Cardiff Council Update: 2 September 2022

Cardiff Council Update: 2 September 2022

Here’s your Friday update, covering: WWE event road closures; Welsh language sports in the Summer of Fun; Brewery Park play area opens; Lord Mayor’s charity latest; help for parents with school essentials; new flower displays

Road closures and travel advice for ‘Clash at the Castle’

With the first stadium event for WWE in the UK in the last 30 years, ‘Clash at the Castle’ is coming to Principality Stadium on September 3^rd and a full city centre road closure will be in place between 12 Noon until 12 Midnight on health and safety grounds to ensure people can safely enter and leave the stadium.

Please plan your journey in advance and leave plenty of time to get into Cardiff and the Principality Stadium.

Those attending this event are strongly advised to leave large bags at home and pay attention to the prohibited items listed at principalitystadium.wales before they travel into the city.

Urdd coaches introduce young people to wide range of sports

Cardiff’s Summer of Fun continues to keep thousands of children and their families amused, educated and active and a series of camps at Ysgol Glantaf in north Cardiff saw around 150 young people try their hand at a wide range of sports.

The programme – a series of organised events during the school holidays funded by the City Council – includes free-to-attend events throughout the city, all designed to appeal to youngsters of all ages and abilities.

The sports camps at Glantaf were run by Wales’ largest youth organisation Urdd Gobaith Cymru whose coaches guided around 50 youngsters a day on each of the five days of the programme, introducing them to sports including tennis, athletics, rugby, basketball and many more.

“We have been running a variety of activities all over Cardiff throughout the holidays, all delivered through the medium of Welsh,” said the Urdd’s South Wales regional sports manager Jo Jones. “We have run family sessions in local parks as well as our intensive swimming sessions across the local leisure centres,” she added. “We ran several all-day multi-sports camps across different locations which were very well attended and enjoyed by hundreds of children across the city.”

Brewery Park officially opened as investment in Cardiff’s play areas continues

Acrobats, high-wire performers, and members of the local community filled Brewery Park in Adamsdown on Sunday as the play area, which has been completely refurbished as part of an ongoing £3.2 million programme of investment in parks and play areas across the city, officially opened to the public.

The play area, which has been extended to include an area of grass for safe, informal play, is one of three in Adamsdown that will be newly created or refurbished this year.

The upgrade also includes new play equipment, seating, railings, and safety surfacing. As part of the works a new multi-use games area has also been installed in the park.

The official opening, by local ward councillors, on Sunday 28^th August, took place ahead of the first community event to be held in the park since the refurbishment was completed. The event, featuring a highwire performance, acrobats, free running workshops, and Rwandan drumming troupe Ingoma Nyshya, was co-produced by No Fit State Circus in partnership with the local community, as part of the Clifton Street Festival celebrating Adamsdown and its community.

Guide dogs charity benefits from Lord Mayor’s grand day out

Cardiff’s Lord Mayor’s XI played council officers in a charity cricket match over the Bank Holiday weekend, in aid of the Lord Mayor’s chosen charity, Guide Dogs Cymru.

The match, played at St Fagan’s Cricket Club, was hosted by Persimmon Homes, which donated £1,000 towards the cause.

New school term brings financial help for school essentials

From September, eligible learners in Cardiff will receive additional financial support from the Welsh Government School Essentials scheme (Pupil Development Grant Access) which helps with the cost of uniform, sports equipment, stationery, and devices. This is in addition to Free School Meals.

Last week, research from the Bevan Foundation revealed that the majority of Welsh people are cutting back on essential items due to rising costs of living.^[1]As the new term approaches, Cardiff Council is urging parents to apply for the support they're entitled to.

In some areas of Wales, up to 40% of learners eligible for free school meals are missing out on additional help available to them. This year, Cardiff is committed to guiding parents and carers to access the money they are entitled to.

How children with Additional Learning Needs are supported is changing

The Welsh Government is changing the way that children and young people with Special Educational Needs (SEN) will be supported. The term Additional Learning Needs (ALN) will replace the term Special Educational Needs (SEN).

The changes are set out in the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal Act (ALNET) 2018, and the ALN Code (2021). The Welsh Government's aim is to create a support system for children and young people aged 0 - 25 years and to make it easier for families to access the help and support they require.

All children and young people who transfer to the ALN approach will have an Individual Development Plan (IDP). The IDP is a statutory plan and it will replace both Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and statements of SEN.

On social media: New display from talented parks team

A picture containing person, outdoor, grass

Description automatically generated Have you spotted the new flowerbed display outside Cardiff Castle yet?

Created by our talented Parks team, Council Apprentices, volunteers, and assisted by Apprentices on exchange from the National Botanic Gardens Wales in Carmarthenshire, the impressive flowerbed display spells out ‘Parc Bute’ with the castle represented in the background.

Rowan, an Apprentice on exchange from the National Botanic Gardens Wales said: “Going to Cardiff for a work placement was interesting because of how different gardens in the middle of a city are compared to the National Botanic Garden of Wales. I helped with planting up the “Badge” bed outside Cardiff Castle. I had studied how bedding plantings work in theory during my RHS course, but it was exciting to put it into practice. It was a really nice placement week! I learnt a lot and had loads of fun doing it.

The work experience exchange programme is a key feature of the Council’s Parks & Gardens Apprenticeship Scheme, providing opportunities to gain new horticultural experience and an awareness of how other organisations operate. Recently our Apprentices made the return trip to Carmarthenshire to learn at the National Botanic Gardens and have now brought all that new knowledge back home to Cardiff’s parks!