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FEBRUARY 2004

  • BEAVERS AND CUBS - Beavers and Cub Scout groups are starting up again in our area. All youngsters and parents from Cwmparc, Treorchy, Ynyswen or Treherbert districts are invited to the Ynyswen Welfare Hall between 5pm and 7pm on Wednesday 25th February. There will be people on hand to answer any questions and those attending will be able to take part in some activities and see what is involved. If anyone has any queries they would like ask beforehand, please ring Dave or Sue John on 437437.

REUNION - A special reunion was arranged at the Tynewydd Hotel on the Brecon Road for Saturday 28th February, for all the folk who had connections with the Apostolic Church in the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s. 

This nostalgic occasion was organised by Mrs Carol Kinsey of Bridgend and Mr Peter Bridgens of Swansea who both have local connections. Mrs Kinsey is currently a director with David Morgan The Hayes, Cardiff and Mr Bridgens is a retired Registrar of Swansea City. Mrs Kinsey is a native of Cwmparc and Mr Bridgens is the son of the late Pastor Percy Brigens who back in the 1950’s was the Resident Pastor of the Apostolic Church in the Mid and Upper Rhondda.

The Apostolic Church is a world-wide Christian fellowship with several Missionary Enterprises. Many Rhondda exiles past and present have held, and currently hold, senior positions within the organisation. 

The President of this fellowship within the United Kingdom is Pastor Warren Jones, a former Cwmparc boy and ex-Treorchy teacher.

Pastor Roy Lewis is the current Pastor of the “Tabernacle” in Bracla, Bridgend and is also a native of Cwmparc and Treorchy.

Pastor Andrew Jenkins, who is currently in Denmark attending a conference applicable to Eastern Europe and the Baltics, is a member of this fellowship’s Missionary Board and also hails from Ynyswen and is a former British Coal Official at Taff Merthyr colliery. 

  • LEBANON LINKS - Mr Ghattas Najm, who is a chef at the prestigious Celtic Manor Hotel near Newport, recently paid a visit to his mother and family who reside in Beirut, Lebanon. Ghattas has had quite a particularly vested relationship with the Rhondda Valley since childhood, when at a young age he was caught up in the horrific civil war that ravaged his country and was placed in an orphanage in Beirut. 

He was ultimately brought out of this war-torn land to the United Kingdom and attended the Trealaw Christian Fellowship Centre until 1989, where at the age of thirteen he had to return to Beirut. Ghattas was granted honorary membership of the Trealaw Christian Fellowship and was permitted a baptism in water by the then Pastor Andrew Jenkins.

He was also given a Civic Reception by the Mayor of the Rhondda, Councillor Dyfrig Hughes and presented with a coveted “Rhondda tie”. He was wished farewell from Trealaw and also presented with a miner’s lamp.

Ghattas was escorted back to the Near East Boys Home in Beirut, via Cyprus, and his life was put at risk on several occasions due to the ongoing civil war. (All this was occurring at the time when the famous Mr Terry Waite and other British nationals were being held hostage.)

Tom Jenkins of Woodland Terrace, Ynyswen, maintained a vital contact with Ghattas during those years, and also attempted on one particular instance to visit him in Beirut.

Unfortunately Tom and his wife Rita were unable to get closer than Cyprus at that time, but both still retain very fond memories of the telephone conversations they were able to have with Ghattas - every evening at 7pm for thirty days - when telephone contact was made possible for them all from the International Exchange in Nicosia, Cyprus, to the orphanage in Beirut.

Just after the cessation of the civil war, ex-Cwmparc man Mr Brinley Kinsey, who was then a police officer at South Wales Police HQ, spent three weeks working at the Beirut orphanage on a voluntary basis, as a representative of the Trealaw Christian Centre, thus establishing a vested Rhondda Valley link with the Lebanon.

  • ACCESS - Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council have allocated £950,000 this year -and a further £500,000 capital funding in subsequent years - as part of a three-year Capital Improvement Programme, to undertake work on buildings and improve access for the disabled in order to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995.   

In accordance with the Act, the Council has a responsibility, as both an employer and as a service provider, to ensure that there are reasonable means of access to our places of work and public facilities.   

Over the next two years there will be considerable improvements to buildings as well as improvements to phone and computer systems to increase their accessibility.  The Council's website is at  www.rhondda-cynon-taff.gov.uk

ALL TYPES OF MUSICIANS WANTED - New talent (as well as established bands) are again required to perform at Ynysangharad Park, Pontypridd and in Aberdare Park and also Tonypandy Town centre, for weekends in June, July and August - providing a great opportunity for up and coming bands, 'originals' and 'covers', to go on stage and play live to our enthusiastic audiences during the Summer of 2004.   

Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council is also looking for Brass and Easy Listening bands to perform live with tracks ranging from traditional to modern at Aberdare Park, Aberdare during weekends in June and July.

If you think you’ve got the necessary qualities and feel up for the challenge then forward demos, copies of press cuttings or any information of the band that you think will increase your chances of performing this summer.  Write to: Marketing and Events Team, Unit E, The Pavilions, Cambrian Park, Clydach Vale, CF40 2XX. Or telephone the team on (01443) 424187 for an informal chat and more details.  

  • PUBLIC CONSULTATION - Rhondda Cynon Taf Council and Rhondda Cynon Taf Local Health Board have begun working with partners from the health care sector, voluntary organisations and the community, together with local businesses, to develop a Health Needs Assessment. This is a broad scale analysis of the health and well being needs of our population, and is intended to provide a clearer understanding of the main issues. 

