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Please Help To Find Edge

Our missing cat’s name is Edge. He is about two and a half years old and has black and white short-hair, with a fairly distinctive black dot on his chin. He doesn’t have a collar but he has been chipped so if found, a vet would be able to get him back to us. Edge was last seen on Wednesday 27 February around Old Port Road near the primary school.

If spotted or found, please contact myself (Ben) on 07445308404 or my wife (Hannah) on 07856607570. Alternatively, pop a note through our door at 8 Wenvoe Close (up the road from Wenvoe Library).

Kind regards, Ben Jones

 

 

Upcoming Events

 

Meet the Author: Ian Pate talks about ‘Motorway Madness’. See page 12 for details.

National Limerick Day: May 12th.

Win a bottle of Prosecco and help celebrate Edward Lear’s birthday by writing a short, humorous, nonsense poem. Within a Limerick, there are five lines; the first two lines rhyme with the fifth line, and the third and fourth lines rhyme together. Please drop your entries into the library. The winning entry will be decided in the library on Saturday 11 May.

Advance Notice

We have three trips planned so book your seats early to avoid disappointment. Hay tickets are on sale now at the Library.

Sat 1 June – Hay Festival £15: Take time to explore the Festival site and the town of Hay. The full Festival programme will be released online in April.

Sat 13 July Cheddar Gorge £15: Leaving 11.30am – arriving 2pm then on to Clark’s Village (outlet shopping centre) in Street, Somerset 2.45 – departing 5.30pm

Sat 30 November: London Trip £22.

Further details on other trips to follow.

Easter Raffle

Tickets are £1 and are on sale at the library. The 3 prizes are: 2 hampers filled with M&S goodies and a Basket of Easter Flowers which are kindly donated by Alison Bentley, The draw is at midday on Easter Saturday 20 April in the Library.

Home Service: If you have mobility problems and finding it difficult to visit the library, we offer a home service where we can deliver, return and even help you choose your books. Please contact us for further details.

Volunteers: As our range of services are expanding, we need more volunteers. If you have a few spare hours a month to help us in any way, please email us or call into the library for an informal chat and a warm welcome.

Clwb Clonc: Join the growing number of learners and first language Welsh speakers who want to practise their conversational skills. Weekly meetings on Mondays in the café at Pugh’s Garden Centre at 11 am, and at 7pm on the second Thursday of the month in the bar of the Wenvoe Arms. Croeso i bawb.

Book reviews: We would love to hear your reviews on any library books you have read. We have postcards on the desk for you to provide a brief recap of the title in question to future readers All

that’s required is a paragraph covering the major plot points without giving things away, summarising some of your thoughts on the book and suggesting the type of reader to whom you would recommend the book.

Book Bags: We have some lovely grey canvas book/ shopping bags for sale in the library at £5.00 each.

Off the Shelf: This month we read Jan Morris’s classic Venice, which we found to be a brilliantly written book with amazing historical insights and detailed description of a grand city. Making full use of her senses, she wrote about the expected and unexpected and gave us an intuitive analysis of Venetian temperament and its characters at work and at play. A book to tempt a first-time or a return visit.

 

 

St David’s Day Walk

 

Welsh cakes were distributed before the March walk to celebrate St David’s Day and to provide an extra boost of energy to combat the extremely windy conditions.

The Living with Cancer Strollers were advised to avoid trees around the park due to the wind, so the walkers stayed on the more open paths. This meant that newly cleaned and shining boots quickly became immersed in thick mud, as the rain the previous day had turned many of the grassed areas into mini quagmires. Nothing a quick wipe with a cloth wouldn’t be able to handle!

Our two youngest strollers enjoyed the puddles and mud so much that they abandoned the walk at the

Play  area! The rest of the group battled through the wind and red cheeked, and in some cases, red nosed, arrived at the cafe for a well-deserved hot drink.

If you want some gentle exercise, with a welcoming and sociable group, join us at Cosmeston on the first Thursday of every month at 10.30am.

 

 

Chris Jones, the S4C weatherman

 

Tuesday Group were delighted to welcome Chris Jones, known to many as the S4C weatherman. Chris started his talk with a bit about his background. He was raised in Aberaeron and then went on to Bangor University where he studied media. After this he was out of work for some 18 months during which time he did a variety of jobs to make ends meet. He was then fortunate to be approached by a new company Merlin TV who offered him the post of Assistant Cameraman. During this time he travelled the world making films on a variety of subjects – these included following the British Bobsleigh team in Calgary, and filming in South Africa prior to independence. After 11 years, Chris became tired of all the travelling and decided to go freelance. He was offered the chance to work in front of the camera presenting the weather for S4C, a position he has held for 29 years. As well as this, Chris works for several charities including Prostate Cancer and Keep Wales Tidy.

