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Sir Ranulph Fiennes, described by The Guinness Book of Records as the worlds greatest living explorer, is lending a hand to Healing The Wounds, the Welsh charity which helps treat sufferers of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).
Sir Ranulph took time out this week to help record a promotional film for the Bridgend-based charity.
It was an honour to meet such an inspirational gentleman with such amazing achievements to his name, said Healing The Wounds executive director Kevin Richards.
Sir Ranulph Fiennes has been named the UK's top celebrity fundraiser by Justgiving.com. Hes raised a whopping 2.5million for Marie Curie Cancer Care in just two years.
With achievements like that, we are so very grateful that he agreed to help us out with our promotional film.
The film work was carried out at The Celtic Manor Hotel in Newport and the final edited version is likely to be broadcast as a TV advertisement for the charitys work.
Sir Ranulph took the time to talk to us about the charity. He has a wonderful charitable nature. Sir Ranulph thanked the charity for looking after the guys. He was extremely nice and very supportive of the charitys work to help PTSD sufferers.
Sir Ranulph was the first person to visit both the North and South Poles by surface means and the first to completely cross Antarctica on foot. In May 2009, at the age of 65, he climbed to the summit of Mount Everest.
Sir Ranulph has written numerous books about his army service and his expeditions.
Mr Richards added: The man is a living, walking legend and I am sure the work he has been able to contribute to the charity will do us a power of good in raising our profile.
We are the only charity working to make sure that veterans and members of the civilian services get treatment for PTSD where they need it, close to their homes in Wales.
The work we do is hugely valuable and important for the brave men and women who serve our country. To see the transformation in PTSD victims after they have attended one of our treatment courses is to appreciate what the term life-changing really means.
A popular Llanelli business breakfast club has strengthened its line-up with the addition of some new key players.
The trio of new members at the Business Network International (BNI) Chapter in Llanelli is led by Llanelli Reds football club defender Chris Thomas.
And the line-up is completed by Llanelli solicitor Michael Davey and finance and mortgage specialist Nigel Wain.
Membership of the BNI business network is all about being part of a bigger team, said visitor host Paul Thomas.
Everyone comes to a BNI meeting with their own individual skills and talents, but the power of the meeting comes through the way members work together.
Reds star Chris Thomas, of John F Harvey chartered accountants, agreed.
He added: Joining the BNI breakfast club in Llanelli has been a great help. We can all learn from each other as the meeting contains people from such varied backgrounds.
These are challenging times in business and the club is really useful as a support mechanism. You know that fellow members are there to support you and to encourage you to do better in business.
The BNI Chapter in Llanelli is still looking for new members for the Thursday morning club at The Diplomat Hotel in Llanelli.
Kick off is 7am, said visitor host Paul Thomas.
Yes, its an early start. But it does help you get some quality time at the start of the day to give your business a lift and, lets face it, nowadays everyone needs help and support to meet the challenges posed by the state of the economy.
One of the things new members are always impressed with is the fact that the meetings create a real buzz in the morning. We start the day energised as theres a lot of enthusiasm in our meetings.
It is estimated that each seat around the Llanelli BNI breakfast table is worth more than 12,000 in business.
The key to this is in the make-up of the BNI membership. No two businesses in the BNI are allowed to be in the same category, so you get a mix which can be as varied as the proverbial butcher, baker and candlestick maker.
In Llanelli, the membership includes a plasterer, electrician, builder, web designer, IT support consultant and an environmental auditor.
It really is a great mix, said Mr Thomas.
As well as the networking and the support BNI provides, the meeting also enables members to pass business referrals to each other, which can vary from firm orders from one business to the next or an introduction to a potential client.
The business between the BNI members is monitored and in money terms we know that the BNI members have done more than 200,000 worth of business between each other since September, 2009.
BNI details: Endeavour BNI (Llanelli), Director Nick Romanello. Email address nicholas@bni-southwales.com. Venue: Diplomat Hotel, Felinfoel, Llanelli, SA15 3PJ. Meeting time: Thursday 0700am - 0830am
If you are interested in joining the Llanelli BNI, then ring Phil Evans for an informal chat on 07796 990493
Website
www.bni-southwales.com
The award-winning Evan-Evans brewery in Llandeilo is helping to champion the power of local!
