly the same criteria.
“If a care home in the neighbouring county is getting an extra £400,000 a year that will undoubtedly have an influence on the ratings.
“Everyone knows that keeping staff, offering them careers and paying them above the real living wage costs money.
“Despite this gaping chasm in eligibility for funding they are subjected to the same criteria in terms of ratings and subjected to the same regulatory regime
“”It’s making life very hard for care homes on the wrong end of the post code lottery who are struggling to survive. It’s going to be a lot more challenging for them to be rated as excellent.
“Another issue is that this could give the wrong impression about a particular care home. This is a rating based on a given day.
It may not be a typical day. There could be homes that fall foul of the new system if they’re having a bad day. Things can go wrong and if that’s the day the inspector comes in, you have to publicise that.
“If you’re really having a bad day the inspector’s report could have serious consequences for the home in question.
“We are doing our very best to make it work but it’s not being implemented in the way we would have done.
“The ratings should reflect the funding of the local authorities and health boards and our priority should be to get a level playing field in terms of funding so that it does not discriminate between the have and the have nots.
“You can’t have a fair ratings system without parity of funding. Without a baseline in terms of funding for vulnerable people who need social care, you can’t expect consistency in the standards of care.
“Most of the local authorities and the health boards in Wales are flouting Welsh Government guidelines and they are promoting inequality through this iniquitous post code lottery of funding.
“By and large, the level of funding for individuals is not assessed according to their actual needs but rather on what the council or the health board wish to pay.
“That’s why it’s essential that we have a national framework to decide funding for vulnerable people rather than persisting with a dysfunctional system that perpetuates discrimination against them.
“We see this as one of the major flaws of bringing in the new ratings when the social care sector is so fragile and the funding so fragmented. Wales should not have a system that promotes inequality.”
Latest local roadworks update from Denbighshire County Council is:
Hall Street, Llangollen.
12/04/2025
17/04/2025
Gwaith Draenio / Drainage Works NMWTRA (DCC)
Ffordd
ar Gau/Road Closure
Llandyn Hall Farm Culvert
TRACK TO LLANDYN HALL FROM A539
28/04/2025
23/05/2025
Gwaith ar Gylfat/ Culvert Works (DCC)
Ffordd
ar Gau/Road Closure
OPP 10 Regent Street JNC QUEEN STREET AND CHURCH STREET Llangollen LL2
BROOK STREET
19/05/2025
06/06/2025
Gwaith BT/ BT Works SUNBELT RENTALS (DCC)
Ffordd
ar Gau/Road Closure
Verge
ABBEY ROAD
31/01/2025
13/06/2025
Gwaith Ar Wal Gynnal/ Retaining Wall Works DCC HIGHWAYS
