The new Park and Ride in the east of Cardiff is proving to be extremely popular, with the numbers of people using it rising each week.

Since its launch on October 19, the weekly number of cars using the Park and Ride has more than doubled, with the latest count showing 1548 drivers taking advantage of the service from November 16 to 22.

Both commuters and shoppers are finding the Cardiff East Park and Ride invaluable and the approaching festive season, coupled with the recent opening of St David’s, has boosted figures significantly with more than 6000 vehicles using the service.

Councillor Delme Bowen, Executive member for Traffic and Transportation, said: “People are realising just how easy the new Park and Ride makes it to get in and out of the city centre and I am getting nothing but positive feedback about it.

“It’s great to see people actively seeking alternative travel solutions to get into Cardiff to help reduce congestion problems and carbon emissions. The Cardiff East Park and Ride looks to be a resounding success.”

Based just off the A48 (Eastern Avenue) the Cardiff East Park and Ride can be accessed from the Pentwyn Interchange. It has 340 car parking spaces, including 19 disabled spaces, with buses running every 15 minutes direct to Dumfries Place at the end of Queen Street (next to Sainsburys) via a dedicated bus lane.

The bus journey gives people a quick and environmentally friendly way of travelling into Cardiff city centre, with the amount of spaces to be eventually extended to 1100.

The cost of the Park and Ride for all-day parking is £2.50 per car with buses running from 7am to 8.30pm Monday to Friday (Thursdays 7am to 10.30pm), Saturdays 9am to 7pm and Sundays 9am to 5.30pm. The buses are low-floor, wheelchair accessible and able to take prams.

There is a Park and Ride bus every fifteen From Monday to Friday the service operates from 7am until 8.30pm and 10.30pm on Thursdays. On Saturdays buses run from 9am to 7pm and on Sundays from 9am until 5.30pm.

The new Park and Ride is part of Cardiff Council’s Sustainable Travel City initiative, which is partly funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, and links in with the ‘Free B’ shuttle bus, which helps in getting people between key points in the city centre, with a bus every 10 minutes.

Cardiff East Park and Ride also links up with existing Park and Ride facilities which are available to the west of the city at the new Cardiff City stadium in Leckwith.

Opening times are 7.30am to 7.30pm Monday to Saturday, except on match days.

At the weekend the regular Cardiff South and Cardiff North Park and Ride services are in operation. On Saturday these run from both County Hall and Crown Way from 9am to 6pm and on Sunday from 10am to 5.30pm (Cardiff North Park and Ride,is open on Sundays until January 3 for the Christmas period).

The Youth Wind Band at St David's Hall

This Christmas will be busier than ever for the Cardiff County & Vale of Glamorgan Music Service ensembles, with no less than 14 festive concerts and events taking place, involving over 1,000 children.

The season begins with the Transitional Wind Band Concert at St Andrew’s & St Teilo’s Church in Woodville Road on Friday, December 4.

On December 9, 500 children from all over Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan will take part in the Music Service Christmas Showcase at St David’s Hall. Of the nine ensembles involved, one will be this year’s massed choir, consisting of 250 pupils from eight primary schools. All feed into St Cyres and Stanwell schools in Penarth, where the pupils have been busily rehearsing since September.

The ensembles taking part in the annual prestigious event are: the Youth Brass Band, the High Schools’ Orchestra and Choir, the Youth Big Band (“Jazz News”), the Advanced Percussion Group, the High Schools’ Wind Band, the Intermediate Brass Band and Junior Jazz.

Performances will include arrangements of traditional, pop and classical music, ranging from The Holly and the Ivy to Christmas at the Movies.

Executive Member for Education and Lifelong Learning Cllr Freda Salway, said: “The annual music service Christmas showcase at St David’s Hall is a real highlight of the festive calendar. It’s really wonderful to see the children and young people coming together to put on such a professional performance.

“A lot of hard work has gone into their performances and I’m sure the standard will continue to be high again this year.”

