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

Age Cymru Sir Gâr in Carmarthenshire have applied to the Tesco Bags of Help scheme and needs your support to help win up to £4,000 to help us support older people with new technology. Ann Dymock, chief officer of Age Cymru Sir Gâr, explained - "Tesco donates all the 5ps that they charge for carrier bags to a charitable cause. Age Cymru Sir Gâr are in the final 3 for July 2017 and details about the charity and the work it wants to achieve with funding help from Tesco will be displayed in its Carmarthenshire stores throughout July. "To help us win the £4,000 for the charity to help older people learn how to engage with new technology please vote for us. All you need to do is to make a purchase of any value from a Tesco store. You will receive one token per transaction (you may need to ask for the token) and it's not necessary to purchase a carrier bag in order to receive a token. At the front of the store there will be three bins where you can place your blue token. Ju...

Age Cymru Sir Gâr are celebrating reaching their 21st year operating as a charity for people aged 50-plus in Carmarthenshire. The charity has supported people to live longer, live independently, make informed choices and have control over their lives. The charity is extended a warm invitation to all members of the public to come and join in the celebrations on Thursday, March 30, at St Peter’s Civic Hall, Nott Square, Carmarthen, from 12-3.30pm. Like all good parties, there will be music, activities and refreshments throughout the afternoon. There will be taster sessions of all the activities the charity has helped to set up around the county as well as some new activities. You can have a go at Nordic walking, seated exercise or dancing, as well as the more traditional knitting, arts and crafts. The charity was set up in October 1995 with their first office in Cross Hands. The charity moved to Blue Street in Carmarthen and needed to move again in 2001 to more suitable, disabled-frie...

'Get ready for winter’ – that’s the advice today for over 65s from an older people’s charity and the Welsh Government’s warm homes scheme. Age Cymru and Nest are teaming up to give away handy ‘Winter Wrapped Up’ guides which contain advice on preparing for winter. The ‘Winter Wrapped Up’ guide has information about issues including: · Getting your central heating system serviced by a Gas Safe-registered engineer · Insulating and draught-proofing your home · Making sure your smoke alarms are working properly · Installing carbon monoxide alarms in your home It’s part of Age Cymru’s annual ‘Spread the Warmth’ campaign to help keep older people across Wales warm, safe and well over the winter. “With winter just around the corner it’s a good time to plan ahead to make sure we are able to keep ourselves warm, safe and well over the colder months” said Age Cymru’s Spread the Warmth coordinator Angharad Phillips. “Working with Nest, we have put together our ‘Winter Wrapped Up’ ...

Representatives of Age Cymru Sir Gar – the charity serving the 50-plus community in Carmarthenshire – collected a prestigious award from the High Sheriff of Dyfed. The charity was one of 20 community groups represented at a community awards night staged at the Halliwell Centre at Trinity College, University of Wales Trinity St David, in Carmarthen. “It was a massive honour for the charity to be invited to the community awards night,” said Ann Dymock, chief officer of Age Cymru Sir Gar. “Trustees joined me in representing the charity and the award marked the role of the charity in the wider community of Carmarthenshire. Particular praise was directed towards our hard-working staff and volunteers.” The charity was presented with a community award by the High Sheriff of Dyfed, Professor Medwin Hughes, who is also Deputy Lord Lieutenant. High Sheriff Mr Hughes said he was delighted to be able to recognise the contributions made by charities and community groups in the three counties of C...

Bus trip to the Wonderwool Festival – 23 April 2016: Age Cymru Sir Gâr are running a trip to the Wonderwool festival in Builth Wells on Saturday 23 April 2016. Ticket (which includes entry & transport) is £20. Pick up spots are St. Clears, Carmarthen, Llanelli and Ammanford. Contact Lisa on 01554 784080 for more information. The bus is available to all ages. This is a great family day out, too. Children can learn new crafts and adults can have a go to. This is not just about knitting, but they have hundreds of exhibitors that all use wool in some way in their crafts or products. Help Age Cymru Sir Gar support the charity's social groups for older persons and join us on this trip. For more information on the festival see link: http://www.wonderwoolwales.co.uk/home.html Age Cymru Sir Gar are running this trip in partnership with the Knit and Natter group that meets in its offices in Trostre, Llanelli, every Tuesday afternoon. If you enjoy knitting and other wool ba...

