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Llandrindod's Samaritans branch could be under threat
Llandrindod's Samaritans branch could be under threat

Powys County Times

time2 days ago

  • Health
  • Powys County Times

Llandrindod's Samaritans branch could be under threat

UNCERTAINTY clouds the future of Powys' sole Samaritans branch, after the suicide prevention charity announced that at least half of its offices in the UK will close. The proposals were revealed in a video message to staff earlier this month, sent by the leadership of the charity. It is believed there is no definitive view on how many branches the charity will close, but chief executive Julie Bentley said: 'It's likely that within the next seven to 10 years our branch network will have (been) reduced by at least half. 'With less branches, we'll look to move to fewer but bigger regions.' Samaritans has more than 200 branches across the UK. Llandrindod Wells is the only one in Powys and one of 10 in Wales. The list of branches which could close has not been decided; though if the charity's board agrees to the plans at a meeting in September, the changes will begin in April in the UK and 2027 in Ireland. In response to the closures, Plaid Cymru health spokesperson, Mabon ap Gwynfor, expressed particular concern on the impact the closures will have on the Welsh Government's suicide prevention strategy. He called for 'urgent explanations' from the Welsh Government. 'The work that the Samaritans do day in, day out is invaluable,' he said. 'The news of so many branches closing will be met with disappointment and fear in Wales and across the UK. 'We need urgent explanations from the Welsh Government about what this means for Wales' mental health and suicide prevention strategy. 'We must also recognise the invaluable service offered by the Samaritans through the medium of Welsh – a service that we must try to protect.' Founded in 1953, the Samaritans focus on preventing suicides by connecting trained volunteers with people who are struggling. The charity estimates it answers a call for help every 10 seconds. The news comes as the charity launched a groundbreaking project at the Royal Welsh Show to reduce suicide in farming communities. Samaritans Cymru is setting out to break the cycle of suicide risk in rural Wales by launching the 'Our Farming, Our Future' project. The project will work closely with Wales Young Farmers Clubs (YFC) in Ceredigion, Brecknock, Montgomery and Radnorshire to develop peer-led activities and resources that can be cascaded across farming communities to reduce the risk of suicide in rural areas. Powys Samaritans is the youngest Samaritans branch (premises based) in the UK and was set up in the wake of the foot and mouth outbreak in 1994. Over the last 31 years the branch has moved from a one-bedroomed flat to renting a larger premises; and it now owns an entire building on the spa town's High Street, comprising of upstairs rooms for listening volunteers and training, in addition to a charity shop on the ground floor which brings in the majority of funding.

Maryland money brings significant upgrades to longtime Baltimore life sciences facility
Maryland money brings significant upgrades to longtime Baltimore life sciences facility

Technical.ly

time5 days ago

  • Business
  • Technical.ly

Maryland money brings significant upgrades to longtime Baltimore life sciences facility

