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Powys County Times
23-06-2025
- Business
- Powys County Times
Powys cider maker makes S4C Busnes Bwyd TV show finale
A Powys businessman who has dreams of opening a Welsh cider house and taproom has made it through to the final of a television show which could take his venture to the next level. Sam Robinson is on a mission to grow an orchard-rooted business that's rich in Welsh culture by crafting his fine sparkling Seidir Tydecho (Tydecho Cider) just outside Machynlleth. The local producer has made the final three in the brand-new S4C series Busnes Bwyd (Food Business) as they go head-to-head in a bid to win £5,000 in business funding and expert mentorship. Raised in Oxford, Sam moved to the Dyfi Valley to work as a farmer after graduating in philosophy from Cardiff University. Within 18 months, he immersed himself into the community by joining a rugby team and a choir as well as becoming fluent in Welsh. View this post on Instagram A post shared by S4C (@s4c) RECOMMENDED READING: 'I'm definitely a better cider maker than a businessman,' Sam said. 'We have a very unique product. Not many people produce fine ciders here in Wales and most certainly nobody is producing the kind of sparkling cider that we make.' Joining Sam in Wednesday's final are former boxing champ Cassius Walker who is the founder of Port Talbot-based Portablo Coffi, a community-focussed coffee business known for its handcrafted cups and signature blend; and Pwllheli's Laura Pozzi Evans who runs Fferm Ty Cynan, a hands-on fruit farm producing fresh strawberries, jams and chutneys. The four-episode series has showcased a diverse line-up of small business owners from across Wales, each rooted in community, heritage, and a deep passion for quality produce. Over a series of challenges, they faced rigorous testing in branding, business planning, and market appeal—guided by two of Wales' most respected business minds: award-winning entrepreneur Marian Evans and Wales' 'original entrepreneurial guru' Professor Dylan Jones-Evans. BAFTA-winning comedian Tudur Owen presents the series, bringing warmth, humour, and a healthy dose of mischief as he guided the competitors through each twist and turn of the competition. Together, the mentors and presenter challenge the participants to think big, refine their brands, and prove they have what it takes to succeed in the fiercely competitive food and drink market.


USA Today
06-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
How many of the biggest blowouts in NFL history have the Rams been involved in?
How many of the biggest blowouts in NFL history have the Rams been involved in? The NFL has produced a lot of memorable games throughout its history, from thrilling Super Bowls to high-scoring regular-season games like the epic Rams-Chiefs shootout in 2018. There have also naturally been some major duds where one team blows the doors off their opponent and wins in lopsided fashion. Those aren't the most exciting games to watch and are certainly forgettable for fans of the losing side, but some of those victories come with record-setting performances – so there are some memorable aspects to them. Sam Robinson of Yardbarker recently ranked the 30 biggest blowouts in NFL history (since 1960) and we checked to see how many games the Rams were involved in. It turns out they've played four of the most lopsided games ever, three being shutouts. They were on the wrong side in two of them and the winning squad in two others. 2008: Jets 47, Rams 3 1987: 49ers 48, Rams 0 2014: Rams 52, Raiders 0 1976: Rams 59, Falcons 0 Their 48-0 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in 1987 remains the worst loss in franchise history, getting crushed two days after Christmas by their rivals en route to a 6-9 season. The 49ers were 13-2 that year but at least the Rams can take solace in the fact that they were one-and-done in the playoffs, losing to the Vikings in the first round. On the other side, the Rams have two of the most lopsided victories since 1960, beating the Raiders 52-0 in 2014 under Jeff Fisher and the Falcons, 59-0, in 1976. In that win over the Falcons, the Rams outgained Atlanta, 569-81, an eye-popping line that shows just how dominant Los Angeles was in the victory. The Rams had nearly as many yards (80) on Dwight Scales' touchdown catch in the fourth quarter as the Falcons had in the entire game (81).


