Those who enrich our lives through music, arts and literature will be recognised in Carmarthenshire’s second Celebration of Culture Awards.
Hosted by Carmarthenshire County Council and supported by the Carmarthen Journal and Llanelli Star, the awards aim to celebrate excellence in arts and culture, and showcase our county-wide cultural achievements.
The awards will be held in April, and will highlight the importance of culture in our region.
They are open to anyone living, working or originating from Carmarthenshire who made a significant contribution to Carmarthenshire’s cultural landscape during 2018. Individuals, groups and organisations will all be considered for awards across a range of categories designed to shine a spotlight on all areas of culture in Carmarthenshire.
Councillor Peter Hughes Griffiths, executive board member for culture, sport and tourism, is behind the awards scheme.
“We are blessed with a rich cultural heritage here in Carmarthenshire with many distinguished artists, literary greats and stars of stage and screen who continue to inspire us to this day,” he said.
“In hosting these awards, we want to celebrate those who enrich our lives and add vibrancy to this great county today.
“This follows the tremendous success of last year’s inaugural celebration, a way for our gifted people to be recognised and their talents enjoyed.”
Six award categories are being opened up for nominations.
They are:
Excellence in Performing Arts
Recognising a performer or group of performers or organisation who have stood out in 2018. This can include (but is not limited to) theatre, dance, spoken word, and comedy
Excellence in Visual Arts and Crafts
Recognising an individual, group or organisation working in the visual arts, design, photography, or crafts whose work has left a lasting impression in 2018
Excellence in Creative Media
Recognising the achievements of an individual, group or organisation in creative media during 2018. This could be for (but is not limited to) film, animation, graphic design, games design, and digital art
Excellence in Literature
Acknowledgement of an outstanding individual, group or organisation working in creative writing, literature, prose or poetry who stood out during 2018
Excellence in Heritage
Recognising excellence from an individual, group, or organisation which raised the profile or celebrated Carmarthenshire’s history and heritage in 2018
Excellence in Music
Recognising the achievements of an individual, group or organisation in music during 2018. This can include (but is not limited to) musicians, singers, conductors and composers
Two special awards will be given at the judges’ selection:
Young Talent
An individual or group, aged under 25, working in any discipline, who are displaying real talent and potential at a relatively young age
Outstanding Contribution to Culture
This is an award for someone who has made a significant contribution to arts and culture in Carmarthenshire over a long period.
The awards will be presented at a ceremony at the Ffwrnes Theatre, Llanelli, on Friday, April 5.
The closing date for nominations is Sunday, February 24, at 11.59pm. People can enter an individual, group or organisation.
A judging panel will narrow down the entries to a shortlist, before choosing the three winners in each category.
Victoria Prendiville will be delivering a workshop for the West Wales Regional Council on “Building a Solid foundation to Nutrition”
It is being held tomorrow evening at the University of Wales Trinity St David in Carmarthen.
This session will cover :-
The power of nutrition;
Time management and Nutrition as a young athlete;
Knowledge of daily habits and lifestyle choices;
Energy Balance Macros and MicrosFine tuning;
Nutrition Strategies; Supplements;
Time for Questions.
To attend you must be a Welsh Athletics affiliated club athlete in West Wales in school year 8 to adult, a parent of an affiliated athlete or a UKA club coach in the West Wales region.
Tickets are £6pp and there is a limit of 80 places. The workshop is suitable for athletes from all running, jumping and throwing disciplines.
Victoria is a clinical dietitian with more than 17 years experience in the NHS.
Currently the service lead for the Nutrition and Dietetic Service for Hywel Dda University Health Board, she has a post graduate degree in Sport and Exercise performance Nutrition and is a SENR Registered sport and exercise performance Nutritionist.
The SENR Register (Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register) holds the names of professionals that have the highest level of qualifications, knowledge, skills and competencies to support athletes from recreational up to elite level. She is also a UKAD Anti doping adviser, part of the Sports Wales Nutrition Network and a committee member of the National Sports Nutrition Group.
She sees athletes of all ages from recreational up to elite level in all different sporting disciplines. Working with athletes on an individual level, coaches and performance teams.
Her aim is always to meet individual athlete goals supporting health, well being and performance.
As a triathlete, working mum and business woman she understands the practical challenges that meeting nutritional requirements and balancing these with the demands of sport and every day life can have and will always strive to support athletes, coaches and parents with Simple yet effective nutrition messages.