Chris described how presenting the weather over the years has changed and it is now much more informal. On a completely different note Chris has recently launched a range of socks all with a weather theme. These are proving to be extremely popular.

When not working Chris enjoys walking and recently walked the Inca Trail which was one of his lifelong ambitions. However the weather will always be his main interest and he hopes to fulfil another ambition – chasing tornedos in the US.

Although some of our regular members were absent we all had a very enjoyable evening as well as learn-ing some of the facts and fiction about a favourite British topic – The Weather.

 

 

Let’s Talk Organ Donation

Let’s talk organ donation. How many of you knew about the Organ Donation Act in Wales? Did you know about ‘opting-in’ or ‘opting-out’? Let’s talk about it.

Currently in Wales there is a scheme which came into effect in January of 2015 in an attempt to increase the number of organ donations throughout Wales. It states that you can ‘opt-in’ or ‘opt-out’ of organ donation. But what does that mean? It means that in the event of your death, a decision has to be made on whether or not your organs will be donated. Without making a decision about whether you want your organs to be donated or not (the ‘opt-in’ or ‘opt-out’ policies as they are dubbed) the decision is in your family’s hands. With your consent to be an organ donor post-mortem (by ‘opting-in’) and by ticking the box on your card which states your family is aware of your decision, there is no dispute. The same happens if you decide you don’t want to be an organ donor (by ‘opting-out’).

If you don’t make a decision – which isn’t the be-all and end-all of life – your family decides for you. There is an option which not many are aware of – you can appoint a representative to make the decision on your behalf. This means that they make the decision on your behalf when you die, and it means that the decision is made by someone you know will do what’s in your best interest, rather than someone who would make the decision based on their own views.

I can’t tell you which way to register. That’s not my place. I can, however, offer you my own personal opinion. When I turned eighteen, I made the decision to ‘opt-in’ to the organ donation act. My decision was made without the influence of family or friends – it was a decision I made on my own behalf because of the beliefs I have surrounding organ donation. It wasn’t either a spur-of-the-moment decision. I did my research and came to the conclusion that I’d like to be an organ donor when I die.

My role here isn’t to tell you that you should ‘opt-in’ and it’s in no way discouraging you not to ‘opt-out’. That decision is solely yours and yours alone to make. A topic of debate I’ve seen presented by some is that they want to die ‘complete’, which I entirely understand. I have my own beliefs about life after death, and to an extent, the fact that I’d rather be cremated than buried does influence my decision to be an organ donor post-mortem. My beliefs are my own and you are equally entitled to yours. Your decision one way or another should not be judged, because it is a decision you have made for yourself, in your best interest.

My role here is however, to tell you that if you don’t make a decision, you really do need to talk to the people who will make the decision on your behalf. There are too many people who don’t discuss organ  donation and many decisions are made by family members who disagree with their relatives’ decision to either ‘opt-in’ or ‘opt-out’. It is crucial that we all have the discussion about organ donation.

I made my family sit down and have an adult conversation about my decision before I applied to ‘opt-in’. My brother has not made a decision to ‘opt-in’ or to ‘opt-out’ but by having the discussion, I’m aware of his beliefs on the matter, and I, in turn, am aware of my parents’ decisions on the matter. When the (hopefully very, very distant) time should come for me to have to make the decision on their behalves, I know that I will act in their best interests. I know this, because I’ve had the discussion with them about it. In the same way they’ve had the discussion with me.

Whether you want to be an organ donor or not, let your family know. Express your views in the most basic way possible. Let them know whether you would ultimately like your organs donated. You don’t need to jump into the decision, you do however need to have your family know which side you’d land on. If you don’t talk about it, they may make a decision you disagree with because they think it’s in your best interest. Tell them. Have the discussion.

Let’s all have the chat about organ donation.

By Tirion Davies

 

 

Goldsland Orchard Now Has 27 Trees

 

February saw the completion of our fruit tree planting at the Goldsland Orchard which now has 27 trees including Cider Apples, Perry Pears, Medlar, Quince and Plum – see photo. Bulbs planted in the Autumn include Bluebell and the native Daffodil and these are just showing through the soil. The hedgerow is also in the process of being planted with about 30 in the ground but a further tranche of 60 shrubs due in March courtesy of the Woodland Trust. These include Hazel, Hawthorn, Crabapple, Spindle and Holly. The Victoria Plum in the Community Orchard which died last year has been replaced and we have also planted Medlar and Quince in the Welsh Orchard. We are steadily replacing the bamboos in the many bee hotels we have where they were pulled out by people, birds or squirrels (or a mixture of these) but in the future they will be covered with wire netting. The wildflower patch in Grange Park is being prepared for wildflower seed sowing and Wenvoe Primary School children will help to spread the seed again in early April. Some branches of Sycamore trees which are overhanging fruit trees in the Wild Orchard are being cut back which should make the area lighter and encourage the fruit trees to grow upright.