Infrastructure technology projects across Maryland this summer nabbed millions in funding from the state, and a handful are centered around a former bus depot in Baltimore. City Garage, a life sciences hub housing labs and manufacturing capacity in the region developers rebranded from Port Covington to the Baltimore Peninsula, is getting upgrades thanks to grants from the Build Our Future program out of the Maryland Department of Commerce. One of the involved recipients is the nonprofit Blackbird Laboratories, which focuses on converting academic research in new medicine and therapeutics to be commercially viable entities. Blackbird Laboratories is building a 35,000 square-foot life sciences incubator and wet lab at City Garage to boost early-stage companies. That's about a quarter of the 120,000 square foot site. To do this, it received $2 million from Maryland as part of the grant program. 'We're extremely grateful for that support and partnership,' Emily Wilkinson, the director of finance and operations at Blackbird Laboratories, told 'and that the state's belief in what we're doing is a helpful asset to the biotech community in Baltimore and the larger Maryland region.' Maryland granted up to $2 million to other infrastructure projects, including one for cybersecurity training in Howard County and another to build a food entrepreneurship and agricultural sustainability technologies hub in Kent County. Diagnostic firm Novel Microdevices, also based in City Garage, got $633,757 to establish a manufacturing facility for its cartridges. City Garage stood out for this development because of the mutual life sciences focus across the facility, per Wilkinson. 'It's this whole tech hub of like-minded neighbors,' Wilkinson told 'all working for sort of the same goals.' Practical perks go a long way Bob Storey, the managing partner at the medical device manufacturing accelerator LaunchPort, attested to that same idea. LaunchPort received $700,000 for manufacturing capabilities at its site in City Garage. Storey claims he was the first medical technology entrant in 2018, and pushed for more life sciences organizations and companies to move into City Garage. He started with a 10,000 space, and now he has a 30,000 square-foot space there. It's also been rare to find facilities that house medical device manufacturing and wet labs at a single facility, Storey said. Storey has constantly worked with fellow tenants on different projects, and he's seen workers jump from one of the facility's companies to another. 'People will move within that in a collaborative way, not raiding each other,' Storey said. 'You know, find ways to share resources.' City Garage is also 'agnostic' to the higher education institutions in the Baltimore region. The site is close to both Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland Medical System, Storey explained, meaning access to research and work without silos. Plus, it's close to the airport and I-95, he noted, and is a single-story building to easily move in equipment. Those pragmatic factors are valuable. 'There was a practical element of it being the right single-story space that we'd get in and out easily. We had room to expand,' Storey said. 'Then we liked how it fit into the ecosystem that we envisioned was going to be developing here.' Plans for labs, 3D printing capabilities Blackbird Laboratories' incubator will house 10 early-stage companies, per Wilkinson. There will be a mix of private labs, offices, public workstations, a vivarium and a suite of shared equipment — part of that is 70 desks and 90 benches, she said. 'It's really designed for people who are working on drug discovery projects to be able to come in, set up shop and utilize equipment that would otherwise be difficult to obtain,' she said. The nonprofit was founded in 2023 with a $100 million grant from the Stephen and Renee Bisciotti Foundation (Stephen also owns the Ravens). The new incubator is projected to cost $12 million, per Wilkinson. This funding from Maryland helps both offset the cost and prove the backing of the state. Blackbird Laboratories moved its offices from the Clipper Mill area to City Garage at the end of 2024, she said, ahead of an open date for the incubator space in early 2026. With the grant, Storey at LaunchPort is working with Baltimore investment and industrial tech commercialization firm Early Charm to boost 3D printing capabilities and electrospinning nanofiber operations — all of which can be used to tech for drug delivery and wound healing, he explained. The state funds were announced in June, during a chaotic moment for government funding of tech ecosystems. LaunchPort and a group of other Maryland entities like the state's flagship university went after a grant from the National Science Foundation, which was focused on the intersection of neuroscience and quantum computing. The bid, valued at up to $160 million in investment, was ultimately not selected by the federal government. Still, all of this investment in boosting US manufacturing comes at an opportune time, Storey said, as political turmoil and trade wars continue. He's involved in a program with sovereign economic development programs in other countries to help companies abroad figure out the need for certain products in the US market, and bring manufacturing for those needs onshore. 'They can produce here,' he said. 'You start to work [on] that supply chain issue that we kind of let slip out of our hands a little bit over the past decades.'

