Charity

Pembrokeshire couple to take on 3,200-mile Atlantic Dash rowing challenge

Published

3 months ago

January 14, 2026

A COUPLE from Pembrokeshire are preparing for the adventure of a lifetime – rowing 3,200 miles across the Atlantic Ocean.

Emma Gent, 53, and her partner Andrew Ravenscroft are currently in the Canary Islands ready for the start of the Atlantic Dash, an endurance race regarded as one of the toughest challenges in the world.

The pair, competing as Team SharkBait, are due to set off on Saturday, January 24, aiming to reach Antigua in the Caribbean in a journey expected to take around two months.

They will row alone in a seven-metre boat, named Donkey, with no support crew, no motor and no sails – just two sets of oars and the open Atlantic.

Team SharkBait has already raised £5,845 of its £6,500 target for four charities: Wales Air Ambulance, The MS Society, Megan Starr Foundation and The Robin Cancer Trust.

Emma, a sister in A&E at Withybush Hospital, said the challenge has been years in the making.

“I have been interested in rowing the Atlantic for three years now, and after a couple of team changes due to various reasons, I was thinking about doing it as a solo rower,” she said.

“Andrew has many challenges already under his belt and was looking for a new one, and when I asked him to join me, he jumped at the chance.

“I am delighted that Andrew has decided to join me. He is new to rowing but has not let that stop him in any way and has taken to it like a duck to water.”

Emma said she wanted to take on the challenge for a range of reasons – from the adventure to the charities – and to inspire her children.

“I have wanted to do this for a long time; the challenge, the charities, the adventure, the achievement and to prove to my children that nothing is impossible if you’re determined enough,” she said.

“To be able to share the highs and lows of this whole experience with Andrew has made the road ahead feel less daunting.”

Andrew, from Tenby, marked his 60th birthday this week in Lanzarote. He has previously completed an Ironman and other endurance challenges.

Emma, a mother of three, has been a Celtic longboat rower for more than twenty years and has rowed from Ireland to Wales twice – but said this will be her biggest test to date.

“We have spent time training for the last few months, along with sourcing and purchasing the considerable amount of equipment needed to keep us safe,” she said.

“Many hours have been spent on the computer learning about the specialist gear required.

“It’s been a long slog, but we are delighted to be in Lanzarote at the start line and excited to get going. We hope to complete it and enjoy a cocktail or two in Antigua, fingers crossed, a couple of months after our start date.”

Emma said the Wales Air Ambulance was chosen as one of the beneficiaries because of its importance to patients and families across Wales.

“My daughter had an accident several years ago and although the air ambulance didn’t end up assisting, they were on standby to support,” she said.

“Having worked in A&E for many years, I have seen how much the air ambulance can do, not just with accidents but also with transportation of patients to more appropriate hospitals.”

The Wales Air Ambulance is consultant-led, delivering hospital-standard care at the scene and, when required, transferring patients directly to the most appropriate hospital. It operates through a partnership with the NHS Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS), with NHS consultants and critical care practitioners working onboard the charity’s aircraft and rapid response vehicles.

Its advanced critical care capability includes administering anaesthesia, delivering blood transfusions and carrying out minor operations at the roadside or in remote locations.

Mike May, the charity’s Regional Fundraising Manager for South West Wales, said: “The challenge Team SharkBait has set themselves is incredible. Emma and Andrew are a brave and determined couple for taking on this remarkable challenge in aid of charities close to their hearts.

“We are extremely grateful to them both for supporting the Wales Air Ambulance. Emma knows firsthand how important the service is to the people of Wales when they need us most.

“The Charity relies on public donations to raise the £13 million required every year to keep our helicopters in the air and our rapid response vehicles on the road.

“Good luck with your challenge and stay safe.”

People can support the pair by donating via their fundraising page at:
www.gofundme.com/f/sharkbait26

Updates will also be shared on their Facebook page: SharkBait.

Charity

Greenacres Rescue saved as public clears £24,000 crisis bill

Published

7 hours ago

April 19, 2026

Tom Sinclair

Supporters in Pembrokeshire and beyond rally to keep animal sanctuary open to urgent new cases

GREENACRES RESCUE has been pulled back from the brink after an overwhelming public response cleared a £24,000 vet bill that had left the Pembrokeshire animal sanctuary facing the prospect of shutting its doors to new intakes.

The Talbenny-based rescue had warned it was at breaking point after receiving a March veterinary bill of £24,113.92, saying it could be forced to stop taking in emergency cases unless the money was raised by the end of the month.

The stark appeal triggered an immediate wave of support, with donations pouring in from Pembrokeshire and beyond.

Within the first 24 hours, Greenacres said it had raised £12,759, taking the charity more than halfway to its target. By Wednesday, the full amount had been reached.

In a message thanking supporters, the Greenacres team said: “Because of you our doors stay open.

“We hit our target for the vet bill and we are absolutely overwhelmed with gratitude.

“The support we’ve received has been nothing short of incredible, and thanks to every single one of you, our doors can stay open to help as many animals as we physically can.”

