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City stars in new TV advert

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city starsST DAVIDS Bishop’s Palace is one of the stars which feature in Have you packed for Wales? The new £4 million EU funded Visit Wales advertising campaign which will launch on St David’s Day in the UK and Irish markets to attract visitors to Wales for Spring and Summer 2014.

Have you packed for Wales? tells consumers to come prepared for a trip to Wales. Whether it’s a three day break or a seven day stay, visitors need to come fully packed and ready for anything. However, packing the usual holiday gear isn’t enough. This is Wales – people are reminded to pack an open mind, a sense of adventure, and an appetite for discovery. This theme will run across all elements of the campaign.

The European Regional Development Fund-backed campaign includes a new TV advert which has been directed by Welsh director Marc Evans, whose work was also seen on screens recently in the form of detective series Hinterland which has been shown on S4C, BBC One Wales and is shortly to appear on BBC4.

Marc has directed many TV adverts including adverts for the Royal Navy, Co-op and Natwest, and said of his experiences of filming a TV advert for Wales: “This was a dream job for me. I was brought up in Cardiff but every summer was spent in West Wales and I have a lifelong love of the place. It was great to shoot in Cardigan Bay and also visit corners of the country I was less familiar with. It’s a big little country Wales, ever changing in terms of weather and light and also in the way it presents itself to the world. You think you know it and then it surprised you with another face. There’s a lot to be proud of but it can be elusive too. A big challenge to capture in a commercial!”

The campaign features new and existing product which has been developed through Visit Wales’ £35m ERDF Environment for Growth Projects in collaboration with other partners E4G partners: Cadw, Natural Resources Wales, Valleys Regional Park’. Locations feature the New BikePark Wales; Cadw monuments – Caernarfon Castle and St Davids Bishop’s Palace; Abersoch Beach; Dolphins in Cardigan Bay and Carreg y Defaid beach near Llanbedrog. EU funding has been used to work with partners to develop and improve Wales’ tourism offering. The new tourism strategy identifies the importance of taking a product led approach to developing and marketing tourism in Wales, which means working with iconic, high quality, reputation-changing products.

Cerys Matthews provided the music to accompany the TV ads and the result is a contemporary interpretation of the traditional Welsh song ‘Mil Harddach’. Cerys Matthews, said: “What a lullaby “You are a thousand times more beautiful than a white rose, than the red rose growing on the hillside, than the proud swan swimming the lake, my baby.” It’s just one of the gems found here in Wales’ jam packed treasure chest of cultural jewels, where we find the evidence of our centuries old love affair with singing and writing songs, songs that have such spellbinding melodies and simply perfect verses.”

Minister for the Economy, Edwina Hart, said: “This week is Wales Tourism Week and this investment in Wales marketing shows the Welsh Government’s commitment to tourism as one of our key sectors which generates £5 billion a year to the Welsh economy.

“This campaign is the first to be developed since the launch of the new tourism strategy for Wales ‘Partnership for Growth’ which aims to grow the tourism industry in Wales by 10% by 2020. This is the first step towards achieving what’s been set out in the strategy and aims to show that Wales provides the warmest of welcomes, outstanding quality, excellent value for money and memorable, authentic experiences for our visitors.

“We’re lucky in Wales to have such a huge range of activities, experiences and products to enjoy and share with our visitors. Some of our recent consumer research work however suggested that people aren’t necessarily aware of all the great things to see and do here in Wales, so this campaign tackles that misconception head on.”

The advert is also a showcase for the strength of creative industries sector in Wales, with Golley Slater as lead creative agency, production services were provided by YJB Films (Swansea) and post-production services were provided by Gorilla (Cardiff).

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Thousands of homes in rural Wales gain from faster 4G boost

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RURAL Wales is seeing a major upgrade in mobile connectivity, with faster 4G now live in several areas. Seven locations across North, South West, and West Wales are benefitting from new 4G mast upgrades funded by the UK Government’s Shared Rural Network (SRN), aimed at closing the digital gap between rural and urban areas.

The upgrades, which went live on Thursday (Nov 14), bring improved 4G coverage to communities including Bontddu, Llanelltyd, Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog, Penmaenpool, Tabor, Snowdonia National Park, and Bontgoch. Local businesses, emergency services, and residents are expected to benefit from faster internet access, which supports daily communication, business opportunities, and economic growth.

There is a £170 million agreement with Openreach to provide gigabit-capable broadband to 70,000 remote Welsh properties

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: “Fast, reliable connectivity is essential for modern life and should be available from Cardiff to the remotest parts of Wales. Today’s upgrades bring us closer to making this a reality.”

