NEW sensory-friendly sessions at a popular castle tearoom will enable visitors with additional needs to enjoy a welcoming and accommodating environment tailored to their specific requirements.

As part of an initiative to boost engagement with a more diverse audience, Carew Castle, which is run by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, will be running a new Quiet Hour and Power Hour at Nest Tearoom on the second Monday of each month.

The Quiet Hour, designed to provide a safe space for anyone who feels anxious or overwhelmed when out in public, will take place between 9am and 10am, before the Castle opens. Bright lighting and noise will be kept to a minimum and visitors will be able to enjoy quieter activities in a relaxing environment.

The Power Hour is scheduled for 4.30pm to 5.30pm and offers an energetic and engaging session, tailored to promote physical movement and social engagement. The aim is to create an opportunity for individuals who thrive in more active settings to connect with others, without concern for excessive noise or social interaction.

Manager of Carew Castle, Daisy Hughes, said: “We are thrilled to introduce these new sensory-friendly sessions at Carew Castle, as part of our ongoing commitment to accessibility and inclusivity.

“The Quiet Hour and Power Hour sessions aim to cater to the specific needs of our visitors, providing them with an environment where they can truly be themselves. As well as being able to use the café facilities, visitors will be able to explore the Castle garden. For those who wish to explore the Castle, entry is free with a Carers Card. Otherwise, normal entry fees apply.”

The Castle, which was named Pembrokeshire Visitor Attraction of the Year in last year’s Croeso Awards isn’t the only Park Authority-run site to adapt the visitor experience to accommodate more diverse audiences. A Sunday morning Quiet Hour was introduced at Castell Henllys Iron Age Village in 2019 to encourage people who would not otherwise have visited the site to come along and discover more about the lives of their ancient ancestors.

To learn more about the sensory-friendly sessions and to plan your visit, please contact Carew Castle directly on 01646 651782 or visit www.carewcastle.com. Further information about Castell Henllys’ Quiet Hour can be found at www.pembrokeshirecoast.wales/castell-henllys/about-castell-henllys/accessibility-2/.

THOMAS Baden Tudor, Chairman of Pembrokeshire County Council and local councillor for Castle Ward, says he was delighted to participate in the opening of the “Sharing The Square” event. The four-day programme, running from April 24 to 27 at Haverfordwest Castle Square, invites the community to exchange memories and ideas for the future development of this historic area.

The initiative, in collaboration with local artists and Pembrokeshire County Council, aims to collect community input on potential improvements and address existing challenges in the square. The event also seeks to enhance the connectivity with the adjacent Haverfordwest Castle, focusing on pedestrian routes from the square to the castle.

A variety of public activities are scheduled to take place during the event. These include gardening, creative workshops, games, and musical performances, ensuring an engaging experience for all attendees. Among the highlights is an art workshop led by renowned artist Janetka Platun. Her session titled “What is Lost and What is Found?” offers participants of all ages and abilities the chance to develop model-making skills. Each attendee will create a small model housed in an acrylic box, using diverse and intriguing materials.

Local community groups have been invited to reserve a slot for this free workshop, which is available on the afternoons of 24th, 25th, and the morning and afternoon of 27th April. The project aims to provide a platform for residents to reflect on their personal connections to the square and envision its future.

Further details on the ongoing and future activities can be found on the project’s official website at www.sharingthesquare.org, and updates are regularly posted on their Instagram account @sharingthesquare.

The event has already attracted attention with various stakeholders, including Randell Izaiah Thomas-Turner, Danielle Thomas-Turner, and Guy Norman from Spacetocreate, contributing to the discussions and activities.

Photos from today’s activities can be viewed at The Edge Youth Centre’s social media, highlighting the community’s enthusiastic participation in shaping the future of Haverfordwest Castle Square.

THE Steelworkers’ union, Community, is pressing Tata Steel UK to scrap its bad deal for steel and commit to the alternative Multi-Union Plan ahead of crucial talks with the company this week.