There is a growing consumer trend to buy local food and drink, with the accent firmly on quality products.
Pubs are no different in that respect to your local greengrocer, butcher and fishmonger, said James Buckley, of Evan-Evans.
More and more nowadays customers and consumers are appreciating the value of buying local. They know they are supporting local industries and businesses and they know they are getting quality products for the pound in their pocket.
In the brewing industry in Wales, we have found in recent years that people putting real value on excellence. Here, at Evan-Evans we produce a range of traditional quality ales which are winning awards and building on our reputation for excellence.
Mr Buckley, 22, recently rejoined the brewing team at Evan-Evans and is now helping to promote an initiative from SIBA, the Small Independent Brewers Association.
SIBA will this week (August 2) be launching SIBA Locals, a scheme which will identify Local Beer Champions.
Mr Buckley said: More and more people make a conscious decision to go to pubs selling local produce meat raised on local farms, fish caught in local waters, local fruit and vegetables grown in season and , of course, beer from their local brewer.
Becoming a SIBA Local says a pub cares about its local community, supports local brewers and sells their distinctive, flavoursome craft beers.
Pubs joining the scheme receive a brass plaque, posters and access to a dedicated website ( http://www.siba.co.uk/sibalocals ) designed to help them communicate their local beer champion status.
The initiative is all about championing the good things that are local and I will be doing my very best to encourage the Free Trade pubs in South West Wales and further afield to sign up to the scheme.
SIBA Local pubs will have access to special tasting notes and help in staging special events.
SIBA's Pub Associate scheme is being launched at this year's Great British Beer Festival, which starts in Earls Court in London on Tuesday, August 2.
Weblinks
www. http://siba.co.uk
http://www.siba.co.uk/sibalocals
http://www.evan-evans.com/
At the Healing The Wounds charity, they firmly believe in the title of the Will Young hit Anything Is Possible.
It could even be something of a motto for the charity, which helps treat sufferers of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).
Event manager Amie Phillips is a big fan of Will Young . . . so, on the basis of anything is possible she asked for a favour when he visited a South Wales radio station.
We asked Will if hed be kind enough to autograph one of our Healing The Wounds banners and he was delighted to agree after it was explained to him what the charitys work involves.
His autograph is the first on our banner, but it will be the first of many we hope as we plan to get more celebrity autographs and endorsements.
Then, when weve filled as much of the banner was we can, we will put the finished banner up for auction to raise cash for the charity.
As an auction item it will be a real one-off and of great appeal to celebrity autograph hunters.
Amazingly, in December Will Young will celebrate the 10 year anniversary of his winning Pop Idol.
The singer has sold more than eight million albums worldwide. His latest (fourth) studio album is called Echoes.
Lending his name to our banner was a very nice thing for Will Young to do, said Healing The Wounds executive director Kevin Richards.
We are the only charity working to make sure that veterans and members of the civilian services get treatment for PTSD where they need it, close to their homes in Wales.
The work we do is hugely valuable and important for the brave men and women who serve our country. To see the transformation in PTSD victims after they have attended one of our treatment courses is to appreciate what the term life-changing really means.
Weblinks
http://www.willyoung.co.uk
http://www.healingthewounds.co.uk
By any standards, its been quite a year for the Ashburnham Golf Clubs teenage golf star Nia Greville.
At just 15, she has chalked up a Welsh title win, represented Wales in the European Championships in Sardinia and she is now heading north to compete in the Home Internationals in Scotland.
In the middle of it all, she is putting her mind to completing 12 GSCE Level exams, anxiously awaiting the results of half of them later this month.
Yes, its been quite a year, the modest Ysgol y Strade, Llanelli, pupil said as she took time out from a practice round at the Ashburnham Championship Links.
The golf has gone really well and I am lucky that its been both a busy and successful year.
In May, Nia won the Welsh Girls Under-16 Championship at Royal St David's Golf Club, Harlech.
In July, she joined the Wales team in the European Girls Under-18 Team Championships in Sardinia.
This week, she will be proudly wearing the Wales blazer once again as the Girls Home International Matches get underway at Gullane on Wednesday.
The Wales team includes the talented North Walian Amy Boulden.
That event starts on Wednesday, when Wales face England and they will be looking to gain revenge for the 9-0 whitewash they suffered in the corresponding fixture last year.
