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I’m sat here in a beautiful cottage writing this month’s article and feeling very inspired by the stunning scenery around me. This might come as a surprise considering that the countryside isn’t usually credited for its sense of style, but this type of place offers inspiration for every topic, including fashion. The autumn season is upon us and that brings me a lot of happiness since autumn fashion was one of the main contributing factors in my love of clothing!…

My fellow self-isolators, on a recent weekend away in Devon, we saw this fish sculpture on the beach.  A nice use of builders’ rubble wouldn’t you say.  Funnily enough, I’ve been training as a sculptor since lockdown but I’m not particularly good at it.  Just the other day I made an Elk from limestone which I thought was good, but my art teacher Mr Watson couldn’t work out what it was.  I said to him:  “Surely you can see that…

Three generations of a lifesaving Pontypool family have defied the odds by each being selected to donate their life-saving bone marrow to three complete strangers thousands of miles away. Allan (65), Chris (33) and Corey Taylor (25) were all selected from the Welsh Bone Marrow Donor Registry as the only suitable matches in the world capable of saving patients from Africa, America and Europe respectively. To mark World Bone Marrow Donor Day (Saturday 19 September), the Taylor family is calling on 17-30 year olds across Wales…

This September, environmental charity Keep Wales Tidy is calling on communities to ‘be part of the pick’ by getting involved in Autumn Clean Cymru. The campaign, which was postponed in early spring due to Covid-19, is running between 11-27 September 2020. It will encourage the Welsh public to take part in small, socially distanced clean-ups to remove litter from streets, parks and beaches. Keep Wales Tidy Chief Executive Lesley Jones said: “It has never been more important for our country…

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Twits, James and the Giant Peach… children and adults have been delighted by Roald Dahl’s books for generations. September 13 is Roald Dahl Day, a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our favourite Dahl stories and characters with fellow fans all over the world. Here, Dahl fan and former primary school teacher Laura Steele of educational resources experts PlanBee shares her top facts about the much-loved author. Who was Roald Dahl? Roald Dahl is one of…

Heart of Cardiff inspired by the people and communities of the City Cardiff’s award-winning Sherman Theatre has announced its autumn season which includes the new audio series Heart of Cardiff, inspired by the people and communities of the city. The season also includes an audio version of a popular new comedy drama and two series of podcasts. The Sherman will also continue a programme to support freelance theatre makers and connect and develop young people. All of the audio and…

‘Play nurtures imagination and gives a child a sense of adventure‘ Most children in the UK are given plenty of opportunity to play with a wide range of toys but in Zambia this is not the case. Currently just 17% of schools have a pre-school class. The Zambian government are working to increase this provision but schools need support to do so. The Good Samaritan Ministries School in Lusaka that MAD4Kids supports, is now going into the second year with…

Coronavirus laws will be tightened across Caerphilly borough to prevent a local outbreak of the virus spreading. A range of new measures will come into force on 8th September at 6pm in a bid to reduce the number of new coronavirus infections. People will not be allowed to enter or leave the Caerphilly County Borough Council area without a reasonable excuse; Everyone over 11 will be required to wear face coverings in shops; People will only be able to meet…

Discarded plastic bottles, cups and other single-use items became a common sight in popular public spaces like Cardiff Bay’s Oval Basin, Canton’s Victoria Park, and at Roath Park Recreation ground. CHOOSE TO REUSE Now, the people of Cardiff are being encouraged to ‘choose to reuse’ this Autumn, by opting for a reusable water bottle and filling up on the go with a local business, rather than buying a single-use plastic bottle. It’s all part of plastic pollution campaigning organisation City…

The Prince’s Countryside Fund’s highly successful initiative, The Prince’s Farm Resilience Programme, is open for family farm businesses from across the UK to sign up. Registration opens from September 7th until October 31st, 2020, but workshops will not take place until local social distancing regulations allow. Held in 15 locations across the UK each year and coordinated by local partners such as FarmCornwall and The Farmer Network, the multi-million-pound programme allows up to 20 farming families to take part in each…