Arts Council of Wales and British Council renew partnership
British Council Wales, Arts Council of Wales, and Wales Arts International have signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen Wales' global cultural connections and promote Welsh creativity worldwide.
The agreement was signed at this year's Hay Festival by Paul Thompson, chair of the British Council, and Maggie Russell, chair of the Arts Council of Wales.
Mr Thompson said: "We are delighted to continue this vital partnership with the Arts Council of Wales.
"It reaffirms our shared commitment to ensuring Wales continues to thrive on the international cultural stage."
The MoU supports joint programming and investment, with a focus on international showcasing and collaboration.
It also includes support for the Welsh Government's 2025 Year of Wales and Japan campaign, following the success of previous initiatives such as Wales in France 2023 and Wales in India 2024.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wales Online
2 hours ago
- Wales Online
Welsh star opens new local skatepark in Cardiff
A new 'destination' skatepark has opened in Llanrumney, with Dirty Sanchez' Matthew Pritchard cutting the ribbon at the long awaited facility and taking the first skate. Plans for the project were first announced by Cardiff Council three years ago as part of the council's Skateboard Amenities project that will see the city filled with new skateparks across the city over the next ten years, subject to funding. Work started on the new park in December 2024 and finally opened today - Friday, June 6. The East Side park in Llanrumney, next to the Eastern Leisure Centre, has multiple obstacles including ledges, rails, hubbas, manual pads, stairs, banks as well as a quarter pipe making it both fun and challenging for those looking to learn or hone their skating skills. The local skateboard community worked with consultants, VDZ+A and Newline Skateparks, to design the 1,000m2 skatepark. Never miss a Cardiff story by signing up to our daily newsletter here It has been designed to be suitable for skaters of all ages and abilities, and is built from concrete, providing a higher quality, lower maintenance and lower noise facility than the old timber-framed skatepark it replaces. Dirty Sanchez star and Welsh skateboarder, Matt Pritchard joined skaters to open the facility. He said: "It's what we need in Cardiff. I'm 52 now, and when I first started skateboarding, we had nothing in Cardiff, so to have facilities like this is amazing. "It's really good for the kids as well, especially now that skateboarding is in the Olympics and is being taken seriously. Fair play to Cardiff Council, they've done an amazing job, and it's nice to see them investing in skateboarding in Cardiff." Cabinet member for culture, parks and events, Cllr Jennifer Burke, said: "This is the first skate park to be built as part of our new skateboard strategy and it's already proving to be a real hit with the city's skate community. "The skate scene in Cardiff is really vibrant and diverse – you've got young children and teenagers, all the way through to older skaters who are now introducing their own kids to what is now an Olympic sport. The new East Side skate park is part of our long-term strategy to support and grow the skateboard community for years to come." Here are pictures of the new skatepark in Llanrumney.
