#swanseacouncil — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #swanseacouncil, aggregated by home.social.
-
SWANSEA: The seafront Covid memorial is finished, and it’s a place for anyone to sit and remember
Swansea’s permanent Covid memorial is finished, and it is now open to anyone who needs a quiet seat by the sea.
The steel and glass artwork near the Slip Bridge on the promenade was unveiled at a community ceremony overlooking the bay.
Council leader Cllr Rob Stewart speaking before the memorial was unveiled (Image: Swansea Council)Among the guests were groups representing people who lost their lives, alongside the emergency services, voluntary groups and the council teams that changed how they worked to help run the city’s response.
Council leader Cllr Rob Stewart unveiled it with Cllr Elliott King, the cabinet member for culture, and the two artists behind it, Angharad Pearce Jones and Catrin Jones.
Artists Catrin Jones and Angharad Pearce Jones with Cllr Elliott King, left, and council leader Cllr Rob Stewart, right (Image: Swansea Council)“It was a privilege to unveil a memorial which will hold different meanings and memories for so many people,” Cllr Stewart said. “Today was an opportunity to remember those who lost their lives and to stand alongside their families and friends.”
Three glass circles inspired by the peacock butterfly
The memorial combines sculpted steel with three circles of coloured glass inspired by the native peacock butterfly.
One of the memorial’s three glass circles, inspired by the peacock butterfly (Image: Swansea Council)The council says its design reflects separation and loss, but also endurance, transformation, community spirit and hope.
It is ringed with seating, footpaths, naturalistic planting and wildflowers, so people can sit alone or together. The council put the cost at £130,000 when the plans were first revealed in March.
The memorial’s seating looks out over Swansea Bay (Image: Swansea Council)The artists said people who took part in the consultation kept asking for the same thing: “a place of calm within a natural setting”.
“The Memorial itself brings together the strength and resilience of steel, and the healing and spiritual energy of light and colour through glass,” they said.
Artists Catrin Jones and Angharad Pearce Jones speaking at the unveiling (Image: Swansea Council)“Covid touched every part of Swansea”
“Covid touched every part of Swansea and its impact continues to be felt by families and communities across the city,” Cllr Stewart said.
“For many of us, one of the most enduring memories of what happened was how so many people came together to do so much, so willingly for the people around them.”
Lord Mayor Cllr Penny Matthews said the setting “now belongs to the whole community”. “I hope it will provide comfort and a peaceful place to pause, reflect and remember,” she said.
Guests at the unveiling, including Lord Mayor Cllr Penny Matthews (Image: Swansea Council)Cllr King said the memorial also recognised the council teams “which changed the way they worked overnight” to support vulnerable people and keep essential services running. “Let’s look after and cherish it,” he added.
Cllr Elliott King speaking at the unveiling (Image: Swansea Council)Where to find Swansea’s Covid memorial
It stands on the grassed area between the trees near the Slip Bridge, where work began at the start of the month.
It joins the Covid memorials already created at Morriston and Singleton hospitals by Swansea Bay University Health Board.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
SWANSEA: Work begins on the seafront Covid memorial, with an unveiling promised this month
September: fencing goes up by the Slip Bridge.EXCLUSIVE: £130k permanent Covid memorial to be created on seafront
March: the first images and the cost.Covid memorial
#AngharadPearceJones #CatrinJones #CllrElliottKing #CllrPennyMatthews #CllrRobStewart #COVID #COVIDMemorial #publicArt #SwanseaCouncil #SwanseaPromenade
Every story on the memorial. -
SWANSEA: The family firm behind the city’s free Christmas dinner at the Brangwyn Hall says it has given £250,000 to good causes
The family business behind Swansea’s free Christmas dinner for people who are homeless or alone says it has now given more than £250,000 to local charities and community groups.
JR Group, the family-run events and hospitality business, says the figure is made up of fundraising, sponsorship, donations and in-kind support built up over years of work across south-west Wales.
The milestone comes as the firm prepares to launch this year’s Together at Christmas campaign with the council.
The event has become a fixture of the city’s festive calendar at the Brangwyn Hall. Last year’s, on 9 December, offered a free two-course Christmas dinner, live entertainment and stalls with help and advice.
Visitors could also pick up food and clothing, get a free haircut, and find hygiene supplies, children’s books and pet care help, with free minibuses running from the city centre.
The firm says the project has run for more than 10 years and has always been about more than a meal. It brings charities, volunteers and businesses together in the belief that “nobody should feel forgotten, especially at Christmas”.
“We’ve never been the biggest business, but we’ve always believed in punching above our weight”
Jessica Rice, director of JR Group, said the family business had “always believed that success should be measured by more than commercial achievements alone”.
“The communities we serve have supported us throughout our journey, and we’ve always felt a responsibility to give something back,” she said.
She said the milestone “belongs to far more people than just us”, and credited the firm’s team, clients, partners and supporters.
