Tuesday 17 July 2012

Cardiff Rivers Group 50th event

Cardiff Rivers Group undertook their 50th event on Saturday as they helped residents in Llanrumney collect litter and remove Himalyan Balsam from alongside the River Rhymney. Photos can be


15 volunteers travelled to East Cardiff to help local residents and Communities First tackle the vast swathes of invasive Hiamlayan Balsam that threatens the native species and wildlife. They also litter-picked the riverside path and all rubbish was disposed of by Cardiff County Council’s Parks Department. Communities First thanked the volunteers with refreshments and cakes to celebrate their great achievement!





Louise Tambini of Cardiff Rivers Group said, “Today, was a milestone event for Cardiff Rivers Group. When we started the group almost 3 years ago, we did not know how long we would last or what we would achieve, so I am absolutely delighted that we have reached our 50th event and are stronger than ever!

We held our AGM last week, which was very well attended and have events planned for the rest of the year. We now have over 270 volunteers on our database and are very active across Cardiff in a range of environmental activities. Other groups and organisations frequently request our help and we are only too happy to help out like-minded people. I really hope we are still here to celebrate our 100th event!”

Cardiff Rivers Group formed in 2009 as part of the ‘Tidy Towns’ project: a partnership between Keep Wales Tidy and Welsh local authorities. Funded by the Welsh Government it supports the people of Wales to improve the quality of their local environment.

Cardiff Rivers Group are always looking for new volunteers, so if you would like to lend a hand, please contact Louise Tambini on 07824 504790 or e-mail louise.tambini@keepwalestidy.org.

Photos from the event can be viewed here

More information on Cardiff Rivers Group and their activities can be found on http://www.cardiffriversgroup.blogspot.com/

Keep Wales Tidy is a registered Environmental Charity working for the improvement of the Welsh environment. Visit our website for more information; http://www.keepwalestidy.org/


Wednesday 11 July 2012

cardiffdigs survey; two weeks remain

Thank you to those who have already completed the cardiffdigs survey we’ve had some great feedback which I’m very grateful for. There is only two weeks left to complete, with the chance to win an ipad:


http://www.surveys.cardiff.gov.uk/cardiffdigs/



It is essential that we get a good range of partners completing this survey so that I can spend time during August making amendments and updating the site.

Please complete the survey and let me know how we can improve the site, what information you think we are missing, what we can do better. Please be candid with your responses.

cardiffdigs.co.uk is a one stop website for student housing and living needs, addressing the needs of students and the community. The website is funded by a partnership made up of Cardiff Council with the three universities; Cardiff, Cardiff Metropolitan and Glamorgan.

Your feedback it greatly appreciated. On completion you can enter into the prize draw for the chance to win an ipad http://www.surveys.cardiff.gov.uk/cardiffdigs/

Thank you for your help



Thursday 5 July 2012

Writing Cardiff



Students from Cardiff University's Centre for Lifelong Learning have been attending a weekly creative writing course at The Cardiff Story Museum http://www.cardiffstory.com/



On Monday July 16th they will be reading examples of their work. Come along to hear poetry, short prose pieces and dramatic monologues: stories about Cardiff, tracing its development from a coal port to a tourist destination, and its rich cultural history.

Free Event
Monday 16th July 2.30pm

Wednesday 4 July 2012

Cardiff Cycle Challenge is back

Register for Cardiff Cycle Challenge – cycle for as little as 10 minutes to win a £500 bike, hot air balloon ride, luxury spa day and many more prizes!





Cardiff Cycle Challenge is back and we’d like to invite you all to take part. If you haven’t cycled for years, don’t worry, you can cycle for as little as 10 minutes and you don’t have to cycle to work – any journey by bike counts!

The Cycle Challenge is a FREE and EXCITING 3 week competition to see which workplace can get the most staff cycling from 2 – 22 July. There are a host of prizes for new and existing cyclists that are being given away – win a £500 bike, hot air balloon ride, luxury spa day and more! There will also be try-a-bike sessions so that you can take part if you don’t have your own bike

It takes just 2 minutes to register. Go to http://www.cardiffcyclechallenge.org.uk/, click Register, then enter your details. (It you took part last year, you don’t need to register again.)

