News
Project to support dementia sufferers
AN INNOVATIVE new service to help people with dementia across South West Wales and their carers feel more supported and enjoy a full and active life through activities including art, drama, and photography launched in Llanelli on Friday (15 November).
Alzheimer’s Society will run the ‘Life not just a service’ project across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Swansea, Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot, after being awarded over £720,000 from the Big Lottery Fund.
The project will be delivered through a programme of adult community learning opportunities including art, drama, patchwork quilting, family history, and photography – to name but a few. Each course will run for 10 weeks, with the weekly session operating for three hours in locations across south west Wales.
The event, which highlighted the charity’s support services for people living with dementia in South West Wales, was attended by Jonathan Edwards MP. Speaking at the event he said:
‘In my surgeries I meet many carers who are extremely grateful for the work of Alzheimer’s Society in helping them to adapt to a life-changing condition which impacts not just the individual, but the wider family circle. Amongst other things Alzheimer’s Society offers hope to people that there is life beyond developing dementia.
‘The fact that Alzheimer’s Society has been awarded substantial funding from the Big Lottery is a testament to the confidence stakeholders have in the work the Society undertakes’.
The new funding is one of three Big Lottery projects secured in the last 18 months for Alzheimer’s Society in Wales, totalling £2.75m (£2,750,000).
The advocacy and befriending services, funded by the Big Lottery Fund’s AdvantAGE programme, were officially launched in July 2012 and have since helped to support people across South West Wales who are living with all forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.
Cheryl James, Operations Manager for Alzheimer’s Society in South West Wales said: ‘There are estimated to be over 44,500 people with dementia in Wales and as the population ages, we all face the risk of one day developing the condition. Through our new project ‘Life Not Just a Service’ we aim to reach out and offer a range of learning opportunities to those who may not have otherwise been able to access our support services.
‘People with dementia and their carers can often experience feelings of loneliness and isolation, especially in the more rural parts of Wales. Alzheimer’s Society is committed to reaching out to all people with dementia and their carers in order to help them and support them to live well with dementia now and in the future.
‘We hope that the new ‘Life Not Just a Service’ will increase public awareness of dementia and give people a better understanding of the condition; reducing the stigma. We also hope that the project will create a sense of community spirit where people with dementia can be active citizens.
‘We are delighted that thanks to the generous support of the Big Lottery Fund, we can bring these much needed services to Wales.’
News
Pembrokeshire residents aged 75 to 79 years to receive their first COVID vaccine

LETTERS will arrive in the coming days inviting Pembrokeshire residents aged 75 to 79 years to receive their first COVID vaccine at a mass vaccination centre, Hywel Dda University Health Board (UHB) has announced.
The letter will provide an appointment time at one of the following mass vaccination centres: Haverfordwest – Pembrokeshire Archives, Prendergast; and Tenby – Tenby Leisure Centre.
These mass vaccination centres will provide a safe environment, space to maintain social distancing while allowing more people to be vaccinated as efficiently and as quickly as possible.
It is vital that you make every effort to attend your appointment.
You will need to delay your vaccination if you have had a positive coronavirus test within 28 days of this appointment or if you are unwell with a fever, have a new continuous cough or a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell.
Please let us know if you cannot attend or need to delay your appointment as soon as possible by calling the number provided in your appointment letter. This will mean we can give your appointment to someone else and save NHS resources.
Steve Moore, Chief Executive of Hywel Dda UHB, said: “Until now we have been using our mass vaccination centres to vaccinate our front-line staff in health, social care and care homes. With over 85% of front-line health workers having had their first dose, and seeing rapid progress with care home staff and social care staff, we are now moving onto the next phase of our delivery plan.
“The opening of our mass vaccination centres to the public will allow us to offer more people a vaccine as soon as supplies are available to us. If you have received an invitation it is because you are in a priority group and at greater risk of complications if you catch COVID-19.
“Vaccines are safe, effective and save lives and the COVID vaccine offers our community hope. By receiving your vaccine, you will continue to play your small but incredibly important part in protecting yourself, the most vulnerable in our communities and our local NHS. Thank you.”
When you attend your appointment please bring with you:
Your appointment letter
Some ID such as your passport, driving license or utility bill in your name
A face mask (if you don’t have one, you will be given one)
People aged 80 years and over will continue to be invited by their GP practice to receive the vaccine, all of which have now received a supply of vaccines. The health board has also commissioned GP practices to vaccinate housebound patients and residents in our care homes.
Hywel Dda UHB is working to offer a vaccine to everyone in priority groups 1 to 4 by mid-February. People over 70 years of age and everyone who is clinically extremely vulnerable as part of priority group 4 will be invited next to receive a vaccine. The health board will provide further information at the earliest opportunity.
Please do not attend any vaccination venue without an appointment and do not contact your GP, pharmacy or health board to ask when you will be invited. People are being invited to receive the vaccine in order of priority and we thank you for your patience.
News
A4076 reopens following accident where everyone ‘miraculously walked away’

THERE was a road traffic accident in icy and snowy conditions on the A4076 Dredgemans Hill on Sunday afternoon.
Emergency services were called to the scene at around 1.30pm to an accident involving a number of vehicles.
A number of readers sent photos in to the Herald.
The road re-opened at 3pm after a brief closure.
A witness said: “It was a miracle but we have all walked away from this.”
MORE TO FOLLOW
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Welsh Conservatives appoint new Senedd Leader

IT HAS been announced that Andrew RT Davies MS has been appointed as the new Leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in the Welsh Parliament.
Leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, Andrew RT Davies MS said: “Becoming leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd once again is a great honour and privilege, and I’m pleased to enjoy the unanimous support of my colleagues to take us forward after a difficult few days for us all.
“On behalf of the Group I want to pay tribute to Paul Davies for his service as leader. Paul is not only a colleague but a trusted friend, who has served his constituents and party with distinction, and will continue to do so.
“There is urgent work in front of all of us and our immediate focus will be continuing to hold the Labour administration in the Senedd to account on vital issues such as the vaccine rollout, and fighting May’s election alongside our excellent slate of candidates and dedicated volunteers.
“We are in a moment like no other, and the COVID-19 pandemic has sadly only served to shine a spotlight on the challenges in people’s everyday lives; challenges that have been made all the harder by twenty of Welsh Labour Government failure.
“From our fragile economy to ever increasing NHS waiting lists, people in Wales have been badly let down by successive Labour administrations. Let me be clear; devolution isn’t the issue, it is the socialists in the Labour Party, and Wales deserves better.
“In just over 100 days, the Welsh public will head to the ballot box to decide on the future they want for our country and in the coming weeks and months the Welsh Conservatives will put forward a positive plan to get Wales moving again and build back our country better than ever.
“This will be in tough election during a tough time for our country and whereas other parties want to use this period to divide and separate, we’ll seek to unite our country and deliver a strong voice for Wales, in a strong United Kingdom.”
Chairman of the Welsh Conservative Group in the Senedd, Janet Finch-Saunders MS said: “Following a meeting of the Welsh Conservative Group in the Senedd this morning, I’m pleased to confirm that Andrew RT Davies has been endorsed unanimously as our new leader in the Senedd.
“As Chairman of the Group, I want to say thank you to Paul Davies for his immense efforts in the post since 2018. Paul played a key role in our record-breaking General Election in 2019, whilst setting the groundwork ahead of May’s Senedd election.
“Our attention now turns to May and taking the fight to the Labour Party.”
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