A free digital storytelling and photographic exhibition is taking place in Llanelli.

Carmarthenshire Voices celebrates the older people in the community and shares a moment in time.

The exhibition, held by PeopleSpeakUp, can be seen in the Ffwrnes theatre from now until Wednesday, August 29 from 11am-5 pm, Monday to Saturday.

The exhibition features artists and older people from Ty Golau, Towy Castle Care Home, Bryn Illtyd residential home and Cilymaenllwyd Care home.

Also, this weekend the Tenovus Cancer Care Sing With Us Choir of Llanelli and Carmarthen, who have been working with PeopleSpeakUp by telling their life stories, will be performing songs and stories of bravery, challenge and survival this weekend.

Performances take place on Saturday, July 28 at 7.30pm and Sunday, July 29 at 2pm in the Stiwdio Stepni, Ffwrnes.

Tickets are £8 and available from the Box Office by calling 0845 2263510 or www.theatrausirgar.co.uk.

PeopleSpeakUp is a social arts and well-being enterprise based at the Ffwrnes Theatre www.peoplespeakup.co.uk.

Bad weather, forecast for Sunday (July 29,) has forced the postponement of the Melin Sospan Sizzler Middle Distance Triathlon.

More than 200 athletes had entered for the popular annual event – sponsored by Melin Consultants, providers of sustainable building and construction solutions.

Race organiser Noelwyn Daniel announced the postponement on Thursday night after Met Office forecasts predicted a break In the summer heatwave.

He said: “We’ve had months of glorious weather, but the forecast for Sunday is bad.

‘Due to these horrendous weather predictions, with winds of more than 40mph from 9am on Sunday the safety of all athletes and volunteers could not be guaranteed.

“I’ve therefore made the call early to avoid athletes from starting their journeys.

“Athletes who have entered should check their email mailbox as a detailed email with options has been sent out.

“I’m gutted for you as athletes. You will have trained so hard for the Sizzler and I know how this really disrupts your plans. Your health and safety and that of more than 60 volunteers is my primary concern and we all get to fight another day.”

The Melin Sospan Sizzler Middle Distance Triathlon is being rescheduled for August 26 and more information on the postponed event will appear later.

See earlier story about the Melin Sospan Sizzler Middle Distance Triathlon –

http://www.melinconsultants.co.uk/melin-sospan-sizzler-middle-distance-triathlon-46.html

Photo:

Email message sent out to competitors.

Staff working on two pioneering research projects at Aberystwyth University have been selected for special recognition during Graduation Week 2018.

The Award for Exceptional Impact in Science Research was presented to Dr Andy Hardy from the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences for a project which is using drones to help eliminate malaria.

The Award for Exceptional Impact in Social Science, Arts and Humanities Research was presented to Dr Catrin Wyn Edwards, Dr Huw Lewis and Dr Elin Royles from the Department of International Politics for their work on informingcontemporary policy on minority languages, including Welsh.

The awards have been established by the University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Elizabeth Treasure to recognise the achievements of staff who demonstrably use their research for the wider benefit of society and the inaugural winners were honoured during Graduation on Friday 20 July 2018.

Mapping Malaria

A lecturer in Remote Sensing and GPS at Aberystwyth, Dr Andy Hardy is leading a project on the island of Zanzibar using drones to map water bodies such as rivers, swamps and rice paddies where malaria-carrying mosquitoes breed and lay eggs.

The images from the drone are uploaded to a smartphone app enabling members of the local community to precisely identify where to put low-level toxicity larvicide and kill mosquito larvae at source.

Speaking about the project, Dr Hardy said: “This is a community-led intervention aimed at reducing the population of malarial carrying mosquitoes and thereby reducing malaria infection across the island, contributing to Zanzibar’s efforts to eliminate the disease once and for all. The hope is we can take this methodology and apply it across sub-Saharan Africa to have a real impact on malaria, which is one of the world’s biggest killers.”

The project is funded by the Innovative Vector control consortium, a not-for-profit company supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UK Aid and other organisations.

Minority Language Revitalisation

Dr Catrin Wyn Edwards, Dr Huw Lewis and Dr Elin Royles from the Department of International Politics are working together on a research programme on minority language revitalisation.

Senior Lecturer Dr Elin Royles said: “Responding to the worldwide decline in linguistic and cultural diversity is increasingly seen as a global challenge which is occupying the attention of various campaigners and policy makers. As part of our research work, we’ve worked with the University of Edinburg to set up a network bringing together a range of different academic scholars and policy practitioners. Our overall aim, based on those discussions, is to identify best practice and help inform policy makers not only in Wales but also in other countries involved in trying to promote minority languages.”

Lecturer Dr Huw Lewis said: “One of the big questions for us is to what extent are those who are involved in developing and formulating policies to revitalise minority languages are really taking account of the global changes in the way we live our lives today and the implications of these transformations for language promotion efforts.”

Dr Catrin Edwards, a lecturer in the Department of International Politics and an expert on the implications of international migration for minority lanuage communities, said: “Wales is an evident example of the efforts to respond to the global challenge of revitalising minority language, with the Welsh Government setting a target of realising a million Welsh speakers by 2050. Our work aims to identify lessons from research that can be fed into the work of policy makers both in Wales and the wider world.”

Revitalise is a two-year project which is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

Photo: Aberystwyth University’s inaugural Awards for Exceptional Impact in Research were presented during Graduation 2018 by Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor John Grattan to Dr Andy Hardy from the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, and Dr Catrin Wyn Edwards, Dr Huw Lewis and Dr Elin Royles from the Department of International Politics with Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor John Grattan.

Links:
DGES
https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/dges

International Politics

https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/interpol

Research, Business and Innovation

https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/rbi

Carmarthenshire County Council is starting a £4m programme of major road resurfacing on a number of roads around the county.

Carmarthenshire has the second largest road network in Wales and has secured £2.2m in funding from Welsh Government to add to its own budgets to enable a substantial investment in the county’s roads.  The works being undertaken will repair many existing roads and help sustain the highway network for the future.

Nearly 100 sections of road will be resurfaced in total with some of the routes selected to support the forthcoming 2018 OVO Energy Tour of Britain cycle race in September.

Motorists are urged to exercise patience when works are being undertaken and to be aware of any advance warning signs and diversion routes which are put in place to help motorists.

A number of roads have already been resurfaced and we thank you for your patience whilst this has been underway.

More work is coming up in Carmarthen, at:

• Coracle Way to Blue Street: July 30 – August 6
• Towy Ford Roundabout: August 6-10

Work will be carried out during off-peak hours with road closures and diversions in operation from 7pm. Please take extra care and where possible plan an alternative route. Emergency access and access to business premises will be maintained during the works.
Works are also planned for Carmarthen between Tanerdy roundabout and Francis Well roundabout. The dates for these works will be publicised in the coming weeks.

We will continue to minimise the impact on road users by careful planning however some disruption cannot be avoided. We thank you for your patience and cooperation during the works.

All of the works should be complete by the end of October.

Executive Board Member with responsibility for environment Cllr Hazel Evans said: “Our road network is of vital importance to Carmarthenshire and we need to keep it fit for purpose. This investment will help ensure good quality road surfaces and maintain road safety. I would like to thank road users for their patience whilst these works are being carried out.”