United in Treaty Conference - Asserting Our Rights, Protecting Our Future
United in Treaty Conference - Asserting Our Rights, Protecting Our Future

Cision Canada

time11-06-2025

  • Politics
  • Cision Canada

United in Treaty Conference - Asserting Our Rights, Protecting Our Future

Inspire Event Management (a division of Inspire Group of Companies Ltd.) proudly presents the inaugural United in Treaty Conference – Asserting Our Rights, Protecting Our Future EDMONTON, AB, June 11, 2025 /CNW/ - The United in Treaty Conference will take place on June 25–26, 2025 at the Edmonton Inn, Edmonton, Alberta. This landmark gathering will bring together First Nation leaders, Treaty Elders, scholars, and community members from across Canada for two days of impactful dialogue, education, and unity. We are honoured to welcome keynote speakers including Dr. Leroy Little Bear, Sol Sanderson, Wallace Fox, and Minor Chief Regena Crowchild—all highly respected voices in the advancement of Indigenous rights, sovereignty, and Treaty education. Elder participation will guide the spirit and direction of the conference, including the presence of Elder Brian Littlechief and Dr. Mike Bruised Head, fluent Blackfoot speaker and ceremonial leader from the Kainai Nation. United in Treaty will address the foundational significance of Treaties in Canada, while focusing on urgent issues such as Alberta's provincial separation narratives and their implications on Treaty rights. The gathering will explore the legal, political, and spiritual responsibilities of Treaty Peoples, and how to assert inherent rights through internationally recognized systems and frameworks. Panels will feature Indigenous legal experts, Elders, youth leaders, and political representatives, all working to highlight the collective responsibility to uphold and protect Treaty rights related to land, water, air, and resources. Inspire Event Management is proud to host the United in Treaty Conference in Edmonton, Alberta. We invite all Nations, organizations, and all individuals committed to Indigenous sovereignty and Treaty education to attend. Sponsorship opportunities and registration details can be found at: Inspire Event Management is a Division of Inspire Group of Companies Ltd

United in Treaty Conference - Asserting Our Rights, Protecting Our Future
United in Treaty Conference - Asserting Our Rights, Protecting Our Future

Yahoo

time11-06-2025

  • Business
  • Yahoo

United in Treaty Conference - Asserting Our Rights, Protecting Our Future

Inspire Event Management (a division of Inspire Group of Companies Ltd.) proudly presents the inaugural United in Treaty Conference – Asserting Our Rights, Protecting Our Future EDMONTON, AB, June 11, 2025 /CNW/ - The United in Treaty Conference will take place on June 25–26, 2025 at the Edmonton Inn, Edmonton, Alberta. This landmark gathering will bring together First Nation leaders, Treaty Elders, scholars, and community members from across Canada for two days of impactful dialogue, education, and unity. We are honoured to welcome keynote speakers including Dr. Leroy Little Bear, Sol Sanderson, Wallace Fox, and Minor Chief Regena Crowchild—all highly respected voices in the advancement of Indigenous rights, sovereignty, and Treaty education. Elder participation will guide the spirit and direction of the conference, including the presence of Elder Brian Littlechief and Dr. Mike Bruised Head, fluent Blackfoot speaker and ceremonial leader from the Kainai Nation. United in Treaty will address the foundational significance of Treaties in Canada, while focusing on urgent issues such as Alberta's provincial separation narratives and their implications on Treaty rights. The gathering will explore the legal, political, and spiritual responsibilities of Treaty Peoples, and how to assert inherent rights through internationally recognized systems and frameworks. Panels will feature Indigenous legal experts, Elders, youth leaders, and political representatives, all working to highlight the collective responsibility to uphold and protect Treaty rights related to land, water, air, and resources. Inspire Event Management is proud to host the United in Treaty Conference in Edmonton, Alberta. We invite all Nations, organizations, and all individuals committed to Indigenous sovereignty and Treaty education to attend. Sponsorship opportunities and registration details can be found at: Inspire Event Management is a Division of Inspire Group of Companies Ltd SOURCE Inspire Group of Companies Ltd View original content to download multimedia: Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

New community exhibition at Irvine's Scottish Maritime Museum calls out fast fashion for World Ocean Day
New community exhibition at Irvine's Scottish Maritime Museum calls out fast fashion for World Ocean Day

Daily Record

time06-06-2025

  • General
  • Daily Record

New community exhibition at Irvine's Scottish Maritime Museum calls out fast fashion for World Ocean Day

