CATHY BEATON has been appointed as the new Lifeboat Operations Manager at Fishguard RNLI, taking on the most senior operational volunteer role at the station.

Mrs Beaton, who joined the station management team in August 2024 as a volunteer Launch Authority, succeeds long-serving volunteer Chris Williams following his retirement.

The role of Lifeboat Operations Manager involves leading the station’s operations team, supporting volunteers, ensuring regular communication across the station, and keeping the lifeboat and its equipment in a constant state of readiness.

The post also includes close liaison with local emergency services and representing the RNLI in operational matters.

Working with other RNLI personnel, the Lifeboat Operations Manager helps ensure that volunteers and staff meet the requirements of the RNLI Operational Competency Framework, which is designed to keep crews safe when they go to sea.

Mrs Beaton brings considerable experience in people management and dealing with difficult situations, having worked for 40 years in nursing with the NHS.

She said: “Throughout those years I was committed to giving the best service possible to my patients and to the teams with whom I worked. I will do the same in this role.

“I love being part of the RNLI team. I see the Lifeboat Operations Manager role as a way in which I can be more involved with the charity, which I am very happy to do, and I look forward to working more closely with the highly committed and highly skilled team at the station.”

Fishguard RNLI said it was delighted that Mrs Beaton had taken up the role, adding that during her time with the station she had shown the charity’s core values of being trustworthy, courageous, selfless and dependable.

A station spokesperson said: “We look forward to this new chapter in the station’s history under Cathy’s leadership.”

Photo caption: New role: Cathy Beaton has been appointed volunteer Lifeboat Operations Manager at Fishguard RNLI (Pic: RNLI/Gemma Gill).

SEVEN local volunteers will be honoured at this year’s Eisteddfod yr Urdd Ynys Môn in recognition of their long-standing service to the Urdd movement.

The festival returns to Anglesey for the first time since 2004 and will be held at the Anglesey Showground from Saturday, May 23 to Friday, May 29.

For the first time in its history, Eisteddfod yr Urdd will run as a seven-day festival.

The Honorary Presidents for 2026 are Alwen Jones, of Amlwch; Ann Peters Jones, of Holyhead; Derek Evans, of Llannerch-y-medd; Edward Morus Jones, of Llangristiolus; Grês Pritchard, of Llannerch-y-medd; Helen Evans, of Talwrn; and Rhian Lloyd Jones, of Bodffordd.

Each year, the Urdd works with the local executive committee to select its Honorary Presidents, recognising people who have made a significant contribution to the organisation and to Welsh youth culture.

Llio Maddocks, Director of the Arts at Urdd Gobaith Cymru, said: “The seven individuals honoured this year have dedicated years of support to the Urdd.

“Volunteers play a vital role in the work of the Urdd, and we look forward to recognising the commitment and contributions of all seven individuals at a special ceremony during the Eisteddfod on Sunday, May 24.”

Long service to the Urdd

Alwen Jones, originally from Amlwch, has been involved with the Urdd since her school days at Ysgol Syr Thomas Jones.

She competed successfully when the Urdd came to Menai Bridge in 1976, winning the public speaking competition, coming second in the Chair competition and third in the Literature Medal.

After studying education at Trinity College, Carmarthen, she returned to Anglesey and became involved with Aelwyd yr Ynys, coaching young people and writing lyrics for action songs.

She went on to serve as regional secretary for 25 years, helping organise county eisteddfodau, and was secretary of the executive committee when the Urdd National Eisteddfod was last held on Anglesey in 2004.

Ann Peters Jones, of Holyhead, is a musician, teacher and accompanist who has supported young performers for more than forty years.

Educated at Valley Primary School, Holyhead High School, Wrexham Cartrefle College and the Royal Scottish Academy, she began her teaching career at Llanfawr School in Holyhead before spending fifteen years as Head of Music at Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni.

She now works as a freelance musician, with the Gwynedd and Anglesey Music Service and the dementia charity Forget Me Not. Four songs she co-wrote with Delyth Wyn Jones are included in this year’s Urdd festival competitions.

Derek Evans, of Llannerch-y-medd, began teaching at Ysgol Rhoscolyn in 1978 and joined the local Urdd committee in the same year.

He later became deputy headteacher at Ysgol Gwalchmai and headteacher of Ysgol Llanddeusant, where he encouraged children from rural Anglesey to compete in Urdd eisteddfodau and attend camps at Glan-llyn and Llangrannog.

In 2004, he chaired the executive committee for the Urdd National Eisteddfod on Anglesey. He remains chair of the Anglesey Regional Committee and is also vice-chair of this year’s executive committee.