“We’ve never been the biggest business, but we’ve always believed in punching above our weight when it comes to supporting our communities. Quite simply, it’s the right thing to do.”
Jamie Rice, who co-owns the business with his wife Jess, said the focus was on what comes next. “There are always individuals, charities and organisations who need support,” he said.
Schools, sports clubs and a magazine relaunch
Alongside Together at Christmas, the firm says it has backed grassroots groups, schools, sports clubs and community projects through events, hospitality, fundraising and volunteering as well as cash.
JR Group also runs food and drink at Swansea Council venues including the Brangwyn Hall, and has relaunched Swansea Life magazine.
Details of this year’s Together at Christmas, including the date, are still to be announced. Last year’s date was confirmed in October.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
Festive spirit set to shine as Together at Christmas returns to Brangwyn Hall
What last year’s event offered, and how people got there.Date set for return of Swansea’s ‘Together at Christmas’ event
The 2025 date announcement.More Together at Christmas stories
#BrangwynHall #Christmas #homelessness #JREvents #JRGroup #Swansea #SwanseaCouncil #TogetherAtChristmas -
SWANSEA FERRY: “Not a council proposal”, leader says, as councillors ask what checks were made on the £25,000 report behind it
The fast ferry from Swansea to south-west England is “not a council proposal”, council leader Rob Stewart has told councillors, as opposition members ask what checks were made on the report behind it.
His written answers, published ahead of full council on 1 October, say the detailed design of the crossing “has not yet been finalised and remains under active development”.
The focus now, he says, is “proof of concept work”, developing the “technical, commercial and delivery model” and talking to “key stakeholders and funding bodies”.
Ocean Prime, the company behind the plan, has “reached out to a range of prospective partners across south Wales and West of England”, according to his answer.
The report behind the plan promised something more concrete: a small working prototype this year, and a first vessel in service by 2030.
“Does the council remain confident?” Councillors question the £24,999.95 report
Cllrs Matthew Bailey and Brigitte Rowlands asked what due diligence the council carried out before accepting and publishing the report. It was paid for with £24,999.95 of UK Shared Prosperity Fund money through the council, and it carries a foreword by the leader.
They said “a number of significant factual and technical questions” had been raised since it was published. They asked whether the council “remains confident in the report’s accuracy”, and how it would check the findings independently.
Cllr Stewart’s reply says the grant was made “in line with the criteria of the fund”, and that the report “does not commit the Council to any future investment or delivery decisions”.
Any detailed proposals would go through the council’s normal governance, he said, including “technical, financial, legal and commercial due diligence and independent assessment where required”. His answer does not say whether the council still stands by the report’s figures.
Those figures have been questioned before. On the report’s own numbers, its carbon saving works out at around a hundredth of the figure it claims.
It also named science fiction author Isaac Asimov, who died in 1992, as a supporter of a Minehead pier project. Ocean Prime did not respond when Swansea Bay News put those points to it in July.
From “an exciting project” to “not a council proposal”
It is the clearest line yet between the council and a crossing its leader has championed. In 2022, Cllr Stewart announced plans for a hydrogen ferry linking Swansea with Devon and Cornwall, calling it “an exciting project”.
In March this year, he said the consultation findings gave the council “confidence to move into the next stage of work”. His foreword to the report in July called the public response “remarkable”.
He has drawn a line before. At the July council meeting he stressed that the ferry was not a council-operated scheme, but one of many the council was supporting.
His latest answer still leans on the consultation. He says the research “commissioned on behalf of Swansea Council” found “strong public support”, with more than 4,300 responses and almost 98% in favour. The survey ran through the project’s own website.
“This venture is not a council proposal,” he said, “but clearly the council is committed to exploring transport solutions that could benefit the city and region economically.”
Where it docks, who pays and who sails it: still unanswered
Liberal Democrat group leader Chris Holley, who chairs the scrutiny panel, said in July he would call the report in, with Ocean Prime invited to answer for it. Almost three months on, that session has yet to take place.
He is one of the four councillors who asked for this latest update. The leader’s answer does not say where in the south west a ferry would berth, or who would fund a prototype.
When five of the biggest ferry operators in British and Irish waters were asked in July, none said it was considering a Swansea service. Associated British Ports said it would keep working with any interested parties.
Councillors can put follow-up questions to the leader at full council, at the Guildhall at 5pm on Thursday 1 October.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
SWANSEA FERRY: Report promising 800,000 visitors and £600m heads for scrutiny, as its own numbers face questions
The report in full, and the figures that don’t add up.SWANSEA FERRY: Who pays, where does it dock, and how does it hit 60 knots?
The questions councillors want answered at scrutiny.SWANSEA FERRY: The catamaran that sat in Swansea docks and never sailed
The last fast ferry promised across this water.More from our Swansea Ferry series
#BristolChannelFerry #CllrBrigitteRowlands #CllrChrisHolley #CllrMatthewBailey #CllrRobStewart #Ferry #OceanPrime #SwanseaCouncil #SwanseaFerry