VISITORS to this year’s Royal Welsh Show are being encouraged to use public transport as organisers look to ease congestion and promote more sustainable travel.

The show takes place at the Royal Welsh Showground in Llanelwedd, Builth Wells, from July 20 to 23, and is expected to attract thousands of people from across Wales and beyond.

The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society said rail and bus services would provide convenient options for showgoers, with free shuttle buses running from Builth Road railway station to the showground, which is just over a mile away.

Discounted admission

Visitors travelling on the Heart of Wales Line with a valid rail ticket will be able to buy discounted show admission tickets from conductors and ticket offices along the route.

The discounted prices are £35 for adults and £11 for children. Children under 16 can travel free by train when accompanied by a fare-paying adult.

Transport for Wales said rail services would connect visitors from across Wales and the borders, including routes from Cardiff through some of Wales’ most scenic countryside. TrawsCymru bus services will also provide another option for those travelling to the event.

Family activities

Transport for Wales and Network Rail will also have an interactive stand at the show, offering family-friendly rail safety activities and entertainment.

Activities will include VR headset experiences, story time sessions, badge-making classes and rail safety performances. Builth Wells Male Voice Choir is also due to visit the stand on the first day of the show.

Children under 16 travelling to the show by train on the Heart of Wales Line will be able to collect a free activity sheet on board and hand in their completed artwork at the Transport for Wales stand for a chance to win a prize.

Visitors are being urged to plan their journeys in advance through the Transport for Wales website and journey planner.

Travel encouraged:

Visitors to the Royal Welsh Show are being urged to consider rail and bus services this year (Pic: RWAS).

Call follows weeks of debate over Welsh Government pledges, childcare, free school meals and direct support for struggling families

MPs are inviting frontline workers across Wales to share evidence on how child poverty is affecting families and communities.

The Welsh Affairs Committee is asking practitioners who work with children and families to take part in an online roundtable at 3:00pm on Tuesday, July 14.

The session will help inform the committee’s inquiry into working towards ending child poverty in Wales.

It comes after weeks of renewed political debate over child poverty, including Welsh Government pledges on childcare, free school meals and direct support for low-income families.

The latest call from MPs shifts the focus from policy promises to frontline experience, asking those working directly with families to explain where poverty is being felt most sharply, which groups are most at risk, and whether current support is reaching the people who need it.

Welsh Government figures have previously shown around 31% of children in Wales living in relative income poverty, while the Bevan Foundation has said latest data points to around 210,000 children being affected.

MPs say they want to hear directly from people working in communities, including those supporting families at greater risk of poverty, such as households with disabled adults or children, and ethnic minority-headed households.

Committee chair Ruth Jones MP said: “Our inquiry is investigating the barriers to ending child poverty in Wales. Hearing from individuals working to support families in communities up and down the country will provide the committee with invaluable insight, which can then inform our recommendations to the UK Government.

“We are keen to hear from a diverse range of practitioners across Wales, especially those working with disabled or ethnic minority groups. I encourage those with valuable experience to share to take the opportunity to participate.”

Child poverty affects communities in different ways across Wales. In rural areas, families can face higher transport costs, limited access to childcare, poor public transport and fewer local services. In urban communities, housing costs, insecure work, debt and pressure on food banks are among the key issues raised by campaigners.

Practitioners are being asked to email [email protected] by Friday, June 26, with details of their organisation, where in Wales they work, whether they support families at higher risk of poverty, and a brief outline of their experience.

Applicants will be told by Tuesday, June 30, whether they have been selected to take part.

The Welsh Affairs Committee scrutinises the work of the Wales Office and UK Government policy affecting Wales. Its inquiry is looking at how the UK and Welsh governments can work together to tackle child poverty and what barriers remain to ending it.

MORE than 9,000 people across South East Wales are to receive tailored employment support under a £32.5m expansion of the UK Government’s Connect to Work programme.

The funding will support around 9,100 disabled people, people with health conditions, and those facing complex barriers to employment, helping them move into work or closer to the labour market by 2030.

The Department for Work and Pensions said the programme replaces a “one-size-fits-all” approach with intensive, personalised help built around each individual.

Support will be delivered by specialist employment advisers, who will meet people in accessible community settings, including GP surgeries, cafés, parks and community hubs.

The help available will include matching people with suitable jobs, CV writing, interview preparation, direct work with local employers, and continued support once someone has started a role.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said: “For too long, disabled people and those with health conditions in South East Wales and across the country were written off and denied the chance to work. This Government is changing that.

“Connect to Work is built on a simple belief: that with the right support, built around the individual, people can and do get into work.

“Today’s figures prove it. Thousands of people are now closer to working, earning and building better lives, and with South East Wales set to launch its support offer, this is just the beginning.”

The announcement comes as the first official statistics for Connect to Work show that 14,000 people across England and Wales have already received personalised support through the programme.

The DWP said 2.8 million people are currently out of work due to ill-health, and that Connect to Work forms part of a wider £3.5bn employment support package.

Councillor Peter Bradbury, Cardiff Council’s Cabinet Member for Employment and Inclusive Growth, said: “We are delighted that Connect to Work is being introduced across the South East Wales region; this is a significant opportunity to support our residents into sustainable employment while strengthening our local communities and economy.

“Delivery will commence shortly across the region, with further details, including start dates, available on the Cardiff Council website.”

The South East Wales funding follows earlier announcements for Connect to Work in South West Wales, Mid Wales and North Wales.