CBC
11-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Teen's cookbook to help Bayfield food bank cover moving costs
Social Sharing While working as a volunteer stocking shelves at the Bayfield Area Food Bank, 15-year-old Sam Robinson began to notice some of the clients weren't entirely sure of what to do with some of the food items they were getting. "I would hear a lot of people say they didn't want to take certain ingredients, like chick peas, because they didn't know how to use them," said Robinson. The food bank serves about 200 clients a month with visitors from Bayfield and nearby communities all over Huron County. Visits are growing by about 10 per cent each month, according to the food bank. Many who come to the monthly pickup days are families with young children but seniors make up about 30 per cent of visitors. Robinson said he wanted to include recipes that can be made quickly with plenty of leftovers. At first, his idea was to put the recipes on index cards for the clients to take home. Then, after talking with his mother Heather, they came up with the idea of gathering the recipes together in a book. The book approach had a few upsides. It could be a resource for clients, but it could also be used to raise money for the food bank. To help cover printing and promotion costs, Robinson and his mother were able to get a $1,000 grant from the Huron Economic Department. Community donated recipes Robinson reached out to community members in Bayfield, asking them for recipes that would work for the project. "We definitely got a lot of recipes for tuna casseroles and chili," said Robinson. The project involved three months of writing, designing the pages and recipe testing. "We've tried all the recipes and they're delicious," he said. The result is a handsome bound book called The Clever Cooks Guide, self published through Amazon. Some of the pages include information about the person who donated the recipes. One recipe for simple biscuits donated by Mark Mitchell incudes a picture of his grandma Ethel Bain. The recipe came to Robinsons in the form of a dog-earned index card. Grandma's first instruction of the recipe is "Wash your hands." The book was released on May 2 and the goal is to sell 200 copies, enough to donate to each of the food bank's regular clients. The books that aren't donated to food bank clients will sell for $25 each with the proceeds going to help the Bayfield Area Food Bank. Food bank's new location will need expensive retrofits The additional financial donations come at the right time for the food bank. It's currently operating out of three dressing rooms of the Bayfield Community Centre, which houses the town's ice rink. The food bank moved into the arena last month after the lease at their previous location expired. The Municipality of Bluewater has a space for the food bank's new home in a nearby property owned by the municipality. It will be offered at a nominal rent. The challenge is, the space requires $100,000 worth of worth of upgrades and retrofits, money the food bank will have to raise. Meanwhile, the food bank has to be out of the dressing rooms by the time the ice goes into the arena in early September. "Our numbers are really going up," said Laurie Hazzard a board member of the food bank. "We expect by Christmas we'll be well over 200 clients." Hazzard said the search for a new location has been tricky. Real estate is expensive in Bayfield and they need a location that's centrally located so clients can walk to get their food. However, they also don't want a location on a main strip or other conspicuous location. "About 30 per cent of our clients are seniors and there's just a stigma that's attached with going to the food banks," said Hazzard. "We want to protect the integrity of our clients." With a nod to Sam's cookbook project, Hazzard is encouraged by how the community has come together to help.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Teen's cookbook to help Bayfield food bank cover moving costs
While working as a volunteer stocking shelves at the Bayfield Area Food Bank, 15-year-old Sam Robinson began to notice some of the clients weren't entirely sure of what to do with some of the food items they were getting. "I would hear a lot of people say they didn't want to take certain ingredients, like chick peas, because they didn't know how to use them," said Robinson. The food bank serves about 200 clients a month with visitors from Bayfield and nearby communities all over Huron County. Visits are growing by about 10 per cent each month, according to the food bank. Many who come to the monthly pickup days are families with young children but seniors make up about 30 per cent of visitors. Robinson said he wanted to include recipes that can be made quickly with plenty of leftovers. At first, his idea was to put the recipes on index cards for the clients to take home. Then, after talking with his mother Heather, they came up with the idea of gathering the recipes together in a book. The book approach had a few upsides. It could be a resource for clients, but it could also be used to raise money for the food bank. To help cover printing and promotion costs, Robinson and his mother were able to get a $1,000 grant from the Huron Economic Department. Community donated recipes Robinson reached out to community members in Bayfield, asking them for recipes that would work for the project. "We definitely got a lot of recipes for tuna casseroles and chili," said Robinson. The project involved three months of writing, designing the pages and recipe testing. "We've tried all the recipes and they're delicious," he said. The result is a handsome bound book called The Clever Cooks Guide, self published through Amazon. Some of the pages include information about the person who donated the recipes. One recipe for simple biscuits donated by Mark Mitchell incudes a picture of his grandma Ethel Bain. The recipe came to Robinsons in the form of a dog-earned index card. Grandma's first instruction of the recipe is "Wash your hands." The book was released on May 2 and the goal is to sell 200 copies, enough to donate to each of the food bank's regular clients. The books that aren't donated to food bank clients will sell for $25 each with the proceeds going to help the Bayfield Area Food Bank. Food bank's new location will need expensive retrofits The additional financial donations come at the right time for the food bank. It's currently operating out of three dressing rooms of the Bayfield Community Centre, which houses the town's ice rink. The food bank moved into the arena last month after the lease at their previous location expired. The Municipality of Bluewater has a space for the food bank's new home in a nearby property owned by the municipality. It will be offered at a nominal rent. The challenge is, the space requires $100,000 worth of worth of upgrades and retrofits, money the food bank will have to raise. Meanwhile, the food bank has to be out of the dressing rooms by the time the ice goes into the arena in early September. "Our numbers are really going up," said Laurie Hazzard a board member of the food bank. "We expect by Christmas we'll be well over 200 clients." Hazzard said the search for a new location has been tricky. Real estate is expensive in Bayfield and they need a location that's centrally located so clients can walk to get their food. However, they also don't want a location on a main strip or other conspicuous location. "About 30 per cent of our clients are seniors and there's just a stigma that's attached with going to the food banks," said Hazzard. "We want to protect the integrity of our clients." With a nod to Sam's cookbook project, Hazzard is encouraged by how the community has come together to help. "When community members step up like that, it really does help us out," she said.


