New Brexit stamps designed to celebrate the actions of Brexit are available to buy, from tomorrow.
Mumbles Sea Defence – Have your say!
Swansea Council are in the process of strengthening the sea defences around Mumbles and require input from the public to help in the project.
The aim is to reduce the risk of flooding to homes and businesses that are increasingly threatened by rising sea levels brought about by climate change.
Funding for new defences has been secured from the Welsh Government – and we want the thoughts of the public, business and others to help shape this significant project.
Coed Gwylym Park receives £89,000 to build a new club house
From Coed Gwylym Park:
We have just received some fantastic news that we are delighted to share with you. The National Lottery Community Fund have just confirmed a grant of £89,000 towards our Project to build a new ‘Community Club House’ at the top end of the park near to the carpark, the Heritage Centre, the Canal Society Building, and to one side of the bowling green.
We are now working with the council to finalise the lease of the designated Club House site. Our ambition is to open the Club House in Spring 2022.
The building, which will cost £194,514 to complete, will occupy a focal point in the park, with most park users passing by it when they use the park facilities.
The pavilion-style Club House will include two changing rooms, a multi use toilet, a gents toilet, a store room, a small kitchen and a club room of some 65 square meters.
Our new Club House building will significantly enhance the facilities in the park and satisfy many of the community requests for facilities that we have identified through recent surveys.
These facilities will include a place to meet in the park, a place to shelter, toilet facilities for all, a place to have light refreshments, changing facilities, a place to socialise and to chill out and relax, and even host some social events, as well as providing a venue for school activities.
We also plan to put in a Dog Parking Station so that those out walking their dogs can kennel them outside the club house while they come in for a tea/coffee and a chat.
The club house will be run by volunteers and there will be a rota system for opening, closing and cleaning the facility and replenishing toilet accessories and tea/coffee supplies.
The New Club House facility is being built for the benefit of the whole community with the existing park organisations benefiting with new accessible toilets, changing rooms for some sports, a facility to make tea/coffee and a room to have meetings, a room to undertake activities, provide teas for visiting organisations and bowls teams and a facility to socialise in with the wider community in particular.
This is really great news for our community, and for our park users. We still have work to do to complete this marvellous project and we thank you all for your continued support.
And obviously, we extend a huge thank you to the National Lottery Community Fund.
Friends of Coed Gwylym Community Park has a facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/CoedGwilymPark
Mayhill Riots
Following a vigil for a local man, fireworks were thrown and hundreds of people joined in violence in the Mayhill area. Ethan Powell who died on Monday 10th May had been watching Swansea City Championship with his grandfather when he fell ill. He was later found unconscious by his grandmother, he was flown to Morriston hospital where he died on Werdnesday from cardiac arrest / multiple organ failure.
A vigil was organised in Mayhill for the evening after his funeral where balloons were to be released. After the release of balloons, fireworks were then thrown and the crown erupted into violence which attracted more rioters.
The family of Ethan have spoken out against the rioting saying that Ethan would not have wanted this to happen. They have also requested any other vigils to be cancelled.
One resident who asked the rioters if they would move away from his house because he has a baby and small children was met with threats and then rocks thrown through the windows of his home. A resident living on the street where cars were set ablaze and rolled down the hill spoke of his fear for himself and his family, being couped up in their home but ready to instantly leave if their house caught on fire from nearby burning cars. Another resident said they were now living with worry and fear and intends to be leaving the area for the safety of her family.
The Home Secretary Priti Patel said the situation was “absolutely disgraceful”, posting on twitter saying her thoughts are with the residents affected.
Seven Swansea police officers were injured. South Wales Police say they are doing all they can to identify those responsible for the riots. Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Gilmore said the police force is confident it will identify those involved and initiate criminal proceedings against them.
There has been a lot of criticism on social media about the police doing nothing to stop the rioting. This is in despite of the fact that a police presence was visible and attempts were made to quell the riots, however the number of police was not sufficient against the hundreds of rioters who had gathered. Some residents were still left anxious and worried as felt vulnerable despite police presence in the area.
Jenny Gilmore (Assistant Chief Constable) defended the police actions saying: “We saw disorder, violence and criminality on the streets of Mayhill, that is something that we’re not used to seeing here on the streets of south Wales. What we saw last night was disgusting behaviour, utterly unacceptable and caused a great deal of distress, alarm and fear amongst the local community. The numbers of people who were involved last night were significant, we had up to 200 people involved at some points in time. The priority of our officers is always going to be to keep people safe, everything else can be picked up later.The numbers of officers to break up a crowd of that size is far in excess of what we were able to deploy last night. So I’m confident the right decisions were made.”