Other concerts scheduled for the festive season include the Christmas Celebration at City Hall, featuring the Youth Orchestra and Choir. At Llandaff Cathedral the Youth Brass Band will perform with Llandaff Choral Society. At the Wales Millennium Centre the Youth Wind Band will take to the stage and the Junior Schools Choir will perform at St Germans Church.

Jeff Davies, Head of CCVG Music Service said “It’s a very busy time for us but it’s fantastic to see and hear the talents of so many young people at Christmas”

All performances can be found on the CCVG website: www.ccvgmusicservice.org

Bute Park - Best in Wales

Bute Park in Cardiff has been awarded the prestigious accolade of the best park in Wales, in Britain’s Best Park competition.

The park scooped the regional award back in 2008 and has beat off tough competition from other parks across Wales to take the 2009 title.

Parks were judged on various criteria including environment, design, usability, access, maintenance and community involvement. Judges were particularly impressed by Bute Park’s wide variety of attractions and community events, excellent horticulture and ease of accessibility to and from Cardiff city centre.

Executive member for Culture, Leisure and Parks, Councillor Nigel Howells, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for Bute Park and all the staff that work so hard to make it look so fantastic all year round. Following on from the park’s Green Flag earlier in the year this is another important accolade and a strong endorsement that we are getting it right in the park.

“Judges clearly understood the considerable benefits of our new access arrangements and the great news is that Bute Park can only improve and get better as we embark on our £5.6m conservation project, supported by the £3.1m Heritage Lottery Fund grant, to restore, enhance and help people learn about the many historic features in the park including the Animal Wall, Blackfriars Friary and West Lodge.

“Visitors to Cardiff are always impressed by the park and how much green space there is in the city centre. Cardiff Council is committed to making sure we keep winning these top awards by working hard to maintain and improve Bute Park – which really is a jewel in the crown of this city and used and enjoyed widely by the community, including disability groups.”

Ian Small, business development manager for petrol lawn mower engine manufacturer Briggs & Stratton UK Ltd, who sponsor the award, said: “Bute Park has a traditional feel, it is maintained to the highest standards and its community attractions make it a worthy winner of the regional prize.”

Jennifer Stewart, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) Wales, which is supporting the restoration of the park with a £3.1m grant, said: “Bute Park is enormously popular with both local people and visitors, and deserves to be celebrated.

“When the work is complete the visitor experience will be enhanced even further as the park will once again be connected to the gardens and Castle, creating one fantastic space to explore and enjoy in the heart of the city.”

The judges for this year’s competition comprised of a panel of trade and consumer horticultural journalists. On the panel was; Peter Seabrook MBE and Steve Bradley (gardening editors, The Sun), Matthew Appleby (news editor, Horticulture Week), Anisa Gress (The Garden), Jean Vernon (freelance gardening journalist) Trevor Pfeiffer, (Garden Trade News), Laurence Gale (Pitchcare magazine) and Nicole Gritzmacher (Briggs & Stratton Europe).

The Britain’s Best Parks competition was started in 2003 by Briggs & Stratton as part of a global network of competitions recognising and rewarding excellence in park design and maintenance. Similar competitions run in six countries including Sweden, Germany, Poland, France and Italy.

The latest report by Experian, who provide an in-depth analysis of the UK’s retail centres, shows that Cardiff has jumped impressively from 10th place to 6th.

The news comes on the back of the last month’s opening of St David’s, which according to Experian could potentially move the Welsh capital into the top five retail destinations by 2014.

The opening of St David’s saw an extra half a million people pass through the city centre in the first three days, with millions of people now travelling to the Welsh capital every week. This has seen Cardiff leapfrog Nottingham, Leeds, Edinburgh and Bluewater in Kent, putting it firmly on the map as one of the major retail players in the UK.

Extended shopping hours, new park and ride facilities as well as the new Freeb bus offering people a free option to travel around the city centre have all contributed to help make Cardiff a special retail destinaton.

