Housing officers from Carmarthenshire Council will be out in locations across Carmarthenshire this week and are keen to hear views on housing issues affecting your community.

We will be at Memorial Hall in Pontargothi on Tuesday (July 10) from 10am-11.30am then on to Llangadog Community Centre from 7pm-8.30pm.

On Wednesday we will be at Llangadog Community Centre from 10am-11.30am

Thursday at Hywel Dda Centre, Whitland from 10am -11.30am and 6.30pm-8pm

Friday at Memorial Hall in Pontargothi from 7.30pm-9pm.

To find out more email mmiller@sirgar.gov.uk or call 01554 899 320.

A Llanelli school has made nearly £600 in a day of trading in the town’s outdoor market.

Ysgol Brynsierfel pocketed the money after battling it out with Ysgol Bryn Teg and Ysgol Teilo Sant in this year’s Carmarthenshire Young Traders competition.

They were the winners with takings of £573 which was made selling handmade pictures and celebratory cards.

The two runners up also made money for their school by selling flavoured home-made Welsh cakes and cupcakes.

The annual competition involves setting up a business and turning it into a profitable enterprise. Teams of up to five, Year 6 pupils, must develop a business idea, plan, purchase material/products, brand it and run it themselves on a stall in the outside market for a day.

Each school keeps any profit made during the day.

Carmarthenshire Council’s executive board member responsible for markets, Cllr David Jenkins, said: “It was clear to see that a lot of hard work had gone into preparing for the day and the quality of the products was first class. It was a fantastic experience for the children and they certainly had an insight of what it’s like to run a business. I would like to thank the all school staff and Llanelli Town Council for making this happen.”

Press release from the Scarlets:

We can today confirm that head coach Wayne Pivac will leave the Scarlets at the end of the forthcoming season to take up the role of Wales Head Coach.

Wayne will take over from Warren Gatland, who is scheduled to step down after the 2019 Rugby World Cup when he will have served more than 12 years at the helm.

He will remain at the Scarlets for the entirety of the 2018/19 season and will only officially come under WRU employment in July 2019.

“First and foremost, on behalf of everyone at the Scarlets, I would like to extend our congratulations to Wayne on his appointment. It will be a proud moment for us all when he takes to the helm as Wales Head Coach,” said Jon Daniels, Scarlets General Manager of Rugby.

“Clearly, finding Wayne’s replacement will be a major priority in the coming months and we are grateful to Wayne and the Welsh Rugby Union for keeping us updated, in an entirely professional and transparent manner, throughout the process.

“Over the last four years Wayne has facilitated the continuation of Scarlets’ development. Being consistently competitive in both the PRO14 and in Europe, has been our aim now for three or four years and will continue to do so.

“We had a one, three and five-year strategy; winning the PRO12 in 2017 was probably a year ahead of where we had forecast to be and that is down to the hard work of the group, of the people involved, to get us to that stage earlier than planned, but that just shows the quality across every department.

“The forthcoming season will be hugely significantly for us all at the Scarlets and ensuring that we build on the momentum and successes from previous seasons will be key. We would also like to be in a position to ensure that Wayne finishes his tenure, here at Parc y Scarlets, with silverware.”

“Having 12 months to find a replacement is something of a luxury in professional sport but as a result we’re now able to follow our detailed recruitment process to ensure we find a Head Coach with ambition and aspiration to continue our rugby performance strategy.

“We are extremely proud of the established environment we have here at the Scarlets and this will not only allow us to continue to be competitive this coming season but we’ll also be in a strong and stable position in readiness to welcome the new Head Coach in twelve months time.

“I know Wayne will agree, we have a strong team here now, of coaches, players and backroom staff. There are a number of people who have contributed to our success under Wayne’s guidance and will continue to contribute and push the region forward this season and after his departure. I am confident we are strong enough to continue to thrive moving forward.”

Wayne’s appointment is the latest example of people maximising their ability at the Scarlets and is the result of a two year process undertaken by Welsh Rugby Union Chief Executive Martyn Phillips and Chairman Gareth Davies, which has involved meticulous research and extensive consultation, and today’s announcement leaves a year-long gap ahead of his start date, by design.

Welsh Rugby Union Chief Executive Martyn Phillips said; “I am extremely grateful to the Scarlets for their support of this process and their Chairman, Nigel Short, in particular who has been first class throughout.

“Both Wayne and Warren and their coaching teams, our international players, supporters and everyone at the Scarlets now have clarity and there is no underestimating the positive benefit to be gained from having the time to plan properly for the future.

“What coach, whether they are in Wales or anywhere around the rugby playing world, would not relish the opportunity to join a team of such rich history and proven professionalism as the Scarlets.

“I would like to think that given the heritage of the Scarlets, their culture, passionate supporters, their track record of success and the quality of their squad that the Head Coach position will be one of the most sought after in rugby.”

The latest podcast from Phil Evans and Robert Lloyd.

The Big Cwtsh (Episode 22) is now on Soundcloud.

Latest news from the team at Brecon Jazz Club:

Hello everyone –

Welcome to the heatwave newsletter!

Just a quick reminder that next Jazz Club is Tuesday coming (10 July) at the early time of 7.15pm for :

NEW GENERATION (Royal Welsh College) JAZZ SHOWCASE presenting rising stars from this year’s graduates of the ‘Jazz Performances’ course of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff. These are some very outstanding jazz musicians indeed and we are presenting 3 lineups, consisting of two quintets and one quartet – we’ve had quite a lot of interest in this event! Full details below.

Pre-jazz supper at the Gurkha Corner from 5.30pm on. Please book your place ASAP & option of chicken, lamb or vege curry (£10 per person) to:  info@breconjazzclub.org

JAZZ GALORE!! this Saturday (7 July), 1-3pm Jazz Band in the Town Centre & Bethel Square: Les Zauto Stompers (also at LLANDEILO JAZZ FEST, on this weekend), hosted here by Brecon Town Council. All good!