The rescue had warned that failing to clear the bill would have devastating consequences, with new emergency calls potentially having to be turned away.

Mikey Lawlor said last week that March had been the toughest month the charity had faced, despite more than £43,000 already being raised and paid off earlier this year.

He said the number of animals needing urgent help had reached an all-time high, pushing the rescue to the brink.

While Greenacres stressed it would always honour commitments to animals already in its care, it warned that being forced to close to new intake could leave other animals without a lifeline.

In its thank-you message, the charity said the successful appeal meant it could continue helping “animals who feel forgotten” and those with nowhere else to turn.

The rescue also highlighted the case of Venus, a Doberman taken in last week after spending time in council pound kennels.

Greenacres said Venus had faced an uncertain and heartbreaking future after going unclaimed, and had arrived too frightened to show her true character. Staff said she has already begun to relax and reveal herself as a gentle dog.

“Dogs like Venus are the reason we exist,” the team said.

As well as direct donations, Greenacres is continuing to ask supporters to help through its Amazon wish list, which provides food and other essentials for the animals in its care.

The charity, which has been rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming neglected and unwanted animals since 2008, cares for dogs, cats, horses, reptiles and other small animals across Pembrokeshire.

Charity

Cancer Research UK shop in Tenby to close after more than three decades

Published

2 days ago

April 17, 2026

Rieve Nesbitt-Marr

A WELL-KNOWN charity shop in the heart of Tenby is set to close after serving the town for more than three decades.

Cancer Research UK has confirmed that its Tudor Square branch will shut as part of a nationwide restructuring of its retail operation, which will see hundreds of stores disappear over the next year.

The Tenby outlet, which first opened in 1992, has long occupied a prominent spot in the town centre and has become a familiar part of the local shopping scene.

The charity says around ninety of its shops will close by the end of May this year, with as many as a further one hundred due to shut by April 2027. The Tenby branch is not included in the first list of closures, so it is expected to remain open a little longer.

Cancer Research UK says it is reshaping its retail network to focus on fewer, stronger-performing high street stores, while increasing its investment in larger retail sites and stepping away from its online marketplace.

The organisation says the move is aimed at protecting future income for research, with the changes expected to free up millions of pounds over the next five years for work into cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Julie Byard, the charity’s director of trading, paid tribute to those who have supported the Tenby shop over the years, including staff, volunteers and customers.

She said the decision had not been taken lightly and stressed that it was not a reflection on the efforts of local teams, but part of a wider response to increasing running costs and shifts in the way people shop.

Cancer Research UK says it believes many of its current shops would struggle to remain viable in the longer term without major changes.

The charity has said support will be offered to those affected by the closure.

For Tenby, the loss of the Tudor Square shop will mark the end of a long-established presence in one of the town’s best-known locations.

Pic caption: Shop closure: Cancer Research UK’s long-standing Tenby branch in Tudor Square is set to shut as part of a national retail restructure.

Charity

Pembrokeshire lesser horseshoe bats tower approved

Published

3 days ago

April 17, 2026

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

PLANS for a special tower in rural Pembrokeshire to help protect a Welsh bat species in decline have been given the go-ahead.

In an application to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Jenny Surname O’Neill of Vincent Wildlife Trust sought permission for a five-metre-high bat roost tower structure at Llwyngoras, Felindre Farchog.

A supporting statement said: “The building will be used exclusively for wildlife conservation as a dedicated roosting site for bats. It will not serve any other function, and access will be strictly controlled, as disturbing bats is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended).

“Historically, a maternity roost for lesser horseshoe bats was present within one of the farm buildings on the wider site, notable as the only known maternity roost in North Pembrokeshire. However, numbers at the roost have declined in recent years.

“Greater horseshoe bats have also been recorded at the site over several years and concerns have been raised that interactions between the two species within a roost can negatively affect lesser horseshoe bat colonies, including roost abandonment and cessation of breeding. The decline in lesser horseshoe bat numbers may partly result from greater horseshoe bats discouraging their use of other onsite buildings.

“The proposed new structure is intended to provide an additional nearby roost option for lesser horseshoe bats. The sole purpose of the proposed development is to support local bat populations.”

It added: “The proposed bat roost structure forms part of a Wales-wide project, Landscape for Lessers, delivered by Vincent Wildlife Trust. The project is funded through the Nature Networks Programme, administered by the Heritage Fund on behalf of the Welsh Government and in partnership with Natural Resources Wales.

“The project aims to secure the future of Wales’s nationally significant population of lesser horseshoe bats by enhancing existing protected sites and building bespoke bat roosts in areas where the species is in decline, range-restricted, impacted by anthropogenic threats or impacted by the presence of other species invading their roosts.

“This project aims to take a strategic approach to facilitate the recovery of LHB populations across Wales. We will build roost structures in critical lesser horseshoe habitats, linking the network of protected sites and providing stepping stones in the landscape, allowing the species to recolonise their former range.”