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Leading West Wales chartered accountants and business consultants Clay Shaw Butler have welcomed the start of GlobalEntrepreneurship Week a campaign which puts the focus on job creation.
The slogan, Its time to make a job, not take a job, should make us all sit up and think, said Clay Shaw Butler directorDavid Butler.
It is in hard economic times such as now that our fighting spirit and entrepreneurial flair needs to come to the fore.
Its a time when we can all help each other and one of the ways of doing that is by being innovative and helping to launch theentrepreneurs of tomorrow.
Mr Butler said he was hugely encouraged by the entrepreneurial spirit in West Wales and Wales as a whole.
He said more needed to be done to get young people to focus on the reality If jobs are not readily available, then young peopleneed to have the courage to take their ideas into the world of business andmake them work, he said.
For that to work, it is crucial for the Government to give young businesspeople the fullest support. It is also crucial that theyget excellent support and much-needed advice from firms such as ourselves inthe private sector.
Global Entrepreneurship Week is being backed by Enterprise UK.
New research commissioned to mark the launch of Global Entrepreneurship Week finds that entrepreneurship in the UK suffersfrom:
AN AMBITION GAP - Over 50% of thepopulation want to start a business but only 5.8% are in the actual process ofstarting a business. To put this into global context, the rate of thosestarting a business in the US is 8 percent, Brazil 15 percent and in China 19percent.
A DEMOGRAPHIC GAP - An increase inself-employment rates of just 1% (fewer than 300,000 entrepreneurs), wouldboost the UKs GDP by around 1.5% and add approximately 22bn to the UKeconomy.
A SKILLS GAP - Enterprise educationdoubles your chances of business success but despite the fact four millionlearners are going through further education each year, and many more throughschools and colleges enterprise is still not a staple of the educationsystem.
Additional research commissioned found that entrepreneurs are ready to find solutions to these challenges. A YouGov poll of1,046 entrepreneurs across the UK shows that they believe that a new entrepreneurialculture will lead the nations economic recovery.
TV Dragon Peter Jones, Chairman of Enterprise UK said: It is no good encouraging people to start a business when they have noidea about how to go about it. To makethe UK the leading entrepreneurial nation we need to back our entrepreneurs byinvesting in enterprise education and by celebrating the role thatentrepreneurs play in creating a dynamic and growing economy.
The Prime Minister, David Cameron, said: Global Entrepreneurship Week is a fantastic opportunity for us to inspire theinnovators and entrepreneurs in our country.
The future of our economy depends on a new generation of entrepreneurs coming up with ideas, resolving to make them areality and having the vision to create wealth and jobs. But to make it happenwe need a culture change in Britain an injection of self-belief and dynamismto convince those who are dreaming about making it big to get out there and doit.
Thats why the government is doing everything possible to encourage entrepreneurs who are starting out from simplifyingtaxes to providing access to mentors and thats why I wish GlobalEntrepreneurship Week every success.
You can contact Clay Shaw Butler on 01267 228 500. Address 24 Lammas Street, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, SA31 3AL
Email info@clayshawbutler.com
The Claw Shaw Butler website is at - http://www.clayshawbutler.com
It's half way through the month and our inaugural Top Blogger contest is warming up. The Sheep of Excellence are getting restless in their digital pen . In just two weeks time we will be awarding the gold, silver and bronze prizes together with a copy of 'Wales: Land of Song' to the number one blogger. At the moment its developing into a close three horse race between Rhianne Griffiths, Swansea Jack and Lorin Morgan-Richards. Here are the current points and rankings:-
1. Rhianne Griffiths 35
2. Swansea Jack 28
3. Lorin Morgan-Richards 21
4. Glyn Davies 19
5. Geoff Brookes 13
Will Rhianne ( pictured below on a mercy mission to drop emergency supplies of S.A. and Clarkes Pies to our man in St Louis ) maintain her lead or will one of the other top 5 contenders come up from behind in the home stretch. OR is there an as yet totally unknown contender waiting in the wings to steal the show? Win this competition three times and you will be in line for our 'special prize' ( details TBA )

Check out Top Blogger HERE
I started thinking about Ryan Davies the other day and wondered whether there were any DVDs available of either Ryan a Ronnie or How Green Was My Father. As the latter was repeated on TV many years after Ryan's death, one imagines it must be about somewhere in the archives. There's a snippet of it on:
www.bbc.co.uk/wales/walesonair/database/ryandavies.shtml .
