Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Carmarthen Town AFC have unveiled plans for an exciting community project based around a new 3G all-weather football pitch at Richmond Park. The installation of the 3G pitch will be the catalyst for a wide-ranging community programme based around the Welsh Premier League club. “The club’s intention is to help create a wider community benefit by helping and supporting people to reach their full potential,” said Project Manager and Club Director Jeff Thomas. Mr Thomas said the club was forging a number of key partnerships to progress the 3G project. The cost of the 3G pitch will be in the region of £560,000, with the club currently looking at filling a shortfall of £150,000 for the scheme. Mr Thomas said: “We have always been recognised locally as a great community club, keen to get involved in helping the wider community. Our focus has always been much more than just our ground at Richmond Park. “Our 3G plan includes a community programme with particular emphasis on socially and econo...

The latest Clay Shaw Butler Money Matters column from the Carmarthenshire Herald. By Mark Jones, director of Carmarthen-based Clay Shaw Butler chartered accountants and business consultants. HMRC have made available a telephone helpline (0800 904 7900) for anyone affected by severe weather or floods. The helpline allows anyone affected to get practical help and advice on a wide range of tax problems they may be facing. These could be financial issues regarding making payment, issues regarding lost or damaged records and may include cancelling penalties where deadlines are missed due to severe weather and flooding. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will also: agree instalment arrangements where taxpayers are unable to pay as a result of severe weather or flooding  agree a practical approach when individuals and businesses have lost vital records as a result of severe weather or flooding  suspend debt collection proceedings for those affected by severe weather or flooding ...

The latest Phil Evans column from the South Wales Evening Post. Comedian Phil Evans is from Ammanford. He is known as the man who puts the ‘cwtsh’ into comedy. www.philevans.co.uk ................................ Feeling low? The state of the world getting you down? Then let me try and cheer you up . . . What do you call someone who hangs around with musicians? A drummer! That’s a favourite joke among musicians - though not with those who hit a percussion instrument for a living. Musicians have a jokey definition of ‘Perfect Pitch’ - which is ‘throwing an accordion into a skip without touching the sides’. From the laugh-out-loud reaction that joke always receives, I was convinced that there’s little love around for the accordion these days. So, I was very surprised to read a report in this newspaper about a man with possible links to Port Talbot who the police want to interview about the theft of accordions with a total value of £150,000 from a music shop in Berkshire. The fact that...

The latest Clay Shaw Butler Money Matters column from the Carmarthenshire Herald. By Mark Jones, director of Carmarthen-based Clay Shaw Butler chartered accountants and business consultants. HMRC have revealed their Top 10 most significant fraud and organised crime cases of the last year. Simon York, Director of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said: “Day in, day out, HMRC is coming down hard on tax cheats. “As these cases show, we’ll tackle anyone committing tax fraud, regardless of how well resourced, well advised, or well organised. “These 10 prosecutions are among the most significant cases we’ve handled this year, and they reflect the wide range of work carried out by HMRC.” In the ongoing fight against tax evasion, HMRC took a range of tax fraudsters through the courts in 2016 for prosecution. HMRC’s criminal investigations have led to 679 individuals being convicted for their part in tax crimes, with sentences for 2016 totalling more than 730 years. Many of the cases won ...

The latest 'On Song' column (about the choral scene in Carmarthenshire) from the Carmarthen Journal and Llanelli Star - The wonderful ladies of Côr Curiad have an exciting 2017 planned. The highlight will be the September 2 concert at Ffwrnes Theatre, Llanelli, with The Overtones. The night will conclude Côr Curiad’s two-year fundraising efforts for Ty Bryngwyn Hospice in Llanelli. The choristers set themselves a £20,000 target. The target has already been met, so Côr Curiad’s members are looking forward to smashing the figure and handing the final cheque over on a special night! The Overtones are a five-piece vocal harmony group - Darren, Mark, Timmy, Mike and Lachie. They were discovered by a Warner Bros Records talent scout while working as decorators in a shop near Oxford Street, singing during their tea break. Their debut album, Good Ol’ Fashioned Love entered the UK Albums Chart at No16 in November 2010. However, after the re-release of the album in March 2011, it propell...

The latest Phil Evans column from the South Wales Evening Post. Comedian Phil Evans is from Ammanford. He is known as the man who puts the ‘cwtsh’ into comedy. www.philevans.co.uk ................................ What can we do with the selfie-obsessed? When I recently visited London for the first time in almost a year I couldn’t believe how tourist behaviour had changed. Instead of taking photographs of their family/friends in front of famous landmarks, most visitors were taking ‘selfies’ using ‘selfie sticks’. It doesn’t just occur in London. This ever-growing madness of taking selfies goes on everywhere . . . maybe in your neighbourhood. So be vigilant! Because selfie-takers are narcissists who don’t consider that taking pointless selfie-after-selfie of themselves in the same position is annoying to people around them. I know you like me to give you an example . . . A friend of mine went to see the “Peter Pan” pantomime at Cardiff’s New Theatre during the last week of the run. T...

One of the UK’s leading constitutional experts will use a public lecture at Aberystwyth University to critique the latest attempt at a Welsh devolution ‘settlement’. Professor Richard Rawlings will examine the implications of the Wales Act 2017, which marks the fourth main phase of Welsh devolution in just twenty years. His lecture Strange Days? Reworking the Welsh Devolution ‘Settlement’ will be held at 5pm on Wednesday 22 February 2017 in the Main Hall of the Department of International Politics. Speaking ahead of the event, Professor Rawlings who is Professor of Public Law at University College London and Honorary Distinguished Professor of Law at Cardiff University, said: “Partly framed by the work of the Silk Commission, and also influenced by Scottish constitutional developments in the wake of the 2014 independence referendum, the process of developing the legislation has been an elongated and commonly painful one. “It is a process which has stretched from incoherent party pol...