News

Elections will be held across Powys on 5 May 2022 to elect your local Community or Town Councillors and your representative on Powys County Council. The polling station for residents of Carreghofa community will be Carreghofa Primary School, open 7.00am to 10.00pm.

It is important to vote at local government elections because County Councils and Community Councils are responsible for providing your local services and facilities.

These Community and County Council elections will be the first opportunity for newly enfranchised electors, 16-17 year olds and eligible foreign nationals to vote in local elections following the Senedd elections in May 2021. It's never too late to become a first time voter!

And remember that if you can't attend a polling station in person, you can vote by post or nominate someone to vote on your behalf - a 'proxy'.

Find out more from Powys County Council's website.

Contacts
Email: electoral.services@powys.gov.uk
Phone: 01597 826202
Address: Electoral Services, Powys County Hall, Spa Road East, Llandrindod Wells LD1 5LG

Carreghofa Community Council has installed two new picnic tables at Walls Bridge playground, ready for the coming of spring! 

The generously-sized tables with bench seating are made from durable recycled plastic. One has a space allowing easy access for a buggy, wheelchair or mobility scooter. Next time you're passing, why not take a look? Better still, invite your friends or family to join you for a picnic!

The Council is grateful to Councillor Michael Connell and County Councillor Arwel Jones for assembling and installing the benches: a job well done. 

The Community Council welcomes ideas for improvements to the playground or any other part of the village. Contact us if you have any suggestions.

The following warning was received from the Cyber Crime team at Dyfed-Powys Police:

We are continuing to see people falling foul of criminals who pretend to be from the bank and state that the victim's bank account has been compromised.

Sometimes it follows a fake test message (the victim realises that it is a scam and deletes the text). However, a day later the victim receives a call from a criminal claiming to be from the bank, who states that they are aware that the victim has received a fake text message and their bank account has now somehow been compromised.

The next stage is to get the victim to move their money into a 'safe' account, which is actually the criminal's account. If the victim says that their banking app is stating that the 'safe' account cannot be verified, the criminal (pretending to be the bank) says that the account has only just been set up, but is safe. They will often tell the victim to phone the number on the back of their bank card to check, but add that the victim may lose all their money as they will have to wait to be connected and go through the verification process with another member of banking staff.

The pressure is on, the victim is worried about losing their money, and so they go ahead and transfer the money without phoning the bank, believing that they are already speaking with a trusted employee of the bank.

It is a reminder that criminals do not care who they steal from: it is a business.

Warning! Be aware:

• Criminals are phoning and pretending to be your bank.
• They say that your account has been compromised and that you need to move money to a safe account. A real bank will never do this.
• If you receive this type of call, put the phone down and do not engage in conversation.
• Wait five minutes before calling anyone else, in case the line has been kept open.
• Phone the number of the back of your card if you ever need to confirm details with your bank.

DC357 Gareth Jordan, Cyber Protect Officer
Cyber Crime Team
Dyfed-Powys Police
Police HQ, PO Box 99, Llangunnor, Carmarthen SA31 2PF

Email gareth.jordan@dyfed-powys.police.uk

Always report suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk 

Dear Residents

The Shropshire Star (13 January 2022) reported that Powys County Council's Independent/Conservative cabinet advised at its January meeting that it will put forward its final budget before facing the electorate at the local government elections in May. Finance portfolio holder Councillor Aled Davies said that the proposed 3.9 per cent rise in the council tax for 2022/23 will equate to an extra £3.45 million for the County Council.

The council tax includes an amount which is shown as the ‘precept’.

What is a precept? The precept is the community or parish council's share of the council tax. It is added to the basic council tax, collected from householders by the principal authority and paid to the community or parish councils.

Carreghofa Community Council is particularly proud that whereas Powys County Council (our principal authority) has consistently raised the council tax each year, we have not increased our precept figure for the last four years. We have been sufficiently prudent to meet our financial requirements and have been able to improve facilities within the community, such as the installation of adult exercise equipment in the Walls Bridge play area.

We acknowledge that there are still things that we would like to do, and we have plans to replace the benches and picnic tables within the play area, which we hope to install soon. One of the new picnic tables will allow access for a pushchair or wheelchair.

We are always open to suggestions for improvements and would encourage anyone to submit ideas. There are two avenues available for this:

1) Through the contact page on this website

2) By joining us at our monthly meeting, held on the last Tuesday of each month at 7:00pm, Llanymynech Village Hall. 

Confirmation of our meeting dates are posted on this website and on the noticeboard at The Dolphin Inn.

We all want to be proud of our community and remember 2018 when Llanymynech was declared winner of the Montgomeryshire Village Award. Although divided by the border between Wales and England, the village united to showcase its facilities, businesses and - above all - community spirit.

Another more recent show of community spirit is the work undertaken by the Llanymynech Covid 19 Support Group set up by Suzanne Walker and Duncan Borthwick to help people of Llanymynech and surrounding area. This provided much needed assistance and has been a lifeline for many families and individuals. A massive success story.

