Ramblers Cymru is working with partners, including Natural Resources Wales and National Trails, to host their ‘Big Welsh Walk 2021’, a series of celebratory walks on Offa's Dyke Path this month to celebrate its 50th anniversary as a National Trail. On Saturday I was pleased to take part in their 11.5-mile trek from Bodfari to Clwyd Forest with two of my adult children.
For further information, visit: https://www.ramblers.org.uk/go-walking/big-welsh-walk-2021.aspx.
I visited inspirational farm owners, Einion and Elliw Jones, at Mynydd Mostyn farm in Trelogan, whose innovative and hugely popular Milk Vending Machine Business, supplying fresh milk and milkshakes, is under threat after Flintshire Council planning Officers said the site is not lawful. I will be supporting their Appeal. Contrary to statements in the Planning Officer’s report, it was apparent from my visit that the provision of the milk vending machines is not an entirely separate development to the farm and that the site is accessible by a choice of modes of travel.
As Wales Species Champion for the Curlew, I attended a further meeting with members of Gylfinir Cymru /Curlew Wales for an update on preparations for the launch of their ‘Wales Action Plan for the Recovery of the Curlew’.
The Curlew is predicted to be on the brink of extinction as a viable breeding species in Wales by 2033, requiring coordinated Curlew conservation action that can also deliver multiple and multi-species benefits.
In the last 5 years, the National Lottery Community Fund has funded the North Wales regional constituency I represent with approximately £37 million for 802 projects and I visited one of the recipients, the Centre of Sign-Sight-Sound (COS), to learn more about the work supported by the funding they have received.
This includes their project, working with the sensory loss community throughout North Wales, to develop awareness training for staff of businesses, retailers and tourist sectors, and accessible media clips that will be hosted at historical sites.
I am also Patron to COS (formerly North Wales Deaf Association), which is promoting a world where sensory loss does not limit, preclude or stigmatise people from achieving their full potential.
Disability Wales are carrying out a series of interviews with disabled politicians based throughout Wales, and I was interviewed about the barriers to access and inclusion faced by disabled people with both visible and non-visible impairments, and the Access to Elected Office Fund Wales, which seeks to remove the barriers faced by disabled people seeking elected office.
If you need my help, email [email protected] or call 0300 200 7219.