I know I'm not the only person who would love to see Our House/Teulu Ni again, with "Mam" cutting bread against her bosom and Nigel Wyn lurking in his school uniform. The BBC must have something in its archives, notorious though Auntie Beeb is for chucking things out. Only quite recently I saw an episode of one of their shows with Gareth Edwards doing a creditable soft shoe shuffle with R&R.
There's a nice tribute to Ryan on:
www.transdiffusion.org/emc/tvheroes/ryan_davies.php
In the meantime, there is still Ryan at the Rank and an album called Ffrindiau which I believe has Teulu Ni on it. Ryan at the Rank is/will be downloadable for MP3 players too.
Gaynor (aka Phyllis Doris)
Dec. 10 - 16th 2010
Shoreditch Town Hall Basement Gallery; London
more info at:
http://www.thecactuslab.com
When I was a little girl, my mother used to sing to me a lullaby, which her mother (my Welsh grandmother) used to sing to her. The words went: I never knew where the lullaby had come from, though I had an idea that it was something to do with the Irish immigrants in our family who came to South Wales at the end of the nineteenth century looking for work in the ironworks and the mines. My great-grandfather, my grandmother's father, was Irish. I was thinking about this lullaby the other day, and I was doing some research. To my surprise, I discovered that the lullaby was part of Isaiah 62.4, It just shows how ignorant I am of the Bible. I am not sure whether my mother and grandmother know this, but I will ask them when I next ring home. When I read the full scripture though, what struck me was how beautiful it was, how right it was too for the Irish immigrants, even if that is not where the lullaby tradition in my family came from. It's a little like hiraeth too, that longing for homes that have disappeared, friends who passed on and loved ones lost to us. Even as you read the lines (which I quote in full below), it is obvious that the joys described will only be experienced in restfulness and peace after death. I think I had a sense of this even as a child.
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It will be a defining moment in Welsh history when Wales has control of it's own coffers. Too much money intended for Wales has been diverted to English projects. This happens with regularity. A Welsh Parliament will take better care of the needs of the Welsh population.
Tom Bodden reports that the Welsh Assembly Members gave unanimous cross-party support on the 9th November to plans for a referendum on extended law-making powers for the Welsh Assembly.
The Senedd vote achieved the two-thirds majority required to approve the arrangements for the ballot, which must now be agreed in the Commons and by Peers.
First Minister Carwyn Jones said: Todays vote is a major step towards making the referendum a reality and fulfilling our One Wales pledge to proceed to a referendum as soon as practicable.
Deputy first minister Ieuan Wyn Jones said: Our system of governance is still too complicated and cumbersome.
If there is a yes vote in the referendum we will move towards a clearer and simpler and more effective legislative system.
Earlier, rural affairs minister Elin Jones said a successful yes campaign would mean the National Assembly would become the Welsh Parliament.
What we have after a yes vote will be a legislative parliament or senedd. Whether the Assembly decides to call itself a parliament or senedd is a matter for AMs.
The draft referendum order is required to set the March 3 date, the question and the rules for the conduct of the referendum.
The question will be: Do you want the Assembly now to be able to make laws on all matters in the 20 subject areas it has powers for?
The final stage in the process is the approval by the Queen in Council, expected in mid December.
Organisations or individuals which intend to spend 10,000 or more on campaigning on the Welsh referendum must register with the Electoral Commission, which will designate the official campaigns.
Plaid Cymrus deputy leader Helen Mary Jones said: This is a defining moment in Welsh politics.
The people of Wales deserve to have a parliament that will stand up for them against the sort of savage cuts we have seen from the Westminster government.
The present system of seeking approval from Westminster to legislate was complex and costly.
Counsel general John Griffiths said seeking the legislative competence orders via the UK Parliament process cost 2m in 2008-09.
Conservative leader of the Opposition Nick Bourne said: Its important that we are all united behind the campaign to ensure we get that yes vote we all need.
Kirsty Williams Welsh Lib Dem leader said: I am proud to be part of a party that is delivering its 100 year old commitment to devolve real power from Westminster to the Welsh people.