She aims to educate and inspire young athletes to become self sufficient over time, taking responsibility for their nutrition and hydration and always promotes interventions that can be followed as a lifestyle.
There will be a second workshop on . . .
The importance of Fuelling / hydration and recovery for young athletes
Challenges of fuelling and hydration that young athletes face How to prepare for training with nutrition and hydration
How to fuel training sessions
How to recover well after training Supplements
Time for questions.
(The second workshop will be held on Friday 15th February at a venue TBC in the West Wales Region).
Both sessions will also be highlighting the risks associated with energy deficiency and RED-S with key messages integrated into both talks.
Modern slavery is real, and it’s happening in our communities.
It is on the rise in Wales. It’s an unseen crime, where the victims can be men, women and children of all ages, and it preys on the most vulnerable.
Due to the hidden nature of slavery and the reluctance or inability of victims to seek help, we may not always realise we’ve come into contact with a victim.
Dyfed-Powys Police is determined to do all it can to tackle modern slavery, and play its part in making Wales hostile to slavery.
As part of this commitment Dyfed-Powys Police hosted the first Modern Day Slavery Investigator course in Wales, in order to ensure that officers have the knowledge and are properly equipped to deal with slavery head on.
Officers from Dyfed-Powys Police, Gwent Police and Border Force have come together for a course delivered by the College of Policing in Carmarthen.
Paul Carroll from the College of Policing Modern Slavery Transformation Unit, delivered the four day course, designed to prepare those in attendance for the role of modern slavery investigator and develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours necessary to understand and deal with it effectively.
Detective Chief Inspector Anthony Evans said:
“We are committed to tackling all forms of exploitation and modern slavery, and were therefore keen to be the first to bring this specialised training to the Southern Wales region, and to share the opportunity with our colleagues in Gwent and Border Force. I’m grateful to DS Dale Scriven and DC Ceri Williams for organising this and ensuring we made it happen as soon as possible.
“To reinforce our victim focussed approach to these crimes, it’s important we have officers who are well versed on the signs of slavery and that they can undertake slavery investigations confidently. Victims are vulnerable people who need help but are frightened, and none of these jobs are easy. During the course they will learn about the international and national profile, relevant offences and common factors associated with slavery.
“We know that men, women and children may be forced into various types of slavery, including forced prostitution, child trafficking, criminal exploitation, domestic servitude, forced labour and sexual exploitation. We all have a part to play in helping these vulnerable victims, and I urge anyone who suspects slavery or exploitation to report it to the Modern Slavery Helpline on 0800 0121700. In an emergency call 999.”
Phase two of the works to stabilise a landslide in Cwmduad has begun following recovery of a lorry from the river below.
Carmarthenshire County Council is leading the operation to clear the site and re-open the A484 for traffic travelling between Carmarthen and Newcastle Emlyn, following the landslide in October.
Phase one, which commenced before Christmas, created a safe zone for the recovery of a lorry that was swept in to the river during the storm.
That recovery took place earlier today (Monday, January 14, 2019).
Phase two, to permanently stabilise the embankment, involves complex drainage and geotechnical works.
The highway structure will then be assessed before any indication can be given as to when the road will re-open.
The council has thanked the community, and affected commuters, for their patience whilst site assessments and works have been underway.
Ruth Mullen, Director of Environment for Carmarthenshire County Council, said: “We are now making progress in what has been a highly complex operation and legal process between the council, partner agencies and the landowner.
“We fully appreciate the impact this has had on the community, and we wish to reiterate that we have worked without delay to undertake site investigations in the immediate aftermath of the landslide, along with clearance and construction works to make the area safe.
“We are working as quickly as we can to re-open the road as soon as possible, and would like to thank those affected most sincerely for their patience.”
Until the road is re-opened, traffic will continue to be diverted along the B4333 Carmarthen – Newcastle Emlyn.
Additional bus services remain in place:
A shuttle service currently runs from Cwmduad to Tycoch to catch the 460 service at 7.25am, 9.35am and 10.55am. Return journeys are at 2.25pm and 4.45pm.
The 460 service is currently operating on a diversion route
A parasitologist at Aberystwyth University is one of a worldwide team of researchers that has used a gene-editing tool to limit the impact of schistosomiasis, an illness that affects more than a quarter of a billion people in Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America.
Professor Karl Hoffmann from the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) has been working with researchers at the George Washington University (GW) and colleagues at institutes in Thailand, Australia, the UK, the Netherlands, and others.
