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

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. The Government is being urged by both pension providers and banks to delay the April 2017 launch of the new Lifetime ISA as they are warning that they will not be ready to offer the savings product by this time. A new Lifetime ISA introduces a new type of savings account for adults under the age of 40. Individuals will be able to contribute up to £4,000 per year and receive a 25% bonus from the government. Funds, including the government bonus, can be used to buy a first home at any time from 12 months after opening the account, and can be withdrawn from age 60 completely tax-free. Further details of the new account, which is expected to be available from 2017, are as follows: Any savings an individual puts into the account before their 50th birthday will receive an added 25% bonus from the gove...

The latest 'On Song' column (about the choral scene in West Wales) from the Carmarthen Journal and the Llanelli Star - Following two sell out performances in the Lyric Theatre in Carmarthen, Cwmni Myrddin perform at the Ffwrnes Theatre in Llanelli this evening (Wednesday, September 14). They will be performing Esther, their new musical drama. The story, from the Old Testament, is set in Persia where racism and desire for revenge bring their own inevitable consequences. It’s a story which is relevant to our age and leads us to question whether Esther deserves to be celebrated as a heroine. Meanwhile, the ‘boys’ of Côr Meibion Llanelli Male Voice Choir are getting ready for their annual concert at Ffwrnes Theatre, Llanelli. The celebrated Pontarddulais soprano Adele O’Neill will be joining the choir for their much-awaited ‘annual’ concert at 7pm on Saturday, September 24. The other special guests joining Côr Meibion Llanelli will be Penrhyn Male Choir from North Wales. The two ch...

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 ------------------------------------------ Mysteriously disappeared: To find new material, comedians and comedy writers constantly view the world from a different vantage point to most people. We step back and observe people’s peculiarities, quirks and attitudes. Then, through hours of concentration, inspiration and perspiration, we turn our observations into routines. The only way to tell whether they’re comedy gold or unfunny, self-indulgence is to perform them in front of an audience. Scary! And you thought being a comedian was easy. One major side-effect of constantly being an ‘outside observer’ is that it opens your eyes to things going on around you that other people have missed. For example, I bet you didn’t know that several years ago, while we all slept, the (relatively) sane world we grew up in m...