Decades of dedication

Edward Morus Jones, of Llangristiolus, joined the Urdd nearly 75 years ago after growing up in Llanuwchllyn, the home village of Urdd founder Sir Ifan ab Owen Edwards.

Over the years, he has served as President of the Day at the Urdd National Eisteddfod in Swansea in 1971, vice-president of the organisation during the 1970s, and a member of the Urdd Council for more than 25 years.

He also led the humanitarian panel responsible for the Peace and Goodwill Message, coached and adjudicated locally and nationally, and helped bring the Urdd Eisteddfod to Anglesey in 2004.

Grês Pritchard, of Llannerch-y-medd, is widely known as an accompanist, teacher, coach and conductor.

She received the Green Robe of the Gorsedd in 1960 and the White Robe in 2006, and was awarded an MBE in 2010.

She was accompanist to Côr Meibion y Traeth for 46 years and has helped generations of children through school and Urdd competitions, including pupils at Amlwch, Penysarn, Ysgol Gymraeg Morswyn and other primary schools.

Helen Evans, of Talwrn, joined the Urdd in the early 1960s and later became a teacher.

She was responsible for Urdd activities at Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni for more than thirty years and played a key role in Cylch Cefni Committee and the Anglesey Regional Committee.

For a period, she also served as secretary of the Anglesey Primary and Secondary Regional Eisteddfodau. During the 1980s, she helped re-establish the Aelwyd in Talwrn.

Rhian Lloyd Jones, of Bodffordd, originally from Meirionnydd, developed her love of singing and competition through the Urdd in Corwen, Ysgol y Berwyn and Ysgol y Gader.

After training at the Normal College in Bangor, she moved to Anglesey for her first teaching post at Ysgol Llanfachraeth, where she began coaching children to sing individually and in groups.

She continued that work at Ysgol Rhosneigr and Ysgol Llanddeusant, helped bring success to Bodffordd’s Urdd branch, and remains an accompanist at Urdd eisteddfodau across Anglesey as well as for Côr Meibion Goronwy.

MID and South Pembrokeshire MP Henry Tufnell has written to BT Group demanding urgent answers over mobile phone coverage in Tenby, warning that residents, businesses and tourists are being failed by poor signal ahead of the summer season.

Mr Tufnell said he had taken constituents’ concerns directly to EE and BT after being contacted by people frustrated by limited coverage and unreliable mobile signal in the area.

In a letter dated April 23, the MP asked for an update on the proposed EE mobile base station at Petals Plant Nursery, Strawberry Lane, Penally.

The Herald previously reported that Pembrokeshire County Council had approved plans for a replacement 20-metre 4G telecommunications mast at the site. The scheme, brought forward by Cellnex UK through Pegasus Planning Group, involves replacing an existing 13-metre mast with a taller structure, together with associated antennae and equipment.

The application was described as a mobile base station for EE Ltd and Hutchison 3G UK Ltd, in conjunction with Mobile Broadband Network Limited.

In his letter, Mr Tufnell said he understood the new mast was intended to replace the existing structure. He also said he had been told by constituents that the telecommunications mast at Slippery Back Lane, Tenby, had been removed but had not yet been replaced.

He said this had reportedly left the Tenby area with “very limited mobile phone signal”, causing concern for residents and businesses.

Mr Tufnell wrote: “I would be grateful if you could provide an update on the status and timetable for this project.

“Improving mobile coverage remains a significant concern for my constituents in Tenby, where network capacity has struggled to cope during the busier spring and summer months.

“As a popular tourist destination, the town frequently experiences slow and unreliable signal and persistent not-spots during peak periods.”

The MP said that, with the summer season approaching, there was urgency in delivering improvements to support residents, businesses and visitors.

Posting on social media, Mr Tufnell said: “Tenby deserves better phone signal.

“The lack of coverage is failing our residents, local businesses, and tourists. I have taken your concerns directly to EE and BT.

“With summer fast approaching, we need urgent answers and a clear timetable for improvements.”

He has asked people to contact him with details of their network, the worst-affected areas, and how poor mobile coverage has impacted them.

In the planning documents previously reported by The Herald, the mast upgrade was described as essential for supporting local businesses, residents and visitors in Penally and the wider Tenby area by improving digital connectivity.

The documents also said better mobile and data coverage would support social inclusion and help residents access digital services, including healthcare, education and emergency response systems.

The issue is likely to become more pressing as Tenby prepares for another busy summer period, when the town’s population rises sharply with visitors and mobile networks come under increased pressure.