For the first time CRISPR/Cas9 has been successfully used to limit the impact of parasitic worms responsible for schistosomiasis and for liver fluke infection, which can cause a diverse spectrum of human disease including liver fibrosis and bile duct cancer.
Professor Hoffmann’s work at Aberystwyth University focuses on tackling schistosomiasis.
Professor Hoffmann said: “With funding provided by the Wellcome Trust and working with colleagues at GW, we have been able to apply, for the first time in flukes, genome editing to knock-out an important schistosome gene product involved in human disease. Application of this technology to other schistosome genes or flukes will revolutionise our ability to develop new and urgently-needed control strategies.”
“The genes we ‘knocked out’ using CRISPR/Cas9 resulted in markedly diminished symptoms of infection in our animal models,” said Paul Brindley, PhD, professor of microbiology, immunology, and tropical medicine at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and lead author.
“Our research also showed that this revolutionary new biomedical procedure — CRISPR/Cas9 — can be adapted to study helminth parasites, which are a major public health problem in tropical climates.”
CRISPR/Cas9 is a new technology that allows researchers to precisely target and deactivate the genetic information needed to produce a particular protein. While the tool has been used in other species before, it was unknown if it could be applied toSchistosoma mansoni and Opisthorchis viverrini, the parasites responsible for schistosomiasis and liver fluke infection.
Schistosomiasiscan cause serious health problems, including damage to the liver and kidneys, infertility and bladder cancer. The freshwater worms S. mansoni enter the human body by burrowing into the skin; once in the bloodstream, they move to various organs where they rapidly start to reproduce and produce pathogenic eggs.
These eggs release several molecules, including a protein known as omega-1 ribonuclease, which can damage the surrounding tissues. Brindley and his research team “knocked out” this protein using CRISPR/Cas9 and found that it greatly reduced the impact of the disease.
“This neglected tropical disease affects more than a quarter of a billion people primarily living in Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America,” said Brindley. “CRISPR/Cas9 is a tool that may be used to limit the impact of these infections. As we work to better understand how these parasites invade and damage our bodies through this new technology, we will find new ideas for treatment and disease control.”
Key collaborators include Karl Hoffmann, PhD at the Aberystwyth University; Thewarach Laha, PhD at Khon Kaen University, Thailand; and Alex Loukas, PhD at James Cook University, Australia.
The papers, entitled “Programmed genome editing of the omega-1 ribonuclease of the blood fluke, Schistosoma mansoni” and“Programmed knockout mutation of liver fluke granulin attenuates virulence of infection-induced hepatobiliary morbidity,” are available at eLife.
Photo: Using CRISPR/Cas9 to ‘knock-out’ omega-1 from schistosome eggs. The left panel represents a wild-type schistosome egg secreting pathogenic proteins (including omega-1; red stars) into host tissues. Eggs subjected to CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in this study do not secrete omega-1 (right panel) into host tissues and are not pathogenic to the host.
It promises to be a unique mash-up of Welsh romance and Scottish grit, featuring a ‘Magnificent Seven’ band of comics.
The date will be Friday, January 25 – a day which marks St Dwynwen’s Day (the Welsh St Valentine’s) and Burns Night (the occasion which celebrates Scottish heritage).
The two events fall on the same day – but events which manage to mark both occasions are as rare as hen’s teeth.
Comedian Phil Evans came up with the idea of stirring ‘Love, Laughter and Scottish Grit’ into the same magical melting pot of mirth.
“It’s quite a collision, putting St Dwynwen’s Day and Burns Night together in the same event,” said Phil.
“But we know it won’t be a comedy car crash. In fact, it’ll be a very unusual evening, unique, in truth. What better than asking some of the leading comedians in Wales to perform their own mash-up of the two occasions to celebrate St Dwynwen’s Day and Burns Night? Laughs are guaranteed.”
The venue will be Llanelli’s Best Western Diplomat Hotel in Felinfoel Road, Llanelli. Curtain up is at 8pm.
Phil will be bringing his ‘Friends’ along for the occasion – six of the best funny folk in Wales.
They are – Gary Slaymaker, Rob Hughes, Karen Sherrard, Steffan Evans, Aled Richards and Stefan Pejic.
Phil added: “January 25 is a special day in the Welsh and Scottish calendars. The ‘Phil Evans and Friends’ evening at The Diplomat gives you seven comedians under one roof.
