Heledd Fychan Canol De Cymru - South Wales Central

Imposing his son as Prince of Wales the day after the death of his mother was a power move like no other by the new King.  

Such a blatant political statement, at a time of official national mourning, had obviously been planned years in advance. So too was the King’s well-rehearsed bilingual speech to the Senedd, in which he referenced Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, the last native Prince of Wales. The fact it was delivered on Owain Glyndwr Day only added to the drama. In case you missed it, here’s the relevant extract of the speech: 

“That ancient title dated to the times of those great Welsh rulers like Llywelyn ap Gruffydd whose memory is still rightly honoured, I now pass to my son William…” 

I had the honour of visiting Ty Hafan’s children hospice in Penarth. Ty Hafan aims to meet all of the needs of life-limited children and young people in Wales free of charge.

Royal Mail made a profit of £758 million last year while workers were only offered a 2% pay rise, which equals a real-term pay cut. The revised offer of up to 5.5% would see current employee benefits taken away, also resulting in a real-term pay cut as well as worse conditions for staff.

It was a pleasure to be invited to the official opening of the new cylch meithrin in Cilfynydd and Pont Norton community centre on 6

September. 

Are you looking for a school uniform for the new school year?

With the cost of living rising, thousands of families are struggling to afford the basics – let alone expensive uniforms.

As the first National Eisteddfod in three years kicks off in Tregaron, Plaid Cymru has today called on Welsh Government to extend its support for the festival to ensure its continued success for the future.

Whilst welcoming the funding provided to the National Eisteddfod during the Covid-19 pandemic and also the funding to offer 15,000 free tickets, Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for Culture and the Welsh Language, Heledd Fychan MS believes that greater support should be provided over the coming years to enable the National Eisteddfod to continue to evolve, to better promote itself to international audiences, and also to extend the provision of free tickets to people of all ages so that more can participate in, and enjoy, what the Eisteddfod has to offer.

Residents of Abercwmboi have been in touch with me after receiving one of the Flood Packs my office has produced. Residents are still worried sick about the systems that are meant to protect them from future flooding events like Storm Dennis, which impacted them in 2020.

On Tuesday 19 July, Heledd Member of the Senedd for South Wales Central and Luke Fletcher Member of the Senedd for South Wales West held a Cost-of-living event in Pontyclun. This built on an event organised by Heledd Fychan MS in Treforest in February, and brought together organisations from across the region of South Wales Central who are working to support people impacted by the cost-of-living crisis.

As we all know, increasing costs of food, fuel and energy are putting individuals and families under huge strain. The focus of the event was to get a clearer understanding of how the cost-of-living crisis was affecting local organisations and their service users. It also provided an opportunity for attendees to establish working relationships and to learn best practice from one another.

Monday (18.6.22) the Welsh Government announced the terms of reference for the independent flood review.  

Secured as part of the Plaid Cymru co-operation agreement, this review is an important first step in securing the answers and Justice for everyone that was affected by the flooding that occurred in February 2020, as well as across Wales in 2020 and 2021.