SUPPORTING DIGITAL INCLUSION

As part of the rollout, Peter Kyle and Telecoms Minister Sir Chris Bryant visited Ebbw Vale to discuss digital inclusion with charity and industry leaders. They met with representatives at BGfm, a digital inclusion hub in Blaenau Gwent, to learn about how connectivity impacts daily life in Welsh communities.

Telecoms Minister Bryant said: “We are working tirelessly to make sure rural communities aren’t left behind online.

“These upgrades mean businesses can now operate without connectivity limitations, 999 services are better equipped to respond, and residents and tourists can stay connected across the Welsh countryside.”

ADDRESSING CONNECTIVITY GAPS

An estimated 1.5 million homes across the UK remain without internet access, limiting people’s ability to access essential services such as banking and healthcare. In addition to the SRN upgrades, the Chancellor has allocated over £500 million in next year’s budget for digital infrastructure expansion, targeting these underserved areas.

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens highlighted the importance of this investment, particularly for rural Wales, where fast, reliable internet can be transformative.

“Connectivity is critical for day-to-day life in rural areas – from supporting local businesses to ensuring emergency services are just a call away,” Stevens said.

The upgraded masts, previously limited to EE customers and emergency 999 calls, now serve a wider user base, bringing essential internet access to more people without requiring new infrastructure.

Ben Roome, CEO of Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited, said: “With the activation of five new SRN sites, Wales is seeing the tangible benefits of the Shared Rural Network, bringing crucial connectivity to rural communities.”

GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT IN REMOTE WALES

The improvements come alongside a £170 million agreement with Openreach to provide gigabit-capable broadband to 70,000 remote Welsh properties, helping future-proof digital access in even the most isolated locations.

The latest upgrades mark another step in the Government’s mission to improve mobile coverage and close the connectivity gap across Wales, creating opportunities and supporting economic growth across rural communities.

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Milford Haven man admits to downloading indecent images of children

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A MILFORD HAVEN man has been sentenced after admitting to downloading over 1,000 indecent images and videos of children, including highly explicit content involving young children. Gareth MacDonald, now 23, appeared before Swansea Crown Court, where he pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images and videos across various devices.

The court heard that police visited MacDonald’s home, which was the scene of protests after his arrest, last year following intelligence suggesting that child abuse images had been accessed there.

There were protests outside MacDonald’s house in September 2024 (Pic: Herald)

Officers spoke with MacDonald’s mother at the door before entering to conduct a search.

During the operation, two mobile phones, a tablet, a laptop, and two hard drives were seized.

MacDonald initially spoke to one of the officers privately, admitting to downloading the images and saying, “It’s me.” Later, in formal interviews, he revealed that he had grown “bored with legal pornography” roughly a year earlier, knowing that what he was doing was illegal but continuing regardless.

Prosecutor Emily Bennett informed the court that MacDonald’s devices held 15 Category A images, the most severe classification, 26 Category B images, and 960 Category C images. Some content depicted children as young as nine, and the most serious material involved pre-teen children in distressing situations.

Bennett also noted that MacDonald had briefly joined an online group where members self-identified as paedophiles, although he left without sharing any material. Cleaning software was also found on his devices.

Defense counsel Dan Griffiths acknowledged that MacDonald’s actions had crossed the custodial threshold, but argued that there was “a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.” He highlighted MacDonald’s cooperation with police and his willingness to comply with rehabilitation programmes.

Judge Geraint Walters, presiding over the sentencing, addressed MacDonald, saying, “For some considerable time, you have accessed this kind of imagery, fully aware of the harm it represents.” He acknowledged that MacDonald largely isolated himself and stayed at home, factors he considered in the sentencing.

MacDonald was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, with a requirement to complete 20 rehabilitation activity days and participate in the Horizon programme. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years and is subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same duration.

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Welsh teenager jailed for creating 3D-printed gun at home

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A TEENAGER who assembled parts for a viable semi-automatic firearm using a 3D printer has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison.

Owain Roberts, 19, purchased nuts, bolts, steel barrels, and metal rods online, constructing components of an FGC-9 gun with the aid of a 3D printer.

Detectives said that this case marks the first of its kind in Gwent, where Roberts admitted to manufacturing a firearm component. He appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday (Nov 14).

In April, firearms officers executed warrants at two Newport addresses connected to Roberts. Seized items included a 3D printer, two laptops, six plastic reels, and parts for an FGC-9 firearm.

PC Tom Meazey, from Gwent Police’s East Serious Organised Crime team, stated: “Illegally-held firearms can lead to tragic consequences and devastate innocent people’s lives. To own a firearm, including a printable one, is illegal in the UK without a valid firearms certificate. Roberts’s reckless actions in buying items capable of manufacturing a firearm placed people at direct risk.”

This rare and complex investigation involved support from the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Roberts received a prison sentence of four years and nine months.

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