“They will make you cry with laughter and get 2019 off to a great start. There is no better way to kick off the new year.
“To add to the occasion, food will be available from 7pm.
“It promises to be a wonderful evening and we are looking forward to welcoming romantic couples to the evening. It would make our night if someone ‘popped the question’ during the evening.
“Romance and raucous laughter will definitely be on the agenda for the evening.”
If you wish to take advantage of the fantastic hotel menu, please be sure to turn up no later than 7pm. Tickets are £10 and advance booking is recommended. You can get tickets online on the following links.
Phil Evans is a much sought-after comedian, writer, newspaper columnist and conference host from the heart of South Wales.
With multiple TV and radio credits to his name at home in the UK, Phil has also performed far and wide, including Oslo, America and Canada.
Phil has recently performed and hosted events in Dublin and Cork for corporate organisations and keeps getting asked back. He is renowned for his warmth, humour and likeability.
Phil started his comedy career many years back as a TV warm-up artist for the BBC, S4C and HTV/ITV and continues to perform alongside many of the most talented people in entertainment.
With more than 20 years of experience, Phil isn’t just a comic; he’s a force of nature.
Phil is the man who has put the ‘Cwtsh’ back into Welsh comedy.
He is sometimes known as the ‘Hugmeister of Wales’ for his devotion to his favourite topic – the Welsh cwtsh (hug).
If you can spare the time (possibly a week or so), he will explain why a cwtsh should always be spelt as ‘cwtsh’ and not ‘cwtch’.
Press him for further information about how his comedy career started and he will tell you how he left school with 10 GCSEs . . . before the headmaster told him to put them back!
Cheeky, but never crude or offensive, Evans produces a very Welsh brand of humour.
He writes a popular weekly column in the South Wales Evening Post, the Carmarthen Journal and the Llanelli Star newspapers.
He also has a weekly podcast called “The Big Cwtsh’, available now on SoundCloud.
Gary Slaymaker is a BBC Radio Wales film reviewer, author, comedy writer, and broadcaster . . . which means he’s either quite talented, or can’t keep hold of a single job.
With more than 25 years of experience as a stand-up comedian, he’s managed to upset people all over Britain . . . but mainly his mam.
Gary is completely toilet trained, but does sometimes have trouble with his aiming.
The same is true for his humour.
About Rob Hughes
An accomplished opener or middle spot at weekend club level as well as an MC, Rob has been working for the likes of Jongleurs, The Glee Club and Mirth Control as well as numerous independent promoters.
He provides a solid set packed with laughs and whilst he’s not squeaky clean he’s a million miles from being offensive. He’s regularly asked to return to promoters for repeat performances and plays a big room or a theatre as easily as he does a more intimate venue.
“Wicked sense of humour, a pure joy.” – Lee Sigerson (Manager of Cardiff Glee Club)
“Had the audience eating out his hand within seconds.” Martin Brown (Moonrakers Comedy)
“Sometimes bleak, sometimes silly, always very funny.” Paul James (Clowns Pocket)
“One of the funniest comedians currently on the circuit.” Charlie Smith (Comedy Den)
“A definite highlight” -South Wales Evening Post
About Karen Sherrard:
Karen Sherrard was the winner of The Last Mic Standing comedy competition in 2014. She specialises in ‘character’ comedy. She trained at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama in London and also works as a comedy writer and a voice-over artist.
About Steffan Evans:
Steffan Evans may have been seen working behind the bars in Cardiff, but these days he’s more at home on the stage. He’s from Crymych, but he asks people not to hold that against him. He’s performed at Neath and Cardiff Comedy Festivals and is building a growing reputation on the Wales comedy circuit.
About Aled Richards:
‘Shit’ happens. And every cloud has a silver lining, apparently.
So indeed, a major health scare can spawn a whole new comedy routine.
Aled Richards is known for musing over the latest ‘shit’ things that have happened in his life. You may have seen him on S4C. You may have heard him on Radio Cymru. Or you may not have. You will, however, be able to hear him at The Diplomat. So, go along. You may laugh.
Aled Richards has been in the news lately taking part in a special Radio Wales programme to celebrate World Heart Day. If anybody can make a heart attack sound funny, then he can! His stage act does ‘celebrate’ the strange things that happen in Aled’s life.