Wales play Ireland on Thursday and wrap up the series against Scotland on Friday.
The Gullane Golf Club in East Lothian offers championship quality links golf courses with dramatic views across the Firth of Forth to Edinburgh and Fife. The Home Internationals take place on the Gullane No2 course.
Playing on a links course should suit Nia just fine as she spends her time practicing on the glorious links at Ashburnham.
This is a lovely course, Nia said before teeing off on another practice round. Ive been playing here since I was about eight years old, so I know the place pretty well.
Nia, who plays off a Handicap of 6, is undecided about whether to continue her golfing career at a more senior level.
For now, its an enjoyable hobby and I think Ill leave it at that while Im in the middle of my exams and all my school work. Im really enjoying the challenge of playing golf at an international level. Im very proud to represent Wales and enjoying every minute of it. I just hope I can make a great contribution to the Wales team in the international matches.
The Home Internationals will feature foursomes games in the morning before singles in the afternoon.
Ashburnham club secretary Huw Morgan said: We are very proud of our junior golfers here at The Ashburnham and we are working very hard to encourage the next generation of golfers.
All of us here at the club are very proud of Nias achievements this year and we wish all the very best on her trip to Scotland
Nia comes from one of Llanellis most famous sporting families. Her father, Simon Greville, played for Llanelli Scarlets, and her grandfather is Handel Greville, a Welsh rugby international and a Scarlets legend who was once chairman and president of the club.
For further information about The Ashburnham Golf Club, contact
The Clubhouse, Cliffe Terrace, Burry Port, Carmarthenshire, SA16 0HN
Tel:01554 832269
Fax:01554 836974
Email:admin@ashgolf.co.uk
Website - http://www.ashburnhamgolfclub.co.uk
The opening was due to be carried out against the backdrop of a South Wales Junior Cricket Under-16 match between the Wanderers and Pontarddulais but a classic summer deluge put paid to that part of the entertainment.
VIP guests, including Glamorgan bowler Huw Waters and Carmarthen Town Deputy Mayor Phil Grice, were forced inside the new clubhouse, but at least it gave them chance to explore the new pavilion.
More than 150,000 has been spent on dressing rooms and a lounge bar next to the nets at Trinity Fields.
The new clubhouse is a great example of partnerships at work, said Carmarthen Wanderers chairman David Roberts.
Mr Roberts said the key partners in the project were the University of Wales Trinity St David, the ECB English Cricket Board of England, Cricket Wales, Carmarthenshire County Council, Cwm Environmental Services Limited and Castell Howell Foods Limited.
Mr Roberts said the new facilities would provide an excellent platform for Carmarthen Wanderers Cricket Club. He said the club was already producing junior internationals and he looked forward to the club producing Glamorgan and England players of the future.
The Wanderers owe their name to the fact for 50 years they had no facilities, no proper ground to call their own.
That changed in 1983 when the club signed a lease with Carmarthen Rugby Club to use its ground at Abergwili.
In 1998 it relocated to Ystrad and the Trinity Fields and commenced its innovative partnership with the then Trinity College.
The club fields three senior sides and six junior teams from under 9 to under 16,-with under 7 age group fixtures to be played shortly.
Both the club's under 13 and 15 teams are in the Welsh Cup finals which will take place at Newport Cricket Club.
The club website is at -
http://carmarthenwanderers.play-cricket.com
Even the swallows, flitting high in the gathering dusk, seemed to agree. This was music to send the soul soaring.
Yes, it rained. But this is the Tywi Valley in mid June. And any artist familiar with the stunning Aberglasney Gardens knows that to make a watercolour you first need water.
This was billed as a celebration concert to mark the creation of the University of Wales Trinity St David. But it was much, much more.
It celebrated our greatest Welsh singer, our most popular tenor and one of the brightest stars in Welsh music.
Indeed, Eilir Owen Griffiths, as chorus master and composer, very nearly upstaged Messrs Terfel and Evans.
For this is a musician at the top of his game who handles not one but three choirs, Cor y Drindod Dewi Sant, CF1 and Cor Gorder Garth.
The evening saw the world premiere of his Requiem, with words by award-winning Welsh bard Meredid Hopwood.
With references to some of our greatest hymn tunes, this was a work which should elevate Eilir Owen Griffiths into the public consciousness.
