Latest news with #Bridgend-based
Business News Wales
3 days ago
- Sport
- Business News Wales
Bridgend Firm Sponsors Welsh Internationals
Bridgend-based Powerhouse Energy Group is supporting Wales' Over 35 Women's Masters Hockey Team as they compete this summer at the European Championship in Valencia (June), and the Home Nations tournament in Glasgow (August). Paul Emmitt, Chief Executive Officer, Powerhouse Energy Group has committed to awarding and covering the cost of the Welsh Caps and certificates for each of the 36 players representing Wales this summer. Player Kat Kisby, who lives in Cardiff, said: 'On behalf of the team, we're incredibly thankful to sponsors like Powerhouse. Competing at this level is entirely self-funded, which is common in amateur sports—even at the national level—so the financial burden on players is significant. Any support we receive goes a long way in helping us concentrate on our performance. We've been training intensively over the past six months, and we're excited to compete and hopefully come back with some big wins under our belt.' Powerhouse Energy Group is located on Brackla Industrial Estate, Bridgend and utilises unrecyclable plastic by converting the unrecyclable waste efficiently and economically into synthetic gas for future use. Paul said: 'We're thrilled to be able to support a passionate and ambitious team looking to compete at the highest level. We wish the players the very best of luck and I'm looking forward to presenting their well-deserved Welsh caps later this year in recognition of their achievements.'
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mental health funding announced for steelworks town
When steelworker Christopher Curtis realised he was losing what he thought might be a "job for life", his mental health "struggled a lot". The 42-year-old, who has set up a new gardening business, said the past year had taught him "mental health is more important than anything". Hundreds of workers have left the Port Talbot site since Tata Steel shut down the town's remaining blast furnace six months ago. More than £3m has now been announced by the UK government's steel transition board to boost mental health support in the community. Tata Steel open to more investment in Port Talbot 'The steelworks is our identity - we are the steel town' Can Port Talbot survive change at Tata? Earlier this week, Tata Steel confirmed 300 jobs have been secured after new contracts were handed to local companies to help build the £1.25bn electric arc furnace. But Mr Curtis said he worried for months about how his job loss at Tata would impact his family's future and his ability to pay the bills. "I struggled a lot to be honest. I struggled mentally and I took a bit of time off work because I was so stressed with what was going on," he said. He was helped by Tata Steel's former mental health and wellbeing officer Martyn Wagstaff, who "reassured [him] that everything was going to be good". The support helped Mr Curtis through a difficult period and gave him the confidence to take on a new business full-time following his final day with Tata at the end of March. "I started up my gardening and maintenance business and now I'm going to be doing the business full-time. "I've learnt through all of this is that you can't do much without money but your mental health is more important than anything," Mr Curtis said. Realising the need for greater mental health provision in his community, Martyn Wagstaff set up his own support service once his role as Tata Steel's mental health officer was cut in December 2024. After sharing the story of his own mental health struggles, he said he had supported more than 100 employees who had opened up during a difficult period at the works. "Having men and women in a room with each other and sharing their stories in front of each other is quite unusual in that type of environment. I still have quite a lot of guys from in there who still reach out now for a chat or a bit of advice," he said. "A lot of the businesses I work closely with now also employ a lot of ex-Tata employees, so there's still that overhang there. But it's also the sports clubs in this area as well. "Lots of members of sports clubs around here are still there working in Tata and there is still some of that uncertainty about what's happening around the restructure and their futures there." Despite recent concerns over the future of British steel, Tata's plans to build an electric arc furnace in Port Talbot moved a step closer this week. It confirmed new contracts with Bridgend-based companies Darlow Lloyd & Sons and Wernick Buildings, as well as Swansea-based Andrew Scott Ltd who will carry out work as the plant transitions to a greener way of steelmaking. Since it first announced its restructure plans in September 2023, 1,800 employees have left the business and more than half of those have taken voluntary redundancy. Thousands of contractors and supply chain jobs have also been affected by the closure of the blast furnaces. The allocation of £3.27m for mental health support services is expected to be used to help steelworkers and their families who are struggling with debt, as well as offering additional support in local schools and to invest in suicide prevention training for council and union workers. Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens said: "The past 18 months have been incredibly difficult for the steelworkers of Port Talbot, their families and for the wider community but we said we would back them in whatever ways were needed. "We are helping people learn new skills but we also need to help protect people's mental health, because well-being is crucial to getting back into work and staying in work."