As reported by Tom Bodden, The Daily Post
You can read more about Devolution views here - Devolution Matters by Alan Trench
Here you can watch Wales Online TV interview with Sir Emyr Jones-Parry, Chair of the All-Wales Convention. He outlines the issues with clarity and makes it easy for people to understand these crucial issues. He heads the A-WC which in conjunction with other organisations is involved in disseminating the information that is needed for people in Wales to make an intelligent and informed judgement.
Devolution Referendum interview with Sir Emyr Jones-Parry. This file attachment is in mp4 format. I will post the video in My Video section of Americymru, along with an interesting look at the wonderful building - it's a day in the life of the building actually.
Log In To AmeriCymru ( Welsh Social Network ) Using Facebook, Google, Yahoo ID
By Ceri Shaw, 2010-11-10
Now you can log in to AmeriCymru ( Welsh social network ) using your Facebook, Google or Yahoo ID. If you are a new member joining for the first time use any of these credentials to sign in and you will automatically be logged into AC any time you are logged in to your sign in account ( be it Facebook, Google or Yahoo ). So lets suppose that you are on Facebook and you see a reference to a Forum discussion on which you'd like to comment on AmeriCymru. If you made an account on AC with your Facebook id ll you ave to do is click on the link and you'll automatically be signed in to AmeriCymru and taken to the page. Same with Google if you're logged in to your Gmail account ( provided you used your gmail id to create your AmeriCymru account )
Of course if you use the same username/password combo for all services then you only have to sign in to any one of the above three and you are logged in to AmeriCymru.
A Few Questions Answered
What information is transferred when a new member signs up?
When a new member signs up with a Google or Yahoo account, we are able to automatically pull in their name and email address. When they sign up via a Facebook account, we can additionally pull in a profile photo, birthdate, gender, and in the coming weeks location, if the user allows that data to be pulled. Note that to have this new sign-up method pull profile photos, birthdates, gender and location, youll need to make sure your network has those profile questions set up.
What if an existing member tries to sign in with a different Facebook, Google, or Yahoo email address?
Undoubtedly, some existing members may try to Sign In via Facebook, Google, or Yahoo right from the Sign In page, even if they originally signed up with a different email address and password. When this happens, they'll be signed right in if the email address provided by Facebook, Google, and Yahoo matches the one they originally joined with. If it does not match, they'll be told that no account exists, and will be asked to sign in. Once they sign in, they can link their accounts (even if the email addresses are different) by going to their Settings-Connections page.
Carmarthens new St Catherine's Walk Shopping Centre will be the major sponsor for the 30th annual Mayors Fun Run.
The centre signed up to back the race series this week.
Mike Pugh, the manager of the St Catherine's Walk Shopping Centre, said he was delighted to team up with the organisers of the Carmarthen Mayors Fun Run and races.
It is always our aim here at the St Catherine's Walk Shopping Centre to play as active a role as possible in the community and commercial life of Carmarthen, said Mr Pugh.
The Mayors fun run races have a great reputation and our cash injection as major sponsors should ensure that the 30th annual races are very memorable.
The race date is being moved next year from the traditional Easter weekend to the May Day Bank Holiday on Monday, May 2.
Mr Pugh added: It is in the interests of all traders and businesses in the town, not just St Catherines Walk, that we see as many people as possible visit Carmarthen on race day.
We want people to appreciate that Carmarthen is now a destination town for restaurants, entertainment and shopping with a whole host of different attractions.
The annual Carmarthen Mayors Fun Run helps to put the town on the map and anything we can do as a shopping centre to raise the profile of the town has to be a good thing.
Mr Pugh, who is an enthusiastic road and fell runner, said he was delighted to report that St Catherines Walk was already a huge hit with customers.
Shops and restaurants at the 74 million St Catherine's Walk are among the best performing in the country.
The centre has attracted more than 150,000 visitors every week since it opened
It also hit 180,000 on a number of occasions.
Race organiser Noelwyn Daniel said he was delighted to be able to name St Catherines Walk as the major sponsors for the Mayors Fun Run.
Mr Daniel added: We have been hugely encouraged by the support of the team at St Catherines Walk and we are hopeful that this 30th annual race will be the start of a new era for the event.
Entry forms will be published in the Carmarthen Journal in the new year.
Mr Daniel said changes to the race format and route would be announced over the next few weeks.
The 2010 races raised cash for four Carmarthen charities and organisations - 500 each for Awaydays, Womens Refuge, Bi-Polar Organisation and Towy Salmon Swimming Club.
Details of the 2011 charities will be released in the next few weeks.