Greenspace Gallery is supporting Age Cymru Sir Gâr this March. The Carmarthen gallery is hosting an exhibition until March 26, called “Painting our Mother”. It is all about recognising our relationships with our mothers. Local professional artists and students of art have all submitted paintings/artworks of their mothers in a variety of mediums. Exhibitors have paid a free to have their artwork displayed and Dorothy Morris, owner of the gallery is donating the fee to Age Cymru Sir Gâr for the charity to continue to support older people throughout Carmarthenshire. The Greenspace gallery is situated at 30 King Street, Carmarthen. Ann Dymock, chief officer of Age Cymru Sir Gâr, who attended the gallery to accept the donation said, “It's wonderful that creative local businesses such as the Greenspace Gallery support local charities such as ours. Relationships with the commercial sector can be so beneficial to the people we support and rewarding for the company involved...

Snooker legend, Llanelli hero and ‘active pensioner’ Terry Griffiths was the guest of honour for the grand opening of the new Age Cymru Sir Gâr offices in Trostre, Llanelli. Mr Griffiths OBE, 67, also helped launched the charity’s new ‘advocacy service’ in Carmarthenshire. “It was very much a double scoop for us at Age Cymru Sir Gâr,” said the charity’s chief officer Ann Dymock. “We managed to celebrate both the launch of our new advocacy project called ‘Help to be heard’ and the opening of our new premises at the LEC Workshops in Trostre Road. “And, to put the icing on the cake, we had a true local hero and sporting legend to do the honours for us. “Terry Griffiths is greatly admired by young and old in Carmarthenshire and it was a delight to have him cut the ribbon on what was a big day for Age Cymru Sir Gâr. “This is a wonderful start to the year for us, letting people across Carmarthenshire know where we are when they need us, but also celebrating our new offices in our 20...

A Welsh charity is calling on the people of Wales to celebrate Wales and Welshness during ‘Big Welsh Month’ in March. Age Cymru – Wales’ largest older people’s charity, is organising the fun-filled month to raise funds to support its work with older people. Emma Lionel of Age Cymru says: “Big Welsh Month is Age Cymru’s new fundraiser which kicks off on St David’s Day and it runs all through March. “We’re asking the people of Wales to get involved, celebrate Wales and everything that’s Welsh, and have fun while helping Age Cymru to help older people across Wales. “Big Welsh Month is a great way of bringing everyone together to celebrate the diversity of Wales and we’re all very excited by it – we’ve even had someone in Melbourne in Australia contacting us wanting to be part of the celebrations. “So get involved and have fun with Age Cymru, your friends and family by celebrating Wales and Welshness during Big Welsh Month this March.” How you can get involved with Big Welsh M...

Age Cymru Sir Gâr are hosting 'Scams Awareness' events in the Teifi Valley centre in the grounds of Maes Llewellyn residential home, Church Lane, Newcastle Emlyn, lasting from 10.30am - 12noon on the following dates - Tuesday 25 February 2014 Tuesday 24 June 2014 Tuesday 30 September 2014 This event is open to people from Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire and is supported by the Newcastle Emlyn police force and is funded by the PCC. Our website link http://www.ageuk.org.uk/cymru/sirgar/activities-and-events/ The contact e-mail address for the person organising the event is b.davies@agecymrusirgar.org.uk Our telephone number is 01554 784080 Refreshments are available. We are all susceptible to falling for a scam or from being the victim of a theft. Learn what kinds of scams operate in your area and how to avoid them. The scams awareness session will give good practical advice on how to avoid scams and thefts of oil. Promotion of this event will help u...

Asda's Llanelli superstore played host to Age Cymru Sir Gâr in a wonderful week-long Spread The Warmth and Keep Well This Winter event. Staff and volunteers from the charity worked alongside volunteers from the Department of Work and Pensions to talk to older people about keeping warm and well during the Spread the Warmth campaign. The staff and volunteers bravely faced the cold to make sure that others didn't have to. More than 500 winter warmth related information booklets were given out to visitors to the Llanelli store. As well as inviting people to get their electric blankets checked with the Mid and West Wales Fire Service (Llanelli branch) on March 17, the charity also ran a fun competition for people to guess the length of a scarf which was kindly knitted by the Burry Port Knit and Natter group set up by the charity with a local business in Burry Port. There are three winners who will be notified this week. The winner of the competition will receive a double quilt...