Mark Drakeford (First Minister) thanked the police for bringing the situation under control and described the rioting as “completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated anywhere in Wales”
Live Blog Updates:
A fundraiser has been started here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/may-hill-riot
A petition to install CCTV cameras has been started here: https://www.change.org/p/swansea-council-south-wales-police-swansea-council-install-swp-monitored-cctv-cameras-on-wuan-wen-hill
https://www.thesecretswansea.co.uk/ The Secret Beach Bar & Kitchen has offered free lunch delivered to any resident who had been affected by the riots.
https://www.facebook.com/Nicky-Tees-patios-and-drives-106032034947608/ Nicky Tees – Patios & Drives has offered free assistance to any resident needing help.
http://www.windowdoctorwales.co.uk/ Has offered free assistance to any resident needing windows boarded up / repaired.
Swansea City A.F.C. paid tribute to Ethan today (22th May 2021) via social media.
This is a live blog. Further updates may follow.
Oystermouth Castle conservation work
Contractors are preparing to move on site to carry out crucial conservation work to help preserve one of Swansea’s most historic landmarks.
Specialists will be removing invasive vegetation and fixing areas of unstable masonry at Oystermouth Castle in preparation for it reopening to the public this summer.
The Norman built Grade 1 scheduled ancient monument is owned by Swansea Council and run day to day by the volunteer group, Friends of Oystermouth Castle and supported by a Council Castle Development Co-ordinator.
The Friends group successfully applied for part funding from the Welsh Government’s Cultural Recovery Fund to help pay for the work and to prepare social distancing measures for when visitors can tour the castle again.
The oldest part of the current castle is the South Keep which was built in 1107 but much of the work will be centred around Alina’s chapel which was first made accessible to the public following a multi-million pound investment 10 years ago.
The current project aims to slow down the decay of 14th Century paintings located inside of the chapel by carefully removing and replacing the layer of turf, known as softcapping, on top of the chapel walls.
The softcapping acts as a thermal blanket protecting the walls from excess water ingress and frost that can damage the mortar.
Cllr Robert Francis-Davies, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Investment, Regeneration & Tourism said: “Although the castle is closed at the moment, there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes to protect and conserve this important landmark.
“The Friends group, who do a great job bringing this medieval monument to life for visitors, successfully secured funding from the Welsh Government and I’m pleased the council has also contributed in order to maximise the work that is vital to protecting the castle.”
Erika Kluge, Castle Development Co-ordinator, said: “With managing all Grade 1 monuments of such significance, there is always the difficult balance of conservation need yet operating it as a viable visitor attraction at the same time.
“This grant has been crucial in such a strange and unpredictable climate because as well as helping us conclude this second phase of work to the chapel, it has also allowed us to make repairs that have increased security to the castle whilst it has been empty for all these months. It has also enabled us to provide social distancing measures to slowly prepare our volunteers for re-opening when we are able.”
Paul Griffin, Chair of the Friends of Oystermouth Castle, said: “This conservation project is vital to the continuing preservation of this historic monument. We look forward to welcoming visitors back as soon as the work has been concluded.”
It is planned to reopen the castle to the public once the £155,000 project is completed and in line with any Welsh Government restrictions at that time.
Toothache? Problems finding a dentist? Have your say!
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, we’ve heard from many people about the difficulty they’ve had and continue to have, when trying to book an NHS dentist appointment. We’ve heard that some people are being told that although NHS appointments are not available, they can be treated privately. Others have told us they are waiting in pain. What’s been your experience? Visit this link to share your experience with us: http://ow.ly/ezsy50ER6ZG
Ers dechrau COVID-19, rydym wedi clywed gan nifer o bobl am yr anhawster maent wedi’i gael, ac yn parhau i’w gael, wrth geisio trefnu apwyntiad gyda deintydd y GIG. Rydym ar ddeall bod rhai pobl wedi derbyn gwybodaeth nad oes apwyntiadau’r GIG ar gael ond y gallasant gael eu trin yn breifat. Mae eraill wedi dweud wrthym eu bod yn aros mewn poen. Beth oedd eich profiad chi? Ewch i’r ddolen hon i rannu’ch profiad gyda ni: ow.ly/GQW250ER7eF
UKIP Swansea elections – Dan Morgan & Stan Robinson FAIL!
Congratulations to the people of Swansea in showing a complete lack of support for the far right arguably racists Dan Morgan & Stan Robinson. Both failed to gain the votes they were expecting and it is said that they were inconsolable after the results given.