Cardiff Council leader Rodney Berman said: “I have been confidently predicting that on the back of St David’s, Cardiff would move up into the top 10 retail locations and now these figures show that we’ve clearly achieved that. When you look at the cities around us in the league table it is a clear indication of just how far Cardiff has come and underlines our status as a true European capital.

“When you add to St David’s and John Lewis, the popularity of Queen Street and the city centre’s Victorian arcades you have a unique retail destination and I’m proud that Cardiff is now getting the credit it deserves.”

Executive member for Economic Development, Councillor Neil McEvoy, added: “These latest figures show the economic impact of retail tourism on the city which is a huge boost for Cardiff in the current financial climate. When you look at the mix Cardiff now offers in terms of culture, retail, leisure and sport, coupled with its accessibility and compactness, Cardiff is a city that people clearly want to come and visit.”

Young people who are interested in a career in psychology are being given a unique opportunity to find out more about the profession at a special event being held at City Hall in Cardiff.

An insight day has been arranged by the British Psychological Society, in partnership with Cardiff Council and Careers Wales Education Business Partnership, for people aged between 16 and 19.

Taking place on Tuesday, November 24 from 9.30am to 3.30pm, the event will look at a variety of careers and specialisms within psychology.

Psychologists will speak throughout the day and answer questions on their different specialisms.

Among the speakers will be Dr. Ruth Paradice who will explain the work of educational psychologists and their work with children, with educational psychologists from Cardiff Council available to answer questions on their work. Dr. Katie Thirlaway will give an insight into how psychological principles are used to promote changes in people’s attitudes, behaviour and thinking about health and illness and Dr. Richard Neil will talk about the work of sport psychologists with both teams and individuals from amateur to elite levels of competition.

Nic Bowes will also give a fascinating insight into how forensic psychologists work on criminal investigations and try to understand psychological problems associated with criminal behaviour and the treatment of criminals.

Other talks include Dr. Alyson Smith who will explain how clinical psychologists work with mental and physical health problems such as anxiety, depression, relationship problems, addictions and relationships; Dr. John Boddy who will focus on occupational psychologists and how they work with organisations and Dr. Mike Dunn who will give a summary on the research and teaching element of psychology. There will also be an opportunity to hear about the experiences of a current psychology student so people can get a feel for what an undergraduate psychology degree may involve.

Places are limited so if you are interested in attending, please contact Deborah Fry for an application form by email EBP@cardiff.gov.uk or telephone 2087 3789 by Friday, November 13.

Achievement of the award is being seen as an important step in ensuring Cardiff continues to develop as one of the best places to live in the country and provides a real opportunity for a range of agencies working across the city to improve the health and well being of local people.

The Council, with NHS and partners recognised that good health is our greatest asset and together they identified the Healthy Cities approach as the way forward to create a healthier Cardiff. Applying for ‘Healthy City’ status was supported by Cardiff’s Proud Capital Vision Forum, with the Cardiff Health Alliance acting as the lead partnership.

The application involved a range of partners working together to develop a portfolio for submission, outlining existing and new projects being run across Cardiff, designed to improve everyone’s health and tackle the health inequalities experienced by some members of the community. However, this is not something the Council and Health Service can do alone.Everybody and every organisation need to be involved and share the responsibility for good health and maintaining a healthy lifestyle

In achieving designation as a Healthy City and becoming part of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network, Cardiff Council has pledged that health will be a key part of the Council’s agenda.

Cardiff Council Executive Member for Health, Social Care and Well Being, Councillor John Dixon, said: “Joining the Healthy Cities Network isn’t recognition that everyone in Cardiff is now healthy – it’s a promise that physical, mental and emotional health is a priority for all of us. It brings together all of the strands of work of the Council – economic, environment, social and education – and integrates them with the work of the Health Service, the Police, the voluntary and private sectors.

We plan to start the Healthy City programme by addressing the issue of obesity through the Healthy City. Obesity is potentially the next big killer, which can leave people with chronic health problems like diabetes, cancer, osteoarthritis, as well as increasing risks from heart disease and strokes. Our answer can’t be to just treat people through the NHS and send them home again, but rather to design our city, educate people and provide opportunities that stop people developing these problems in the first place.

