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The Open University (OU) in Wales is encouraging people to follow one of its online courses whilst being asked to stay at home during the Coronavirus pandemic. The OU has seen a spike in visitors to its free online learning platform OpenLearn to access its health, wellbeing and educational content in a time of huge societal need. The site usually sees an average of 835,000 unique visitors per month. In March 2020, this shot up to 1.77 million and is…

On the 1st May, Joel Stoker from The Rifles released the track ‘Stuck Inside’ to raise money for the NHS. Fans are able to download the track via Bandcamp today with a minimum donation of £0.99, but can choose to pay more.   All money will go direct to the NHS: https://www.nhscharitiestogether.co.uk/ Joel wrote, recorded & produced the song himself during isolation in an attempt to raise funds to support the NHS; “Hello everyone! I hope you’re all keeping well and staying safe. I would like to let you…

The Education Minister, Kirsty Williams, has announced up to £3 million to support ‘digitally excluded’ learners during the coronavirus pandemic. As part of the ‘Stay Safe. Stay Learning’ programme, the Welsh Government is working with local authorities to support digitally excluded learners during the current pandemic. A ‘digitally excluded’ learner is defined as a student who does not have access to an appropriate internet-connected device to participate in online learning activities from home. Local authorities, working closely with their schools,…

Carers Trust Wales, in partnership with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Community Pharmacy Wales, Carers Wales and Welsh Government, has developed a suite of resources to support unpaid carers  – those who provide support to a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, a mental health condition or an addiction cannot cope without their support – to be better able to access essential medicines during the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent weeks unpaid carers have described facing a growing range…

The National Lottery Heritage Fund is making £50m available in response to the significant impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the UK’s heritage. The new Heritage Emergency Fund will address immediate pressures over the next 3-6 months for those most in need alongside increased investment in essential digital skills across the sector, providing expertise in critical areas such as digital fundraising, use of social media and communications, running online events and activities. In addition, the National Lottery Heritage Fund is…

Catriona Seed, a Clinical Nurse Specialist in palliative care, is rowing 75 miles for City Hospice to support the charity and patients during the Covid-19 pandemic. Catriona has set herself the challenge on her rowing machine, selecting 75 miles as her target to reflect the average mileage the palliative care team at City Hospice accumulate by driving around the capital in a week to visit patients. City Hospice provides palliative care for 550 patients with life limiting or terminal illnesses…

A Cardiff textiles teacher is putting her expertise to use during the coronavirus lockdown by helping co-ordinate the production of thousands of much needed medical scrubs for Wales’ healthcare heroes in the NHS by volunteers. Nia Clements, who is head of design and technology at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Plasmawr, in Fairwater, Cardiff, has helped set up production hubs throughout communities in South and West Wales, with support from the Welsh Government. In total, more than 100 volunteers are donating their…

The Architectural Heritage Fund has awarded the Welsh Norwegian Society a grant of £4,000 which will help the society in its efforts to save the Norwegian Church in Cardiff Bay. The Welsh Norwegian Society is appealing for match funding to the public who love this iconic building and the hundreds of performers, artists and community organisations that have been a part of its story in the years since Princess Märtha Louise of Norway officially reopened the Norwegian Church in 1992….

People who need wheelchairs and other mobility aids during the coronavirus crisis do not have to go without because of the national emergency. That’s the message from the British Red Cross, which provides short-term loans of wheelchairs and other mobility aids across the UK. The Red Cross is working in 70 hospitals, providing mobility aids that assist with patient discharge, while most of its 100+ community-based mobility centres remain open so people can order and collect items like wheelchairs. In…

Pembrokeshire-born Ann Likeman hosted the special Singing for the Brain performance for Alzheimer’s Society last Thursday to help thousands banish the lockdown blues. Critically-acclaimed actress Vicky, whose grandmother had dementia, joined Ann via a video link for the sing-a-long… and  the broadcast has now achieved an audience reach of 210,000, with 1,400 people adding comments. Two other celebrities whose lives have been touched by dementia also supported the event. Scouting For Girls frontman Roy Stride, whose mother had early-onset dementia,…