Already their youtube channel has been banned from racism, yet they both run a website and social media platforms called “The Voice Of Wales”. Certainly they are not the voice of wales despite their claims and this is evidenced due to a low number of supporters within their social media in addition to an even lower number of supporters who voted for them during the local elections.
Both Morgan and Robinson had high hopes for the election, they even went to observe the counting of the votes. An account from their day obtained from their chat room is below. Notice that they all claim they are exempt from wearing masks (possible Covidiots as well as idiots) and had the audacity to potentially put other people at risk due to their inability to wear masks. Account from their chat room below:
Further reading:
UKIP’s Wales leader Neil Hamilton has defended their Senedd election candidate Stan Robinson who sent deeply offensive tweets about Muslims, BBC Wales reports https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-56732799. In the BBC Wales report The Muslim Council of Wales says Stan Robinson’s Twitter account is a “collection of hateful, bigoted and deeply worrying misinformation and conspiracies”. The Swansea based Robinson (pictured left) is number three on the UKIP South Wales West list in the elections to Wales’ Parliament on May 6th. Robinson is also contesting a council by-election for UKIP taking place on the same day in Swansea’s Castle Ward.
BBC Wales reported that on his Twitter account Stan Robinson has in the past fortnight posted several derogatory messages about Islam and Muslims. He retweeted a message labelling migrants “parasites” who should be “arrested” or “shot” to “stop the invasion”. One graphic image was tweeted at the end of last month, depicting the Prophet Muhammad and suggesting child abuse.
Last year we revealed that Robinson made a islamophobic video in Swansea with leading figures on the British far right – Anne Marie Waters and the former BNP organiser Eddy Butler https://www.facebook.com/FRWWales/posts/957556328092648 Robinson also made national headlines when he called for the castration of a Sky news presenter, made unfounded claims about Muslims being behind a major knife crime and promoted bogus claims that people from Pakistan were responsible for the spread of coronavirus in Britain https://www.walesonline.co.uk/…/facebook-swansea…
Robinson also managed a YouTube channel which was recently banished from the platform for hate speech https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-56280227 . Before being shut down for violating YT’s ToS the so called ‘Voice of Wales’ channel had hosted interviews with the US domestic terrorist group the Proud Boys and promoted efforts by racists to disrupt player’s BLM solidarity gestures ahead of Swansea City games at the Liberty stadium
The channel’s co-manager Dan Morgan (pictured right), who featured in ukip’s Welsh Parliament election broadcast on television last night and who is standing in Swansea East for the party, was previously involved with the extreme right wing ‘street movement’ the DFLA and he helped organise their rally in Swansea a couple of years back with leader of the neo fascist For Britain party Anne Marie Waters.
Readers may also recall that Morgan promoted that infamous event with leaflets calling the three local labour MPs ‘traitors’. This was a deplorable choice of words and which as we pointed out in this facebook post at the time was no accident https://www.facebook.com/FRWWales/posts/662924020889215. Jo Cox’s murderer, the neo nazi Thomas Mair, used the word ‘traitor’ when he shot the Labour MP to death outside her constituency office in the run up to the EU referendum in june 2016 and also gave his name as ‘death to traitors’ when appearing in the dock for her savage murder
Also featured in the kipper’s election broadcast last night was their Wrecsam candidate Seb Ross. In this post last month we revealed that Seb Ross has links with anti semitic politicians and is the deputy of the uk chapter of Poland’s far right KORWiN party https://www.facebook.com/FRWWales/posts/1127053281142951
At yesterday’s manifesto launch Ukip unvieled a raft of hard right policies it would introduce in the unlikely event it wins enough seats to form the next Welsh government (the party presently has one Senedd member – Neil Hamilton). Pledging to reintroduce divisive grammar schools in Wales, end Wales’ proud status as a nation of sanctuary for asylum seekers and refugees, scrap laws designed to foster and preserve the Welsh language by requiring councils to provide services in English and Welsh, abolish the Senedd and return Wales to direct rule from Westminster and a bizarre promise to lift the ban on smoking in pubs in Wales https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-56719845
Songs Of Praise – Liberty Church (Siloh Chapel)
Mark Ritchie, Pastor of Liberty Church Swansea, describes the moving moment when one of the last members of the old chapel handed over the keys to enable the new church community to begin and start a new chapter in the life of the building.
Songs of Praise Sunday 9th May BBC Two 1.15pm
https://bbc.in/3ekvRbW