We are working with venues and partners ref Brecon Jazz Festival: if you would like to volunteer over the Festival weekend (10-12 August), please email Roger & Maire Griffiths:  griffiths891@btinternet.com

Can’t decide what to attend at the Festival? Why not buy a Sunday Stroller: 6 concerts for £55? (for full listing, including the workshops which are now live, please click on the box BJF2018 Programme)  www.breconjazz.org

Full details of Tuesday’s lineups –

Josh Heaton’s ‘Mouth of Words’ Quintet
Rachel Head alto sax
Kumar Chopra guitar
Josh Heaton tenor sax
Mateus Prado double & electric bass
Zach Breskal drums

Skeleton Leaf
A quartet led by Eddie Jones West
featuring Dave Bush (tenor sax)
Ben Manning (double bass)
Frazer McIntosh (keys)
Eddie Jones West (drums)

Norman Willmore Quintet
Norman Willmore (alto sax)
Tom Newitt (tenor sax)
Frazer McIntosh (keys)
Ben Manning (double bass)
Zach Breskal (drums)

Many of you will recall the outstanding performances (reviewed favourably by Ian Mann in www.thejazzmann.com) of young tenor sax player Tom Newitt (see band 3 above) and drummer Zach Breskal, at Brecon Jazz in the Muse last year.

Mateus Prado (band 1 above) has also performed at both the Jazz Club and our Festival (bassist for Atsuko Shimada) – so we hope you will all turn out to support these young rising stars. They are really looking forward to coming along to perform at BJC and so we’ve created a special early start of 7.15pm to encompass 3 performance sets and two breaks (still time for drinks and crisps!) and a special entry price of £8 for members and £10 for visitors and non-members!

We are very grateful indeed for the support of the ACW NIGHT OUT / NOSON ALLANteam who are providing financial support to be able to pay 3 bands for the July Brecon Jazz Club. And a big thank you to musician Tom Newitt who has worked with us to bring it all together.  We’ll see you then @ the Muse on Tues 10 July 7.15 pm to cheer on this ‘new generation’ of solid jazz talent, made in Wales.

Best wishes to all
Lynne, Roger and BJC team

More Aberystwyth University students are getting good jobs after graduating than ever before.

Latest figures show that 96.8% of UK/EU full time first degree Aberystwyth graduates were either in work or further study six months after graduating in July 2017.

The results released on Thursday 28 June 2018 as part of the Higher Education Statistics Agency’s annual Destination of Leavers from Higher Education survey places Aberystwyth 2.2 percentage points ahead of the overall sector average.

The survey also shows that 99% of Aberystwyth graduates who studied some part of their course through the medium of Welsh were found to be in employment or further study six months after completing their course.

Aberystwyth’s data also shows that 78.2% of UK/EU full-time first degree Aberystwyth graduates in employment or further study were in professional level jobs or graduate level further study.

There are some notable performances amongst individual academic departments at Aberystwyth University.

Welsh saw 100% of their 2017 graduates in work or further study six months after completing their course with History and Welsh History at 99.4% and Computer Science at 98.2%.

Furthermore, thirteen departments at Aberystwyth University have out-performed the sector average for numbers entering work or further study.

Professor Elizabeth Treasure, Vice Chancellor at Aberystwyth University said: “At Aberystwyth University our aim is to empower students to unlock their own potential and to develop as independent learners in a supportive, inclusive and creative bilingual community. Preparing them for their journey beyond university and with the skills employers are looking for is integral to the experience we provide, as we embed employability skills across our range of programmes, including opportunities for work experience, volunteering, international experience and other transferable skills. All of these elements add to the excellent value of an Aberystwyth University degree, which is reflected in these latest figures published by HESA.”

Among those awarded their Aberystwyth University degree certificate in July 2017 were Sean Anderson (BSc Computer Science) and Charlotte McKenna (BSc Environmental Earth Science).

After graduating, Sean joined the London based consultancy Filament which develops Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning solutions for business.

Working as a Machine Learning Software Engineer, Sean is part of a team that is building Natural Language Processing pipelines used to develop the interactions between computers and human languages, and designing the next generation of chatbots.

Sean co-published a paper which was accepted as evidence into the House of Lords regarding decision making in, and the ethical considerations of AI, and has delivered training on AI to businesses, including American Express.

Charlotte works as an Environmental Safety Engineer for EDF Energy, having joined the company’s engineering graduate scheme after completing summer internships with the company during her time as a student at Aberystwyth.

As part of the graduate scheme Charlotte has trained in radiological protection and worked at various EDF Energy sites on environmental safety, radiological protection, outage and operations.

In September 2018 Charlotte finishes her graduate scheme rotations and will take up a full-time position as an Environmental Safety Engineer working in radiological protection.

Aberystwyth University offers an increasingly wide range of four-year courses with an integrated year in industry, allowing students to spend time working for a company in their chosen field of study.

This offering, alongside the University’s Year in Employment Scheme, now in its 41^styear, empowers every student to take up the option of a year of invaluable experience prior to graduating.

The University’s Careers Service also provides a comprehensive range of opportunities for students who wish to improve their career prospects, including the sought-after AberForward ‘graduate’ level work placement opportunities.

Graduates seeking to turn business ideas into reality can access a full programme of enterprise events organised by the Careers Service under the AberPreneursbanner, which includes the popular InvEnterPrize student ideas competition.

And, for those seeking advice from further afield,the exciting eMentoring online platform allows Aber alumni to offer career mentoring and guidance to current students and young graduates.

To find out more about employability at Aberystwyth University visit the Employability pages online.