About Stefan Pejic
Stefan has recently completed a nationwide tour of The Invisible Man playing the lead. Prior to this he also starred in the one-man play The Other Jolson playing the roles of Larry Parks and Al Jolson for which he was highy acclaimed. Other recent stage roles include Kyle in A Sleight of Mind and Roy Brown in The Bard of Margate.
Stefan began his acting career at the age of seven, appearing in a string of TV adverts and Children’s TV shows which include WHSmith, McDonald’s, Nickelodeon and Kelloggs, Mad For It, Jungle Run. There followed minor roles in the Gormenghast trilogy, About A Boy and can even be seen if you look hard enough as a student in the Harry Potter films.
At age 13 Stefan was privileged to work as the youngest Redcoat at Butlins Minehead thanks to a connection with Stephen Mulhern. He enjoyed three consecutive summers there honing his entertainment skills.
It is Stefan’s versatility that has given him a varied and interesting career to date as he then went on to perform comedy and magic at West End theatres including The Criterion and Polish theatre.
He has also been hired to promote brands such as Disney, Sony, Coke, Hamleys and Harrods.
Stefan had further TV roles including Spikey in series 3 of HTV soap Nuts and Bolts; Simon in the BAFTA award winning drama Con Passionate; Davey Campbell in BBC Doctors; Andy Belden in BBC Casualty and also enjoyed a minor role in series 1 of Sherlock.
Recent films include The Rezort (now on Netflix), Kamikaze and as a motion capture stunt artist for the Emmy award winning Fox series Da Vinci’s Demons.
Other screen productions include Re-Run, BFI shorts, Everyone Loves A Welsh Girl, Internal Bleeding, Dance Me Outside, So What’s Next and playing himself in a series of Adverts for 188BET, Penderyn Whiskey, and as Captain Jack Sparrow for Barti Ddu Rum.
Theatre credits include
Dan in Closer; Ethan in The Full Monty; Alfie in Swansea Women and Jeff Scott in The Musician; Slender in the Merry Wives of Windsor; Clark, Young Dogsborough, Ragg in the Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui; King Pandion, Itis, Captain on The Love of The Nightingale and young Cliff Richard 1958-1970s in Bachelor Boy.
Comic roles for Imagine Theatre Pantomimes include:
Willy Do It in Beauty And The Beast; Simple Simon in Jack and The Beanstalk; Buttons in Cinderella; Josh The Jester in Sleeping Beauty and Jingles The Jester in Snow White.
Stefan is in his 4th consecutive season for Qdos having previously played the role of Fleshcreep at The Grand Theatre Swansea in 2015/16.
He has also played Abanazar at the Grand Theatre Wolverhampton 2016/17 and last year reprised the role of Abanazar at Grand Theatre Swansea which saw him nominated for best male baddie at The Great British Panto Awards.
Stefan has been manager and regular MC for many comedy clubs over the years as well as performing as character comedy acts, most notably DONOVAN The Worst Comedian In Wales and in the double act le122.
For several years Stefan has been a character performer as part of the Fluellen Theatre Company at Folly Farm Adventure Park & Zoo, most recently as both Glyn Jr and Barti Ddu in Barti Ddu Pirate Show.
Stefan has recently been writer and consultant for various comedians for BBC, Comedy Central and Channel 4 and also BBC Sesh for BBC Wales.
He has been co writer, consultant and director to Matt Edwards for Matt’s live show FOURTH.
Stefan has also been collaborator and inventor of magic effects for various magicians both in UK and Europe.
He also co-wrote the innovative, interactive award winning musical The Musician in which he played the lead role of Jeff Scott. He has also recently co-written and created a new TV comedy in development with Richard Mylan and another brand new musical Life Happened Kid.
What they say . . .
“Phil Evans is true showbiz royalty – not only the Clown Prince of Comedy, but also the King of the Cwtsh. As a comedian, no-one can touch Phil . . . which sounds a lot nicer than saying he’s the subject of a number of restraining orders at present. With over 20 years’ experience, Phil isn’t so much a comic, but more like a force of nature. Warm, cheeky, and with an incredible gift for working an audience; the first time you see Phil Evans, you’ll never forget him. The second time you see him…run!”
Gary Slaymaker
“Phil Evans – the resident ‘Hug-meister’ of Wales . . . the one man who knows how to spell ‘cwtsh’ properly . . .a free-wheeling fun merchant who is close to being a national Welsh treasure.”
Robert Lloyd, media consultant and former newspaper editor.