The call follows a meeting between steel unions and Tata officials last week, and the publication of a new report from industry experts Syndex which slams Tata’s approach for pursuing ‘what’s cheap’ over ‘what’s best’. The report highlights that the company’s current proposal – which would cut around 2,800 jobs in South Wales by moving production at Port Talbot to a single 3mt Electric Arc Furnace – comes with significant risks, and would make Tata Steel UK an outlier in Europe.

In contrast, Syndex describes the Multi-Union Plan as “the only solution offering to maintain all the volume currently produced by Tata Steel UK” providing “a future for all the company’s assets and a roadmap for a just transition under the constraint of the financial hurdles and the reality of market dynamics for the UK steel industry.”

Community General Secretary Roy Rickhuss said: “During our meeting with Tata last week, members of the National Trade Union Steel Coordinating Committee provided our final conclusions on the company’s restructuring proposals: namely that the company’s plan is reckless; that it weakens national security by removing Britain’s primary steelmaking capacity; and that it would have devastating consequences for steel communities in South Wales and beyond.

“Our Multi-Union Plan is a credible alternative to Tata’s destructive scheme. It would safeguard the future of Port Talbot steelmaking, protect all the downstream plants, save thousands of jobs and can be delivered with no compulsory redundancies.

“It is not too late for Tata to do the right thing and adopt the Multi-Union Plan – and we hope that they will take this step. However, should the company choose to reject it, we will fight them every step of the way. To enable us to do this, we will need the strongest possible mandate from our ongoing industrial action ballot. For that reason, I am urging all our members to vote ‘YES’ and ‘YES’ and return their ballot papers at the earliest opportunity.”

Community’s Assistant General Secretary Alasdair McDiarmid said: “Syndex’s new report demonstrates clearly that our Multi-Union Plan is viable and sustainable, whilst Tata’s proposals are reckless and harmful. The company must change course, and the UK Government need to step up too. Our alternative plan would require additional investment from the government – taking total public support for the decarbonisation of Port Talbot to £950m overall – but this is still significantly less than the support packages other governments are providing to green their steel industries. It’s also in line with the £3bn Green Steel Fund the Labour Party has guaranteed to deliver in the next parliament.

“We are at a critical moment, and the choices that Tata and the government make now will reverberate for generations to come. The fundamental question here is whether we want to be a country that makes its own steel, or a country that imports it – as would be inevitable under Tata’s damaging proposal. With the spectre of a CBAM exemption for India hanging over free trade talks, we risk under current plans becoming little more than a simple processor for imported Indian Steel. We can’t allow our industry to be sacrificed on the altar of Rishi Sunak’s search for a legacy.

“With so much at stake, we are urging our members to vote ‘YES and ‘YES’ in our industrial action ballot to enable us to fight to maintain blast furnace steelmaking into the 2030s and to prevent compulsory redundancies.”

Leading South Wales steel MPs have also thrown their support behind Community and the GMB’s Multi-Union Plan.

Stephen Kinnock, MP for Aberavon, said: “As industry experts at Syndex have laid out this week, the Multi-Union Plan is a detailed, serious, robust and compelling proposal for the future of the Port Talbot steelworks and it has my full and unequivocal support. It’s the only realistic route to retaining our customer base, and it’s also the only credible pathway to a strong, competitive and profitable future for steel-making in Port Talbot and throughout the downstream plants across Wales and the UK. By contrast Tata’s shortsighted and counter-productive plan will mean exporting jobs from Port Talbot to India, a country where steel plants have a far higher carbon footprint.

“It’s vital that steel is at the heart of a forward-looking industrial strategy, which is why Labour has pledged £3billion to support the industry over the next decade.”

Jessica Morden, MP for Newport East which includes Llanwern Steelworks, said: “Tata and Rishi Sunak’s bad deal for steel would represent a huge blow to our steel industry and steel communities like our own in Newport. The deal would also leave the UK country dependent on imported steel from heavy-polluting countries at a time of global uncertainty.

“It doesn’t have to be this way, and the Multi-Union Plan for steel which Community and GMB have put forward represents a viable alternative to protect jobs and preserve steelmaking capacity here in South Wales. I urge Tata to think again and change course from their damaging proposals.”