That means that whatever services we plan and deliver both individually, and together, we have to have an eye on what the effect will be on improving the health, and reducing health inequalities in the city.”

”I am delighted that Cardiff is the first city in Wales to achieve WHO Healthy Cities status. This gives us an opportunity to share what we learn with other Welsh Councils; the achievement will send out positive messages, and will enable us to share our ideas and experiences across Wales and Europe.”

David Francis, Chair of the new Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, said “The UHB would be taking an active role in supporting the work that will now get underway as part of the Healthy City programme.

The University Health Board has put the health and well being agenda at the heart of the business. Our focus isn’t just on providing treatment and care when people fall ill. We need to work with partners to improve everyone’s health, encouraging people to adopt healthy lifestyles and prevent them becoming ill.

Achieving Healthy City status is testament to the dedication and hard work of a committed group of people who are genuinely striving towards improving the health and well being of everyone in Cardiff. This recognition is no mean feat and now provides us with an exciting platform from which to move forward, building on our successes to-date.”

Dr Stephen Monaghan, Local Public Health Director for Cardiff, NPHS, commented “Cardiff is a tale of ‘two cities’, being home to some of the least and most deprived wards in Wales. We know that it can be more difficult for communities and individuals who experience economic and social disadvantage to make healthy lifestyle choices and we hope that the Healthy Cities approach will provide us with a really exciting opportunity to work together to create healthier places for the people of Cardiff to live, work and learn.”

Dr. Tony Jewell, Chief Medical Officer Welsh Assembly Government said “I am delighted by the news and feel that local authorities across Wales will be keen to learn best practice from this initiative. It is the kind of development which supports our aspirations for “Our Healthy Future” strategic framework and Health Challenge Wales”

The Healthy Cities status will be officially launched in January; the event will bring together key organisations to develop a Healthy Cities plan for the city.

The WHO Healthy Cities programme was launched in 1986 and aims to encourage local governments, with partners and communities, to engage in health development though policies and innovative projects. The programme places special emphasis on health inequalities and encourages local government to factor health implications into economic, regeneration and urban development.

Individuals can learn more about good health and seek advice on local activities from: www.healthchallengecardiff.co.uk

Proud Capital Vision Forum

The Proud Capital Vision Forum is a strategic partnership structure, established to take forward the Proud Capital Community Strategy 2007-2017 and to deliver the city’s vision. The Forum membership includes representatives of public, private and voluntary sector organisations and is chaired by the Leader of the Council.

Cardiff Health Alliance

The Cardiff Health Alliance is the key strategic health and social care partnership in Cardiff with local authority, health services and voluntary sector membership. The Cardiff Health Alliance provides the leadership for the development of the Health Social Care and Well Being Strategy and other health, social care and well being programmes including Healthy Cities and Health Challenge Cardiff.

The Regimental Band of The Royal Welsh

Detachments from the Royal Navy, the Army, the Royal Air Force, the Wales University Royal Navy Unit, the Army’s University Officer Training Corp and the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets, will march from King Edward VII Avenue via Museum Avenue to the Welsh National War Memorial in Alexandra Gardens, Cathays Park, Cardiff where they will arrive by 10.40am and form up around the memorial.

Those detachments will be joined by columns of ex-Servicemen and women, organised by the Royal British Legion and Columns of civilians representing organisations connected with past conflicts.

The Regimental Band and Corp of Drums of The Royal Welsh will lead the detachments.

The north side will be formed by detachments of the various ex-Servicemen and women and Regimental Associations.

The east side will be formed by detachments of the Territorial Army and Glamorgan Counties Army Cadet Force (5th Cadet Battalion Royal Welsh), Air Cadets, Sea Cadets and Emergency Services.

The south side will be formed by detachments of the Navy, Army and Air Force and The Regimental Band and Corp of Drums of The Royal Welsh.

The west side will be formed by the official wreath layers and the Band of the Cardiff Canton Corps of the Salvation Army.