If you ride a bike for the first time in a year or encourage someone else to you can win a Cineworld cinema ticket. They’re giving away 200 tickets!

Get registered and ready to get pedalling on 2 July. It’s all about which department can get the most people taking part. Best of luck!

For more information, visit http://www.cardiffcyclechallenge.org.uk/

Cheryl Owen
Travel Plan Officer
http://www.keepingcardiffmoving.co.uk/
chowen@cardiff.gov.uk




Get It Out For Cardiff is Back with a Bang

Thank you to South Wales Echo who ran this story through their Go Green pages:


The award-winning recycle and re-use scheme, Get It Out for Cardiff (GIOFC) is back for its 8th year and off to a flying start http://www.cardiffdigs.co.uk/getitout.htm




Get it Out for Cardiff is the Cardiff Council initiative in association with Cardiff University, Cardiff Metropolitan and Glamorgan University which helps students to clear out their rubbish at the end of the academic year. The aim is to re-use and recycle as much of it as possible utilising three re-use schemes.

The final extra recycling and waste collections in Cathays, Roath and Gabalfa will take place this weekend on Saturday 30th July.

In an exciting new partnership, GIOFC has teamed up with the YMCA who are providing re-use banks at key campus and hall of residence sites to collect clothes, shoes, bags, textiles, small electrical items, books, CD’s/DVD’s at the end of term and all year round, an important first for GIOFC.

This is underlined by the fact that these new banks have already collected over 4 tonnes of reusable items since they were installed in April. The items collected will be used by the YMCA to directly reinvest in projects and services for homeless people at the Cardiff YMCA Housing Association.

21 Green Zones are in operation across the city university sites where people can donate clothing, food (tins, packets, jars etc), small electrical items, books, CD’s, DVD’s and kitchen items (plates, mugs, utensils, pans etc) Any food collected will be re-distributed by Fareshare Cymru to relieve food poverty in our communities.

Kitchen items collected will be stored over the summer by our partners Cardiff Self Storage and sold at the start of term at heavily discounted prices with all proceeds going to charity.

Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Ashley Govier said, “GIOFC is a fantastic and innovative campaign run by a highly committed partnership team. Through this scheme, we work closely with Cardiff’s universities to give students a great opportunity to recycle, reuse and dispose of their waste in a responsible manner while making a valuable contribution to their communities and charities through our partners, Fareshare Cymru and the YMCA.

“The fact that the YMCA collection banks will be in place all year allows everyone to donate a wide range of items that may have ended up in landfill. Everyone benefits from this scheme and it’s excellent so much has been collected already, a record-breaking year could well be on the cards. The whole community can play an important part in making Cardiff a cleaner, greener and more sustainable city.”

Student Liaison Officer and GIOFC organiser, Kieran McCann said, “Over 4 tonnes is an amazing start to our campaign, thank you to all our partners who have been tirelessly promoting the Get It Out charity collections, hosting green zones and re-use banks, to the YMCA team for all their hard work collecting and especially a thank you to all the students and local residents who have been so generous with their donations”.

Tuesday 3 July 2012

Get It Out For Cardiff final weekend thank you



Thank you to all those that correctly presented extra waste and recycling for collection over the weekend on Saturday morning as part of the third and final Get It Out For Cardiff campaign clear out. Waste and recycling teams were working hard to help keep the streets clean.

Please ensure that bins and bags are now not left on the pavement and brought back into your property boundary. Cathays, Roath, Gabalfa you have an opportunity to put out recycling and food waste as part of your usual Wednesday collection tonight from 4.30pm for your Wednesday 4th July collection, please no black bins or bags.

The Get It Out For Cardiff charity re-use scheme is still taking place, with over four tonnes already collected we are hopeful that we're on our way to a record breaking year.

Any charity donations as part of the re-use scheme can still be taken to the Green Zone in Cardiff Student Union’s main reception or in the YMCA re-use banks next to the Union by the Cathays railway footbridge or at the Roy Jenkins Hall opposite the co-op on city road. Other Green Zones and YMCA banks are located here: http://www.cardiffdigs.co.uk/getitout.htm