 

The Reassuring Sight of Wales Air Ambulance

 

As the crow flies Wenvoe is directly in between Cardiff and RAF St Athan which is the reason the South Wales Police helicopter can be seen often overflying our village. A common sight, the blue and yellow liveried aircraft has now become a routine crime fighting tool. It is based at RAF St Athan but covers both the South Wales and Gwent Police areas. Neighbouring forces of Dyfed Powys and North Wales have their own aircraft.

Helicopters have become an important vehicle with modern day emergency services with 3 in use with the police and another 3 bright red Air Ambulances covering the whole of Wales. Able to respond very quickly, unaffected by terrain or traffic jams, they can reach their destination with relative ease and then provide ground staff with all manner of specialist support. Even the Fire Service have experimented with helicopter support

Some interesting facts – Air Ambulance

  • The aim of Wales Air Ambulance is to reach, treat and transport patients with the greatest speed possible. A pilot can have the helicopter airborne within 3 minutes of receiving an emergency call.
  • The aircraft can travel at 140mph – over 2 miles per minute – and can reach anywhere in Wales within 20 minutes.
  • Wales Air Ambulance responds to over 1,000 missions every year and approximately 40% of missions are to road traffic collisions.
  • Treatment within the ‘Golden Hour’ improves the chances of a patient’s survival and early recovery.
  • A helicopter has the capacity to carry 1 pilot, 2 paramedics and 1 patient. The new EC-135 can also carry the parent of an injured child.
  • The cost of running the service across Wales is £5-million per year with each mission costing approximately £1,200.
  • Wales was the last country and region in Europe to have an air ambulance service, but it has since grown to become one of the busiest air ambulance operations in the UK.

 

Some interesting facts – South Wales Police Air Support Unit

  • The helicopter can carry up to 7 people to include passengers, specialist officers and casualties.
  • The helicopter will soon have a dog carrier on board for police dogs and has a stretcher on board for casualty evacuation.

 

  • It has the latest camera technology along with digital image management and recording systems. The Star Sapphire Camera has four camera capabilities and can clearly record images.
  • It can transmit images from its ‘heli telly’ system enabling ground commanders to see real time pictures of incidents, disasters and major events.
  • It is a faster flyer, more efficient, has greater endurance, more powerful engines, and has a lower noise footprint which means it is much quieter than the old helicopter.
  • It regularly features in ITV Wales’ programme titled ‘Sky Cops’
  • It is available to be called on to assist front-line police officers in exactly the same way as any other police specialist such as dog handlers or firearms experts.

 

Whether its the Air Ambulance or police Air Support Unit they are a reassuring sight in our skies.

 

 

Tuesdays After The Christmas Break

After our Christmas break we resumed our meetings with a social evening. This gave members a chance to catch up and enjoy an evening together. Thank you to Betty for providing a quiz and to everyone who generously donated to our Bring & Buy table.

Our next meeting was a talk by Lyn Howell about the charity LATCH. This charity was set up in 1982 in Llandough Hospital and although the acronym Landough Aims to Treat Children with cancer with Hope is not as appropriate as it was the charity still carries on the fantastic job of supporting children and their families who are being treated by the Oncology Unit at The Children’s Hospital of Wales.

Latch famously provided accommodation for families at Llandough so that families could stay together during their child’s stay in hospital. In 1992 this was relocated to the children’s unit at UHW.

As well as this support for parents Latch also provides essential equipment such as CT Scanners. Other services provided are Social Workers who can provide practical, emotional and financial support to families at a very difficult time.

In order to provide its comprehensive range of services Latch needs some £700,000 per annum to cover the cost of supporting families. This charity has no paid fundraisers and they rely heavily on the hard work of volunteers and are very proud of the fact that they have one of the lowest management expenses for a charity in the whole of the UK.

One of the most recent innovations was the installation of a patient controlled interactive lighting system. This has enabled children to have scans without an anesthetic as they can control various display screens to watch while in the scanner and this serves to relax them and so makes a frightening procedure more acceptable.

Lyn spoke from the heart when telling us about the work of the charity as his daughter died from leukaemia at a very early age. We were shown a series of photos of her before and after treatment and I don’t think there was a dry face in the audience. It

is through the work of this local charity that survival rates for childhood leukaemias are improving all the time and although there are so many charities out there that need our support this local charity should get support

 

 

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