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Yahoo
Man's heartbreaking words as his brother-in-law set to be freed
The British family of Eli Sharabi has welcomed news he is on the list of Israeli hostages Hamas plans to release next. Mr Sharabi, 52, was taken captive by the militants from Kibbutz Beeri, a communal farm that was one of the hardest hit in the Hamas attack. His Bristol-born wife, Lianne, and their teenage daughters, Noiya and Yahel, were killed by militants while hiding in their safe room. His brother, Yossi Sharabi, who lived next door, was killed in captivity. Mr Sharabi is due to be released on Saturday, February 8 alongside Ohad Ben Ami, 56, and Or Levy, 34, in the fifth round of exchanges of hostages for Palestinians jailed by Israel. On Friday night Stephen Brisley - the Bridgend-based brother of Mrs Sharabi - spoke about the news to Claire Summers on BBC Wales Drive. READ MORE: Trains in Wales heavily delayed after car plummets onto line from bridge READ MORE: Free parking at popular Cardiff park set to be scrapped Although Mr Brisley said he is "delighted" ahead of Mr Sharabi's release, he does not know if his brother-in-law know about the deaths of his wife and two daughters. He said: "One of the most upsetting things is that if he doesn't know - and the prospect of getting back to them has kept him going for the last 490 days - is that he's likely to find out from a stranger. I know if I were him the first question I would ask as soon as I got [released] would be 'Are Lianne and the girls waiting for me?'" Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here Mr Brisley said he is "not expecting to sleep tonight" as he awaits information about Mr Sharabi's release, adding: "I think it will really sink in properly and it will really open up the floodgates tomorrow (Saturday) when hopefully I see his face on the television being released." Lawyers for the family, Adam Rose and Adam Wagner, said in a statement it was imperative that release arrangements prioritise the safety of the hostages. 'We and our clients, the Sharabi and Brisley families, are pleased and relieved that Eli Sharabi is reportedly on the list for release by Hamas, due to take place tomorrow,' the statement read. "There cannot be a repeat of the scenes a week ago when hostages were put at danger of injury and death by a mob of thousands of people. 'We call on the UK Government, which has taken formal responsibility for Eli due to his close British connections, to call for this and use any diplomatic means to achieve it. Hostage taking is a war crime and every nation should be calling for the hostages to be released immediately and unconditionally so that their almost-500-day ordeal, and that of their families, is brought to an end,' they added.
BBC News
07-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Welsh fashion inspired by miners' strike and Merthyr Tydfil
The end of the miners' strike 40 years ago and a well-known Welsh artist are the inspirations for a new fashion collection. Dewi Bowen was known for capturing iconic scenes of his hometown Merthyr Tydfil. His great nephew Ioan Bowen-Pickett, owner of Cardiff-based fashion label Cambrensis, is putting on what he describes as a "landmark moment for Welsh fashion".The Victory to the Miners runway show, is also "championing the future of sustainable fashion", he added. The mining industry has influenced not just the clothes but also the music, with the Aber Valley male choir accompanying the models on the catwalk. Ioan says the clothes are "solely based on Welsh heritage and the works of my late great uncle". "His artwork featured mainly images of Welsh heritage," he added."For example, one of our main pieces is a parka [jacket] and it features an image by him of a Welsh colliery going through it." The unisex clothes in the show are a joint effort between Ioan and Bridgend-based designer Nia Jade. The partnership, they say, aims to combine "traditional Welsh craftsmanship with bold, eco-conscious design". The mining theme is important to Nia, "because its rooted in most Welsh peoples heritage"."My grandparents worked in the mines, and its always been quite big in our family and something we are proud of," she added."Obviously that generation is passing on, but I think it is good to keep it alive out of respect for how they have left their mark on Wales."A fashion show in an old chapel with music that does not have a contemporary beat is not without its challenges, says choreographer Luce Edwards. "The acoustics are great and the voices being echoed will make the experience 10 times more powerful," he said. "But our models will have to find a beat to the music by the choir and that is quite a challenge... but at the same time you are going to have the strength of those voices behind you." Mathew Pearce works in marketing in the company and says the fashion world in Wales is an exciting place to be. "We are trying to have an influence on other Welsh brands," he said. "Wales has great chances to be in the high end fashion and we want everyone on board."