Filled with passion and emotion, the Requiem tugged on the heart-strings on a night when the Aberglasney faithful were told that one of the gardens trustees, Brian McSweeney, had died.
The emotions were stirred further by a triumphal performance of O Beata Trinitas, a work commissioned from our greatest living composer, Karl Jenkins, to celebrate Carmarthens Trinity College gaining university status in 2009.
The massed ranks of the three choirs and the orchestra took centre stage for a while, weaving rich textures and harmonies for the 1,500 audience at the Aberglasney Gardens.
But boys will be boys and it was the two guys who provided the showpiece moments from a memorable evening.
Wynne Evans always revels in his rendition of his mums favourite, Gweddir Arglwydd. And he had the audience on their feet for his Nessum Dorma.
Bryn Terfels set saw his first public performance of Anfonaf Angel, a work dedicated to the Wales Air Ambulance Service and with words by celebrated Welsh broadcaster Hywel Gwynfryn.
Terfels Te Deum from Tosca was a taster for what Covent Garden will hear in a week or two, while his Stars from Les Miserable was perfectly timed for that sunset moment at Aberglasney.
The bass baritone legend and the tenor had combined during the Eilir Owen Griffiths Requiem, but they were brought back for the stunning duet from Bizets Pearl Fishers, Au fond du temple.
The audience demanded more and they got it with an encore of Granada, which featured two of the finest pieces of Welsh beef battling it out in bullfighting style on stage.
The concert was recorded by S4C and will be broadcast soon.
Officers from the Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service swum 36 nautical miles in aid of Healing The Wounds, the charity which supports Armed Forces personnel, veterans and their families and members of the civilian emergency services.
One of the event organisers, Watch manager Gareth Davies, said he was delighted with the success of the swim and hoped that the event would raise 10,000 for the charity.
We know that 3,500 has already been pledged and we hope that further promises of cash will bring the total up to 10,000.
The swimmers set off from Ilfracombe at 10am on Saturday, June 25th, and by swimming in relays managed to cover nearly a mile an hour, reaching Mumbles by 3pm yesterday (Sunday).
Mr Davies said: Wed trained hard for it, but it was still a massive test of stamina and willpower.
Overnight, we had to lay-up for a short while as we were being pounded by a Force Five storm. At least two waves crashed over the boat at one stage and it was very scary, to say the least.
Having said that, we completed the swim in glorious weather conditions and we were delighted with the warm welcome home we received when we landed at Knab Rock, Mumbles.
It was hard going, but it was well worth it for this important charity.
The firefighters chose to raise funds for Healing The Wounds after hearing about its work from a former serviceman.
As firefighters we understand that people who put their lives on the line need emotional and psychological support, and that is what Healing the Wounds offer, said Mr Davies.
Kevin Richards, executive director of Healing The Wounds, said: Firefighters risk their safety to help other people, so they are able to understanding the demanding nature of life in the forces.
Swimming the Bristol Channel was a huge undertaking, which really tested the firefighters. Their achievement was magnificent and we are all very proud of them.
If you wish to sponsor the firefighters, visit Mid and West Wales Fire Service or Virgin Money Giving websites and follow the links.
For more information on Healing The Wounds visit www.healingthewounds.co.uk
There are assorted pictures from the landing at Knab Rock, Mumbles, on the following weblink
https://picasaweb.google.com/robertapvincent/BristolChannelSwimForHealingTheWounds?authkey=Gv1sRgCIrJnOat8remqwE
The Healing The Wounds charity was set up in January 2010 to help provide PTSD treatment for members of the armed forces and veterans. It aims to set up a Welsh base for the treatment of PTSD. It is already arranging treatment courses and building a team of counsellors who can treat PTSD.
Donations can be made
By post:
To make your donation by post, please send a cheque payable to Healing The Wounds, together with your name address and post code to enable us to claim gift aid, to Healing The Wounds, 26, Enterprise Centre, Bryn Road, Tondu, Bridgend, CF32 9BS.
Give in person at Barclays Bank.
Call into any branch of Barclays and pay your donation into this account:
Healing The Wounds
Sort code: 20-84-41
Account number: 90516929
The charitys website is at http://www.healingthewounds.co.uk/
Contact numbers for charity officers - 01656 744880/07518063566/07714622328