Daily Record
09-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Record
Older people receive over £1,040 in monthly State Pension payments in these European countries
The UK State Pension is worth up to £230.25 each week during the 2025/26 financial year. Pension Credit – Could you or someone you know be eligible? New research has found people on the UK State Pension are being left behind in the ongoing cost of living crisis as pensioners barely break even, despite an increase in entitlement. The research, conducted by pension advisors Almond Financial, looked at the current State Pension in comparison to the average cost of living in the UK. Almond Financial then looked at similar data in European countries to establish which country offers the most to retirees in comparison to the country's current cost of living data. It then analysed the average cost of general living expenses such as food shopping, the price of a meal at a restaurant and energy bills to discover an estimated cost of living per month, excluding rent. The UK moved up four places from last year's report in the top 30, now coming in at number 11, continuing to linger just above the breakeven point for pension income. Following changes to the new UK state pension system, British pensioners are better off than they were in 2024, seeing the State Pension vs average cost of living increase slightly, by 3 per cent. However, this is still just 21.5 per cent above the breakeven point, the UK state pension pays £177 more than the average cost of living. The maximum UK State Pension will pay a total of £997.75 per month to retirees during the 2025/26 financial year and the new data indicates the monthly cost of living for a single person (excluding rent) is £820.90. It's important to be aware the State Pension can be paid weekly, fortnightly or every four weeks in the UK. The full New State Pension is now worth £230.25 each week, or £921 every pay period, while someone on the full Basic State Pension receives £176.45 per week, some £705.80 each pay period. Topping the European Pension Breakeven Index is Luxembourg. The Luxembourg pension system pays out an average of £5,426, the equivalent to a whopping £4,429 more than the UK State Pension. With a similar cost of living, at least for the meantime, pensioners in Luxembourg can enjoy a comfortable retirement. Rounding out the rest of the top five are Spain, Norway, Belgium. Sweden and Denmark. Top 10 European countries paying highest State Pension per month Luxembourg £5,426 Norway £1,839 Switzerland £1,657 Denmark £1,486 Sweden £1,373 Belgium £1,338 Netherlands £1,332 France £1,254 Spain £1,238 Ireland £1,047 A full breakdown of the monthly cost of living outgoings can be found on the Almond Financial website here. Commenting on the latest figures, principal financial adviser at Almond Financial, Sam Robinson, said: "The data is an interesting insight into just how well people can live when they retire right across Europe. 'For those approaching state pension age in Spain, retirement is a particularly enticing prospect with a healthy pension, low cost of living and not to mention the fantastic weather. 'This year's increase to the UK state pension has had a meaningful impact on pension income versus the cost of living, meaning pensions could feel slightly better off. Despite this, the UK state pension still rests just above the breakeven point, and remains weak compared to other pension systems across Europe. 'Planning for life after work is crucial, and it's important to seek advice from a pension advisor if you aren't sure where to start.' Five ways to maximise your retirement income Use pay rises to increase pension contributions and pay more into pension when loans and other commitments end Maximise employer contributions Ensure your investment approach is efficient and suitable to your financial situation Maximise tax relief available Avoid taking large lump sums of money from the pension when there isn't a need - taking the first 25% of your pension will be tax-free cash although any future withdrawals will be taxable. You can view the full report online here.