Penarth resident, Suzanne Jones, has raised £325 for Marie Curie Cancer Care, after hosting a Mad Hatter’s ‘Un-Birthday’ tea party on her lawn on Saturday 14 June.



Suzanne organised the fundraiser as part of the charity’s Blooming Great Tea Party celebrations, supported by Homebase.

Donations were requested instead of birthday presents and guests were invited to wear a hat, or bring a tray of cupcakes.

Traditional afternoon tea was served at 4pm followed by the ‘Off with her head!’ hour - a mix of cocktails, quizzes and the coronation of the ‘Queen of Tarts’ for Best Hat and Best Cupcake.

Prizes were awarded to Julia Nasrallah for her imaginative ‘Wonderland Un- Easter Bonnet’ and Sara Redwood for her delicious ‘Chocolate, Raspberry and White Button’ fairy cakes.

Suzanne said, “I wanted to do something in celebration of a wonderful lady, Ruth Hill, the drama teacher who cast me as Alice in Wonderland when I was a child aged twelve. She was a guiding light, inspiration and friend to me for twenty five years. She died of cancer in April after a long illness and the nurses from Marie Curie helped care for her and enabled her to die in her beautiful home, ‘Hope Cottage’, with all her family present. I’d like to thank my friends for generously filling up the donation teapot. I’m thrilled by how much we raised. It’s the most wonderful un-birthday present I could have wished for.”

Blooming Great Tea Party celebrations are taking place across the UK this summer as a national fundraising event for Marie Curie Cancer Care, which celebrates its 60th anniversary in July.

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COWBRIDGE
Ed Evans Foundation continues good works





The Ed Evans Foundation is continuing their remarkable work by donating monies generously donated to Ed’s chosen charities – Brain Tumour UK and Cancer Research Wales.

The Ed Evans Memorial Ball 2008 held at Sophia Gardens recently was a huge success, selling an overwhelming 700 tickets and raising £30,000 to give to the chosen charities. Ed’s mum Sue would like to thank everybody who supported the evening that enabled the Foundation to fulfil Ed’s dream – of another fantastic bash!

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WICK
Green playgroup stands for fair play

Wick & District Playgroup provides a happy, stimulating and fun learning environment for children aged two and a half to four years. Their maximum staff to child ratio is 5 to 1, allowing them to adapt to the individual needs of your child.

The dedicated staff have extensive experience and include two qualified teachers who are highly experienced in working with children with special educational needs. The playgroup’s achievements include being one of the first playgroups in Wales to be awarded the Wales PPA ‘Quality Assured’ Accreditation Award with an overall score of over 99%.

Wick and District Playgroup was also the first playgroup in Wales to be awarded the Eco Schools Green Flag and their Wildlife and Learning garden has just won the Vale Biodiversity Award and they are well on the way to becoming a Fairtrade Playgroup!

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BARRY
Businessman strikes chord with charity

A businessman from Barry is lending his support to Major Music, a charity offering young people musical opportunities in the Vale of Glamorgan.



Music lover James Emery, managing director of COS – the Complete Office Solution – tutors and mentors groups of youngsters on guitar and vocals. Major Music was originally established in February 2000 to satisfy the considerable interest from local young people in learning instruments, vocals and DJ-ing skills.

The project, which gained charitable status in September 2004, provides access to a variety of musical instruments including guitars, drums and pianos, as well as providing musical tutors, vocal coaches and mentors.

As well as hosting monthly open mic nights at a local pub in Llanmaes, the charity also has its own studio at Llantwit Major Youth Centre that is available to young people, community groups and other organisations from across the Vale of Glamorgan.

Having already sponsored Major Music for several years through COS, James was keen to continue this strong connection by volunteering to tutor the 8-11 ‘Minor Music’ age group in guitar and vocals, as well as acting as a mentor for the 11-18 ‘Major Music’ age group sessions.

James says, “As someone with a passion for music, I am extremely keen to support Major Music and everything it does for young and aspiring musicians in the Vale of Glamorgan. I already had a strong link with the charity through sponsorship we have provided via COS so this felt like a natural continuation of that relationship.

I often pop along to the open mic sessions to help co-ordinate the sound and acoustics, but, when I’m not helping out behind the scenes, I also perform with my band, Kelso.

The nights have proved to be very popular in the local community and it has shown just how much raw, undiscovered talent there is out there in the Vale.”

Ex-international footballer Dave Roberts, who helps run Major Music, says, “Through the support of businesses like COS and the volunteers like James, we are in a strong position to give people in the Vale of Glamorgan the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of music and reach their full potential as aspiring musicians.”

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VALEWIDE
Tune in and turn on to Bro Radio

Bro Radio was the idea of former BBC Radio Wales presenter and producer Gary Price

Gary formed a board that included business consultant Mark Hooper and composer and film and music producer Danny Chang. Recently they have formed a very important partnership with local charity, the Barry YMCA (the Hub). Anthea Clements is the CEO of the Hub, and is an incredible force and a very creative thinker. Anthea has brought all the skills that the rest of the board lacked, and has given Bro Radio a studio base and ideas on how to train young people and offer opportunities to them. The studio will be based in the café area of the Hub and will have open access throughout the day.

Bro Radio have researched local advertisers and will give them a direct link to their market. With an advert costing only £3 per 20 second slot, any business will find this a low cost way of communicating with their current and potential customers.

The station will be open to all age groups. If you are a pensioner and wish to air your views, or a young person with issues that need to be discussed then bro will give you that facility. Bro Radio will offer training in all things media and are hoping to form a partnership with Barry College to give their students an opportunity to get into the media business. It will offer the council the ability to get information out to the community and demystify any council policies.

Assembly member Jane Hutt has thrown all her energy in to helping the project get off the ground as she too recognises the potential benefits to the Vale of Glamorgan.

Local businessman David Mitchell kindly lent Bro Radio the intial working capital to help research and develop the need for the station.

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WORLDWIDE
Fly from Cardiff to the Far East and beyond

It is now possible to fly to these destinations from Cardiff Airport.

THG Holidays has teamed up with Cardiff Airport to bring worldwide destinations to you:

All prices are per person and based on 3 star accommodation on a bed and breakfast basis and include private transfers. 4 and 5 star hotel options are available at a supplement.

■ Thailand from £829
■ Malaysia from £999
■ Singapore from £999
■ Bintan from £1189
■ Mauritius from £1159
■ Hong Kong from £899
■ China from £1559
■ USA from £679
■ Dubai from £699

Exclusive benefits for all THG Holidays customers travelling from Cardiff

■ Free executive lounge
■ 10% off Duty Free
■ Car Parking from £2.73 per day
■ Half price holiday insurance
■ Airport Hotel from £54.95 per room