    The Council and Local Health Board have carried out a broad analysis of health and well being needs of the residents of Rhondda Cynon Taf, using a wide range of up-to-date information, and have drawn together the evidence into six key themes: 

    •          Work and Health

    •          Mental Health and Emotional Well being

    •          Children and Young people

    •          Transport and Access

    •          Maintaining Independence

    •          Healthy Environments

    These are areas where it is believed that working together, through a coordinated strategy, could have maximum positive impact on deprivation and ill health.  However, the partnership is now seeking the views of the public on the themes that have been identified.   

    The Council and Local Health Board would welcome your views on whether or not these themes should be the six that represent the greatest health and well being need in Rhondda Cynon Taf. 

    The consultation document is available at: 

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED - Cruise Bereavement Care in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf are recruiting new volunteers to help support the bereaved. Volunteers are asked to come forward to be trained in counselling skills. For more information phone 01443 477700.

  • TY HAFAN LOTTERY - The latest £2,000 Ty Hafan weekly lottery winner comes from Tonypandy. 

The full list of winning numbers is: £2,000 - 885858.   £500 - 311062.   £100 - 127548.   £50 - 590250.

£10 - 459799, 495771, 221825, 396941, 729312, 842826, 123862, 895712, 761444, 596184, 708285, 423084, 182889, 643488, 328478, 698998, 201423, 381894, 369298, 671567.

£5 - 766600, 226852, 688612, 372615, 690115, 699231, 298929, 198190, 524185, 475845, 421520, 499782, 250430, 762065, 776159, 172369, 715086, 315351, 264622, 237037, 528226, 148150, 536087, 360813, 141437, 204658, 766269, 320529, 366801, 217673. 

  • To join the £1 weekly membership lottery in aid of Ty Hafan, TheChildren's Hospice in Wales, phone Ty Hafan on 01446 721521.

MEETING - The next meeting of the South Wales Police Authority takes place on Monday, 16th February at police headquarters in Bridgend. Anyone wishing to attend must write in advance to the clerk. For details phone 01656 869366.

  • DISABLED HOLIDAYS - A Rhondda man has launched a new tour operator business - World Access Travel.com - to supply tailor-made holiday packages for disabled travellers.  Mike Weston-Ashford works from offices in Oaklands Business Park in Ferndale and was disabled after developing meningitis as a child. He aims to address the problems faced by disabled people who have great difficulty in finding a holiday where all their needs will be met.  

STRIKE - Department for Work and Pensions' workers are to stage a two-day strike following the collapse of pay talks. Benefit Offices and Job Centres across the country are expected to be closed by the walk out on Monday 16th February and Tuesday 17th February. 

  • ABERFAN MEMORIAL - A wall-mounted pipe organ and two plaques, which commemorate the 144 lives lost in the Aberfan disaster, will be removed from Capel Aberfan on Aberfan Road if planning permission is granted to turn the chapel into living accommodation. 

  • The chapel is owned by the Presbyterian Church and is believed to have been used as a temporary mortuary immediately after the disaster, when a local primary school was engulfed by spoil from a coal tip slide on the morning of October 21st in 1966, killing 116 children and 28 adults. 

AIRGUN - A 17year-old boy from Clydach Vale needed surgery at Swansea's Morriston Hospital to remove six pellets from his head and body after he was shot with an airgun. Two Rhondda youths aged 17 and 19 have been arrested and questioned at Ton Pentre Police Station. Anyone with information should contact police on 01443 434222. 

  • RUGBY TOUR - Current and retired members of South Wales Police will help to encourage the development of rugby union in New York, and also raise money for two 9/11 disaster funds, when they head to the United States to play against a team made up from New York emergency service workers. All those taking part in the tour have paid their own costs. A fundraising dinner will now be held at the Cardiff Moat House Hotel with tables of 10 costing £300. For details contact Andrew McCarthy at Llanishen Police Station on 029 2022 2111.

BBC Radio Wales in Treorchy. - Many of your favourite presenters and programmes are coming to Treorchy and Cwmparc for a week of special events and live broadcasts from February 22 to 28. 

Highlights include:

  • Dewi Griffiths' reunion with old pals from the Treorchy and Cwmparc Boys Club 1948-9
  • Live broadcasts by Roy Noble, Chris Needs, Owen Money and Nicola Heywood Thomas
  • A live performance of Larry Allan's community radio play to mark the 20th anniversary of the miners strike
  • Storytelling workshop - sign up now!
  • Internet sessions on the BBC Wales Bus  

Find out more by visiting the new BBC website about Treorchy Life at http://www.bbc.co.uk/treorchy/

  • SURGERIES - Chris Bryant MP for Rhondda holds the following advice surgeries this month. 

     

     Friday, 6 February

     3.00 pm

    		5 Cemetery Road, Porth 
     Thursday, 19 February

     7.00 pm

    		Penygraig Labour Club 
    Friday, 20th February  3.00 pm   5 Cemetery Road, Porth 
     Saturday, 21 February 

     10.00 am

    		Noddfa Day Centre, Treorchy

For any urgent enquiries or if you are physically unable to attend a surgery, please contact the constituency office at 5 Cemetery Road, Porth, Rhondda, CF39 0LG. Due to unforeseen parliamentary business, it may be necessary to rearrange surgeries at short notice. Phone 01443 687697 for further details.

SURGERIES - Treorchy Ward Councillors hold their monthly surgeries at Cwmparc Welfare Hall from 10am to 11am, at Ynyswen Welfare Hall from 10am to 10:45am, and at Pinewood House (Noddfa), Treorchy from 11am to 12 noon, on Friday, 6th February.

All residents are welcome to attend and no appointments are necessary.

If you would prefer a home visit at any other time, please contact our local Councillors - Richard Ashton on 441596, Cennard Davies on 435563 or Edward Hancock on 774785.

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