A selection of music will be played by The Regimental Band and Corp of Drums of The Royal Welsh from 10.40am until shortly before 11.00am.

The Band of the Cardiff Canton Corps of the Salvation Army Band will play at the Service, which will be conducted by the Reverend Stewart Lisk. Reverend Lisk will be accompanied by Mr Syd Nash, Chairman, The Royal British Legion, Vale of Glamorgan, Rabbi Wallenberg and Rabbi Doctor Charles Middleburgh, Reverend Father Raymond O’Shea T.D, K.H.S, O.L.J, St David’s Cathedral, Cardiff, a representative of the Welsh Churches, Major Peter Moran, Divisional Commander, Salvation Army (South and Mid Wales), and other representatives of the faith communities.

The leaders of Government, local government and opposition parties will be joined by Dr Peter Beck M.A, MD., F.R.C.P., Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of South Glamorgan.

At 10.58am the service will begin with a bidding and words of scripture given by the Reverend Lisk followed by the Exhortation.

At 11.00am guns of the 104 Air Defence Regiment RA (V) from Raglan Barracks, Newport, will be fired to mark the Two Minutes’ Silence which will be observed. Its conclusion will again be marked by the firing of the gun. Following that firing a Bugler of The Regimental Band and Corp of Drums of The Royal Welsh will sound the ‘Last Post’ and ‘Reveille.’

Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of South Glamorgan will then lay his wreath at the Memorial, on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen. The laying of wreaths will continue in the following order: the Royal British Legion, the Naval Regional Officer on behalf of The Royal Navy, the Commander of 160 (Wales) Brigade on behalf of The British Army, the Air Officer Wales on behalf of the Royal Air Force, the President of the Merchant Navy Association (Wales), the Fire Service on behalf of the Civilian Services, the First Minister for Wales, the Leader of Cardiff Council and the Secretary of State for Wales, The Right Honourable The Lord Mayor of Cardiff and the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales, and Opposition parties of the National Assembly for Wales and Cardiff Council.

When all the wreaths have been laid there will be a short Service which has been produced using material supplied by The Royal British Legion & Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. The Kohima Epitaph will be read by Peter Goodfellow, President of the Burma Star Association (Cardiff). The singing of the National Anthems will complete the ceremony.

At the conclusion of the service the wreath laying party will return to the front of Cardiff City Hall where they will gather with other civic dignitaries and members of Cardiff Council, and fronted by scouts and guides, before the columns of detachments from the Royal Navy, Army, Territorial Army, Royal Air Force, Wales University Royal Navy Unit, the Army’s University Officer Training Corp, Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets and ex-Servicemen and women present on parade will carry out a march past, culminating in a salute at the front of City Hall.

The Parade has been organised this year by The Regimental Sergeant Major and staff of the 3rd Battalion The Royal Welsh.

OPEN Cities - soundtrack for Cardiff winner: Joseph Evans

23 year-old shop assistant from Cardiff, Joseph Evans, has won the OPENCities Soundtrack For Cardiff award with his track City Of Change. He confessed to BBC Radio 1 DJ, Huw Stephens, who presented him with the award, that he was completely stunned and only entered the competition at the last moment when his girlfriend heard the publicity on the radio.

Joseph, who works at Waterstones in the city centre, is multi-talented. He is also writing a novel at the moment, as well as number of songs to help launch his musical career. He says:

“City Of Change is all about how Cardiff seems to be a city that is constantly developing. I believe it fits in very well with the OPENCities project, which is very much how diverse and vibrant cities have the best success on the international stage”.

The Soundtrack Awards ceremony was held at the Wales Millennium Centre as part of the Sŵn 09 Festival and featured music from British Council’s The Selector show, with a 25 minute mix of Welsh music put together for the show by Huw Stephens himself.

The event was attended by the 5 hopeful finalists and also staff and pupils from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School, whose students featured in the OPENCities photo exhibition that was at the Cardiff Old Library during October.

Listen to Soundtrack For Cardiff winner “City of Change” on the OPENCities website.