Wales Online
7 hours ago
- Wales Online
Ryan Reynolds' new £50m purchase and net worth after divorce from Hollywood actress
Ryan Reynolds' new £50m purchase and net worth after divorce from Hollywood actress The Wrexham AFC co-owner has accumulated a vast fortune from a string of box office hits and a number of savvy investments Ryan Reynolds with his wife Blake Lively Ryan Reynolds has joined forces with another Hollywood actor to buy another sports teams, following the astonishing success of his takeover of Wrexham AFC with Rob McElhenney. Alongside McElhenney, Reynolds has overseen the Welsh club's rise from non-league to the Championship in just four seasons, as they became the first side in history to win three consecutive promotions in the top five leagues of English football. The fairytale run has put Wrexham on the map across the world, with the club now one more promotion away from the heights of the Premier League. However, Reynolds has now teamed up with his close friend and Deadpool & Wolverine co-star Hugh Jackman in a completely new sporting venture, with the pair announcing that they now own an Australian sailing team named the BONDS Flying Roos. The recently rebranded team competes in the SailGP international sailing competition, a competition which the likes of Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe, actress Anne Hathaway, F1 star Sebastian Vettel and boxer Deontay Wilder have also invested in. Reynolds and McElhenney already also hold stakes in Mexican football team Club Necaxa, Colombian side La Equidad and Formula One team Alpine, but this is Jackman's first foray into sports ownership. "We're incredibly excited to set sail together in this new adventure," Reynolds and Jackman said in a statement. "Hugh brings a deep love for and pride in his home country as well as being an avid fan of sailing. Article continues below "He will also be bringing his overly clingy emotional support human along for the ride. Apologies in advance to Australia." While the amount that Reynolds and Jackman paid for the team has not been officially disclosed, it is estimated that they paid at least $50 million (£37 million) between them. In light of the Wrexham co-owner's new venture, we take a look at how he made his huge fortune and the important people who have been alongside him on his way to the top. Astonishing net worth Reynolds is believed to boast a jaw-dropping net worth of an estimated $400 million (£295 million), having been named as one of Hollywood's highest earners. The film star was ranked by Forbes as the second highest paid actor in the world in 2024, with the huge £79 million sum he pocketed putting him just behind Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson in the fortune stakes. Much of his success last year came from his hit Marvel film Deadpool & Wolverine, while family film IF and Emmy-winning documentary Welcome to Wrexham also contributed. Reynolds has supplemented his Hollywood earnings with a series of savvy investment moves, acquiring up to a 20 per cent stake in American gin company Aviation Gin before selling in a massive $600 million (£443 million) deal in 2020. He also sold a substantial stake in telecoms firm Mint Mobile to T-Mobile in 2023, with the huge $1.35 billion (£997 million) deal seeing him pocket over $300 million (£220 million) alone. The Deadpool star has made a sizeable investment in Wrexham, with he and fellow co-owner McElhenney believed to have pumped more than £20 million of their own money into the club since taking over in 2020. In 2023, an episode of Welcome to Wrexham revealed that they had lost around $12 million (£8.9 million) since taking over the club, with Reynolds responding by saying: "I'm going to throw up." Life with famous wife after Hollywood divorce Reynolds has been married to Gossip Girl star Blake Lively since 2012, having met the actress on the set of Green Lantern. As their relationship blossomed, they soon became one of Hollywood's most beloved power couples and tied the knot at a private ceremony in South Carolina before going on to welcome four children - James, Inez, Betty and Olin - together. Lively has often made the trip to Wrexham alongside her husband to cheer on the team at the Racecourse Ground, and paid a gushing tribute to the city after they secured promotion to the Championship in April. "Back to back to back," she wrote in an Instagram post. "History was made. Congratulations to @wrexham_afc. I will never forget the love and elation in that town today. Thank you for sharing it with us always. "And to these two men, @robmcelhenney & @vancityreynolds ... the love and respect that pours out of you each and together exponentially grows and creates more joy, more possibilities, more magic, more history," the actress added. "This picture feels to me like a painting of all you do for so many, while being so present and appreciative of every moment." Before he met Lively, Reynolds had been no stranger to high-profile romances, having previously been engaged and married to some of the most famous women in showbusiness. In 2004, he got engaged to fellow Canadian Alanis Morissette, having met the singer at Drew Barrymore's birthday party two years earlier. They split up in 2007, with Morrissette citing the pressures of fame as a contributing factor, but they have remained close friends ever since. Reynolds - who has also been linked to actresses Sandra Bullock, Melissa Joan Hart, and Charlize Theron - soon began dating actress Scarlett Johansson and they got married in 2008, tying the knot in a private ceremony in Vancouver. However, they parted ways in 2010, with both Reynolds and Johansson admitting that the relationship fell apart due to their busy schedules and a lack of quality time spent together. "We work and then go home," the actress later told Time Out. "I'd just stare at the wall for a few hours before I got to sleep." Friendship with Rob McElhenney While they have overseen one of the most remarkable changes in fortune in football history together, Reynolds and McElhenney weren't really friends when they moved to buy Wrexham, having only interacted with each other online on a couple of occasions. Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't Reynolds' idea to take over a football club, with McElhenney instead leading the charge having worked with British comedy writer and football fan Humphrey Ker, who gave him the inspiration to invest in a team. While he was not overly interested in football, McElhenney was intrigued by Ker's love of Liverpool FC and, as a result, the script writer recommended that he watch Netflix series Sunderland 'Til I Die during the coronavirus pandemic. The series fascinated the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia star and led him to decide that he wanted his own football club to make his own documentary about. After the actor determined his budget, Ker then helped him pick out some suitable candidates - with Wrexham standing out to McElhenney due to the club's history, passionate fanbase and need for new investment in the wake of the pandemic. He then reached out to Reynolds - who had previously messaged him about his favourite Always Sunny scene - to try and secure further money to invest and attach another big name to the club. Reynolds was excited about the idea and did not want to be simply a sponsor, but a co-owner alongside McElhenney. In November 2020, the duo bought the club for £2 million and the rest is history - with the two now very good friends despite not meeting in person until April 2021. McElhenney has since told People that Reynolds is one of his closest friends, describing him as a "kind and generous soul, and somebody you can rely on." Article continues below Hailing the actor as a "truly inspiring person," he added: "Our families have grown incredibly close, and even though we live on opposite coasts, we feel like we're right next to each other."
Wales Online
7 hours ago
- Wales Online
Glamorgan CEO Dan Cherry hails the Sophia Gardens ‘Summer of Cricket'
An action packed summer of cricket is underway at Sophia Gardens, with fixtures coming thick and fast to keep fans of all ages entertained. The home of Welsh cricket - just a brisk ten minute walk from Cardiff Castle along the Taff Trail – has already hosted a successful One-Day International, as the West Indies made England fight all the way in front of a near sell-out crowd. And now, with Glamorgan's high speed T20 Vitality Blast format kicking off, along with another massive England vs South Africa T20 game in September, Dan Cherry, Glamorgan's CEO couldn't be happier. (Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency) 'It was a fantastic event here for the England match, with over 12,000 cricket fans packing out the stadium,' he said. 'We were blessed with sunshine and some fantastic cricket - over 600 runs, two centurions and a sublime innings by Joe Root, which I'm sure every cricket fan in the ground would have totally enjoyed. 'We immediately followed the England game with our T20 format here in Cardiff. It's great to host Blast games again and fantastic to see the Welsh public coming out in force to support the team. 'We put in some great performances last year and narrowly missed out on the quarter-finals. It'd be great to go one step further and see some dynamic performances and big crowds here. We'll do all we can to provide the excellent customer experience that we have done previously.' For those less connected to cricket, Blast games last around three hours, often under the floodlights. The fast, exciting form of cricket is now enthralling fans at Sophia Gardens. Beyond that, Blast games are famed for fan activities, affordable tickets and street food vendors, including vegetarian, vegan and halal options. Glamorgan's efforts even claimed the 2024 ECB Best Domestic Spectator Experience award. Glamorgan next face Essex on Friday, June 6 at 6:30pm, with another big home fixture against Sussex Sharks on Saturday June, 14. This year's Blast fixtures also include two double headers on Sunday, July 13 and Friday, July 18, when both the women's and men's teams make history to play on the same day at Sophia Gardens. (Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency) 'When you look at white ball formats of the game now, they are great products for people to come and enjoy themselves alongside watching cricket,' Dan Cherry explained. 'You've got music, great food and drink and a real atmosphere, especially on a Friday or Saturday night. We always look forward to having big crowds here supporting the team.' Whether you're coming with family, friends, or flying solo, nothing beats the thrill of a T20 match - big hits, thrilling finishes, and memories that last a lifetime. Advance Vitality Blast adult prices at Sophia Gardens start at just £18, with under 17s tickets £5 and students only £10. Group tickets also offer incredible value for friends, families and work colleagues. Book early to enjoy great savings at