Thank you for taking the time to read this notice and we look forward to hearing from you - whether good or bad!

Regards and stay safe
Michael Connell
Chair, Carreghofa Community Council

Dyfed-Powys Police are currently recruiting Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) in Powys and Ceredigion.

Could you work at the heart of communities, to help keep them safe and tackle the issues that matter most to them? Could you take on a role where no two days are the same, and each day brings its own new challenges? If not you, then perhaps you know someone who would be a great PCSO - please encourage them to get in touch! 

Salary: £22,599 - £24,546 plus 12.5% shift and 10% weekend working allowances.

To find out more, visit Dyfed-Powys Police's website and search for careers.

Home-Start Cymru is offering a range of additional services for families throughout Powys at this time:

Volunteer Weekly Support
Home-Start's trained volunteers are available to support families throughout Powys and beyond, offering weekly contact to share worries, make suggestions and lend a listening ear. Free, confidential support and practical help for parents of young children who are going through a difficult time - because childhood can't wait.

Families Supporting Families - new for 2022!
Free fortnightly group sessions in Newtown (Covid permitting). A chance for families to come along to a group session for a cuppa and chat, find out more about activities in the area, play ideas and parenting advice and support. 

Big Hopes, Big Futures
This project aims to improve children's readiness for school. Home-Start's trained volunteers help parents learn about and understand the benefits of a positive learning environment at home. Through this the parents increase their understanding and change their behaviour and family routines to include activities that would help their children's early learning. Their children will then start school or nursery able to fully benefit from their formal education.

Parent-Infant Psychotherapy 
Parent-Infant Psychotherapy is a service for parents and babies aged 0-2 years. Home-Start's psychotherapist works with parents and their babies or toddlers to help understand some of their worries or concerns, thinking about the feelings parents have and finding ways to help them and their baby communicate and enjoy being together.

Sessions are carried out online or in person with parent and baby together. Sessions are weekly and last for up to one hour, talking and using play to help build the relationship between parent and baby and make sense of any worries or difficult feelings they may have.

Lockdown Babies Group
A weekly Zoom session bringing together parents and babies who were born during the lockdown period. It supports families who may have suffered from isolation during this period, offering play ideas, information and a time to chat and share worries and concerns.

Young Parents Group
A weekly Zoom session for young parents aged 19 years or under. Home-Start's trained play therapist offers structured sessions of play, tips, information sharing and activity ideas especially aimed towards younger parents and their children.

Family Learning Sessions
An individual weekly Zoom play session with parents and their children aged 0-5 years. Home-Start's play therapist offers lots of easy and effective play activities for parents and children to engage with (resources can be provided to the family). Lots of ideas and fun to take forward independently between sessions.

Families can self-refer into Home-Start's services. To find out more, please contact Home-Start Cymru direct - details below.

Vicky Critchley, Locality Manager
Home-Start Cymru
Telephone01745 814819
Mobile 07871 601772
Email adminpowys@homestartcymru.org.uk 
Website www.homestartcymru.org.uk

Powys Community Health Council (CHC) has published a report entitled 'Mental Health of Young People During COVID-19 Pandemic'.

There has been a lot of information in the media about mental health issues facing young people because of the pandemic and the way it has affected everyone's lives. 

Powys CHC set out to hear what young people think about the support which has been available to them to help with their mental health and emotional wellbeing throughout the period of the pandemic. It also wanted to hear about the way that young people think services could be improved, and produced an online survey to gather young people's views.

There were 337 responses to the survey. Powys CHC thanks all the young people who took the time to share their views and experiences; its report reflects these views. 

Read the full report here 

Our website has had a makeover! 

The upgrade was prompted by legislation requiring public sector websites to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1AA, making them easier for everyone to access. Our new site can be used on mobile devices and is compatible with screen readers and other assistive technologies.

As well as being a platform for Council business, we would like this website to become a useful resource for the entire village. The pages covering local information, village history and attractions are very much ‘work in progress’ and we will welcome suggestions for additional content.

So, welcome to our new site: take a look around and let us know what you think.

The memorial bench that had been vandalised earlier this year has now been reinstated atop the hill at Llanymynech Rocks.

The damage had been considerable, with parts strewn around the site and some sections missing. The council is grateful to Brian Cavill for making a first-class job of repairing and rejuvenating the bench: it now looks splendid! We also acknowledge the support of Llanymynech Golf Club in allowing access for installation.

The bench was originally erected in April 2000 in tribute to Olive Nials’ service as Clerk to Carreghofa Community Council from 1991 to 1999. It offers an opportunity to catch your breath while you absorb the ever-changing panorama across the Severn plain, a view that Olive particularly enjoyed and well worth the climb!

You’ll find the bench at SJ263217, within Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust’s Llanymynech Rocks reserve: either take the signposted path from Offa’s Dyke trail or descend from Llanymynech Golf Club.