In a new blog for Caerphilly Observer, Plaid Cymru South Wales East AM, Steffan Lewis, gives his take on the recent achievements of the Welsh football team in France, and the inspiration younger generations can take from their success.
Legacy
It was amazing to see thousands of people lining the streets of Cardiff last week to welcome the Wales football team home after their brilliant performance in the Euros. I’ve been a passionate follower of Welsh football for years, through the ups and the many downs, and their expectation-defying performance was incredible to watch.
It was fantastic to see Wales unite behind the team, both those who’ve been fans for years and those who were fired up by the team’s new successes. A whole generation of children will have been inspired, and we now have a fantastic opportunity to get them hooked on sport. What better legacy to remember the team’s achievement than ensuring that more children in Wales get active?
Aaron Ramsey discovered his footballing talent at a training session hosted by the Urdd in Caerphilly when he was 8 years old. I’m sure we could discover many more children with superstar potential in Caerphilly if we ensure the programmes are in place to reach them.
Getting children active is so important for their health and wellbeing. The most recent statistics from Public Health Wales show that 26% of Welsh children aged 4 and 5 are overweight or obese, a higher percentage than in any English region.
In Caerphilly, Sport Wales have found that 79% of pupils participate in extracurricular sport and 64% enjoy it a lot. The numbers of young people taking part in sport a few times a week is on the rise. But by adulthood, 30% of people in Wales are completely inactive, and almost 60% are overweight or obese. By kick starting positive habits for children and young people now, we could build a healthier future.
I’m excited about what’s in store for the Wales team over the next few years. We also have the Wales women’s team’s fight to qualify for the Women’s Euro tournament in the Netherlands in 2017 to cheer on. It would be fantastic if we could see Wales’ sporting success on the global stage inspire more children to get involved in sport and to adopt a healthy lifestyle that they can take with them as they grow up.
Wonderful to see another well paid Assembly Member addressing the real problems of the day. This really is grown up Politics!!!.
Now that his Party, The Welsh Nationalist have had the sense to Ditch their claims for Independence for Wales, ( except that they still want to go it alone in staying as a Member of the EU.) I would like to know why they are still here?. Lets also hope that a Waggon comes along between now and the time this appointed AM has to again put pen to paper for this monthly blog, that there is something interesting on the back of that waggon upon which to hitch his shirt tails.
All this stuff about football is very current but everyone in Wales knows all about it, even somebody like me who watches rugby instead. What I want to read are views from the heart of the Welsh Assembly on what is going on, what our representatives think and what they are going to do.
So far this week I have heard from Labour, the Conservatives and now Plaid. As two out of the four AMs of the South East Wales Region are UKIP when are we going to read their blog in the Observer?
The Question is, Will UKIP be able pull strings for the Observer at any time, and dont forget, UKIP are responsibe for the curtailment of EU Grants to this paper, so, why would they want to give your party a say?. The Editor is in charge, The Editor Edits, and Censors, and the Editor come owner, also applies for those EU funds which will no longer be available to him, he should take a few lessons in democracy and we may, just, may, read a better and balanced, news tool.
Hello,
Firstly, we have extended the invitation to blog to all Assembly Members in the South Wales East Region, including Mark Reckless and Dave Rowlands, and blogs from UKIP members will be published shortly.
The first four print editions of Caerphilly Observer were part-funded through an EU-backed grant, but since then, the cost of printing the newspaper has been paid for without grant-funding. The only other EU-funded help we’ve had is through the Jobs Growth Wales scheme which we last accessed in September last year.
Since then, we have had no support from grant funding and we are not reliant on such funding for our publication.
While I always value feedback from readers, I feel that your comments suggesting that our past grant funding has a bearing on editorial policy are unfair.
Many thanks for reading
Richard Gurner
Editor and Publisher
Thank you for that detail, very grateful, now perhaps you could explain your censorship policies, particulaly when it comes to matters of local interest to many local people?. particularly matters of discrimination demonstrated by a local public house, which you figured in free advertising in an article, yet, prevented reasonable comment in respect to discrimination by staff at that business, I would not suggest you have a vested interest in this pub, perhaps you DONT actually use it, but lets have a fair playing field here, or explain why you do not.
I am optimistic, there will in future be more money available. We will not be funding things like the Common Agricultural Policy so we will be able to give grants to help small businesses, such as Caerphilly Observer.
The last thing I would want to see is UKIP ‘pulling strings’ I would hope that all parties would look favourably on helping local news companies, as they are a useful service to the public. To get this all party consensus any hopeful grant applicant would have to demonstrate an even handed approach to politics.
This would actually stimulate interest in newspapers, whether printed, online or both, as most people can see right througn the biased reporting of the national press. Take a look at the Guardian versus the Daily Express, as an example. Their coverage of a news item often reads as if they are reporting different events. Readers have to sort out the fact from the fiction generated by the respective editorial teams.
Oh for a paper that justs reports news and publishes views from various sources and lets the reader make his or her mind up!