Museum is bringing together charities, community organisations and small businesses that are already working locally to help protect the environment and reduce the impact on the planet A thought-provoking intergenerational community exhibition challenging everyone to help look after our planet opens at the Scottish Maritime Museum on Irvine Harbourside on Saturday, June 7. The 'Trashion' exhibition, which also celebrates World Ocean Day on Sunday, June 8, has been curated by a group from Irvine Seniors Forum and Discovery Group and Irvine Youth Legacy Centre with the support of the museum team. ‌ The exhibition, which centres on 'fashion art' pieces created using rubbish, explores the marine pollution emergency caused by industry, fast fashion and our own personal choices and invites everyone to think about the small changes we can all make in response. ‌ 'Trashion' has been made possible by the additional support of environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful and their Our Heritage, Our Future programme. The exhibition opening also takes place as part of the Museum's 'Dive In Day', a wider day of free activities promoting World Ocean Day, and alongside the opening of the Museum's new Summer exhibition, 'Beneath the Waves'. Jennifer Pless, Community Engagement and Development Officer at the Scottish Maritime Museum, said: "It has been hugely rewarding to work with members of Irvine Seniors Forum and Discovery Group and Irvine Youth Legacy Centre on our latest community-led exhibition. "The group has made a hard-hitting but encouraging and personal statement with 'Trashion'. "Together, they took ideas and themes from the museum's maritime heritage and arts collections and added their own thoughts on climate change to create outfits that tell a story about our impact on the environment and their hope to make a difference in everyone's daily actions." ‌ Katie O'Donnell, Communities Manager at Keep Scotland Beautiful, added: "We know that clothing is the most environmentally damaging type of household waste and our Upstream Battle campaign has highlighted the damage caused to our precious blue spaces by our consumption habits. "We were delighted to bring our knowledge together through Our Heritage, Our Future to support the members of Irvine Seniors Forum and Discovery Group and Irvine Youth Legacy Centre to realise their vision of creating an exhibition to draw attention to the urgency of climate change, particularly in this vulnerable coastal area." Our Heritage, Our Future is working with communities across Scotland to explore, record and protect their heritage, and to take action locally on the impacts of climate change. ‌ Keep Scotland Beautiful worked alongside the Scottish Maritime Museum during the project to support skills development by delivering an accredited qualification in building exhibitions. The 'Dive In Day' takes place on Saturday, June 7 from 11am until 4pm. Highlights include a sustainability fair, a pop-up repair shop and short, guided cycle tours led by Active Travel as well as free entry to the museum and the two new exhibitions, 'Beneath the Waves' and 'Trashion'. The free Dive-in Sustainability Fair will showcase local and regional organisations, charities and small businesses advocating for the environment or using business practices that actively reduce their impact on the planet. Participants include Keep Scotland Beautiful, RSPB, Ayrshire Coastal Path and Irvine Clean Up Crew. ‌ The Active Travel Hub will also be on hand offering short, guided cycle tours and balance bike sessions. Visitors will also be able to bring along clothing and small electrical items to a pop-up repair shop. The Scottish Maritime Museum has also joined the global 'Agency for World Change' initiative, a global museums initiative which invites everyone to think about the small actions they can take to protect our oceans and the planet. ‌ During the day, and over the Summer months, visitors will be able to add their personal sustainability pledges to an 'Agency for World Change Agreement', describing how they aim to make small changes in their everyday life to live more ecologically. 'Beneath the Waves' explores the extraordinary world beneath the ocean's surface with award-winning underwater photography, exquisite marine sketches and rare Glasgow Pottery recovered from a shipwreck off Arran last year. The exhibition has been curated in collaboration with renowned underwater photographer, marine conservationist and writer Lawson Wood; diver and maritime explorer Graeme Bruce; and Ayrshire underwater artist and writer Christina Riley. Entry to 'Trashion', which runs until August 3, is included in museum admission.

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