A coastal countryside ranger has received a coveted accolade for her work to help coastal wildlife.

North Denbighshire Countryside Coastal Ranger Claudia Smith recently received a Marine Heritage Award from the Marine Conservation Society at the One Ocean Symposium held in Rhyl.

Claudia is a busy figure along Denbighshire’s coastline, checking in regularly with the local nature and wildlife from Rhyl to Gronant Dunes.

Across the county coastline, Claudia with the support of dedicated volunteers have reintroduce marram grass to the dune system around Rhyl harbour to support local biodiversity, repaired timber on the boardwalk and installed new benches.

They have also supported the installation of new Wales Coast Path discs to signage and waymarkers around the harbour and Horton’s Nose and Barkby and Gronant Dunes.

Claudia and the volunteers also help with the annual set up of the Little Tern colony at Gronant Dunes and are a great help with the day-to-day running of the colony during little tern season.

Recently the ranger helped set up the CoastSnap project along the coast to help monitor the impact of climate change along the Denbighshire shores.

Speaking after receiving the award, Claudia explained: “I’ve been working with Marine Conservation Society’s Hiraeth Yn Y Mor project which is coming to an end at the end of the month. The project’s aim was to connect local people from Gronant to Pensarn to the ocean through events, education and training.

“I was involved in their One Ocean Forum as Denbighshire Countryside’s representative, which steered the direction of the project. Through this I was able to meet with people from across the community and promote Denbighshire Countryside’s work.

“I organised visits to the little terns at Gronant with them, as well as beach cleans. This helped with our engagement aims at Gronant, as well as their own. I also attended more of their beach cleans and some of their education events, including their Marine Exhibition and beach clean survey training, which will help me on future beach cleans. It’s been a great project to be a part of!”

Howard Sutcliffe, Lead Officer for the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape said: “It’s nice that Claudia has been recognised for this reward as a lot of the work our Rangers do is not seen, but it benefits wildlife and also enhances the lives of our residents and visitors, these small steps work towards a better landscape for future generations.”

On hearing of the award given to Claudia, Councillor Alan James, Cabinet Lead Member for Local Development and Planning, said: “A huge congratulations to Claudia, she is a massive inspiration for many due to her dedication and commitment to supporting and preserving our wonderful coastal habitat we have in the county.”

The journey to creating dementia-friendly communities across North Wales is well underway.

The Dementia Friendly Communities Scheme is about helping to build communities that are compassionate, inclusive and resilient for people living with dementia, and also to support their friends, families and unpaid carers to stay connected, and live well within their local areas.

The North Wales Regional Partnership Board (RPB) launched the North Wales Dementia Friendly Communities Scheme in 2024. This initiative builds on the valuable work of the Alzheimer’s Society, whose scheme has now closed, and involves collaboration with six local councils, County Voluntary Councils, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, local businesses, and charities.

The Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council (DVSC) has been instrumental in the scheme’s development, sharing expertise from their Dementia Aware Denbighshire project to support other councils and promote the initiative across the region.

Rebecca Bowcot, Dementia Aware Denbighshire, DVSC said:

"Raising awareness of dementia across Denbighshire has been a great way of empowering individuals and communities to take action in order to help people affected by dementia in their local communities. It is extremely rewarding to see people coming together to achieve their individual aims of wanting to support people so that everyone can continue to be included and play an active role within their community. We host a bi-monthly Dementia Aware Denbighshire Network which allows dementia friendly communities to come together to share ideas and support each other to enable their dementia friendly communities to develop and thrive.”

Dementia Friendly Denbigh - Chair Dilwyn Jones said:

“I was honoured to become Chair of Dementia Friendly Denbigh and be part of the process of increasing awareness locally, through information session. We have been able to donate items such as Alexas and robotic cats and dogs to help those living with dementia and their carers".

Communities participating in the scheme can gain recognition for their efforts, which might include:

• Staff training in local businesses
• Clear and understandable signage around town
• Dementia-friendly activities

There are currently 12 communities in North Wales recognised for their progress towards becoming dementia friendly, from Ynys Mon to Wrexham. It is anticipated that a further 12 communities will be looking to apply for dementia friendly status accreditation during 2025.

In the scheme’s first year:

• Over 1,000 people living with dementia and their unpaid carers were supported through dementia groups.
• More than 150 people attended dementia training sessions.
• Over 1,400 people reported improved knowledge of dementia services in their community.

A person living with dementia said:

"Being part of a dementia friendly community helps to get your voice heard. It has also helped promote the Precious Memories group in Rhyl which takes place weekly and is a valuable source of peer support for people".

This is one of a number of schemes delivered by the North Wales Regional Partnership Board (RPB) and their partners, working to make communities more inclusive and empowering.

To learn more about the North Wales Dementia Friendly Communities Scheme and how to apply click here.

For more information about DVSC’s work, click here.

Due to rising costs, it has been agreed to increase the cost of school meals by 5p, which will be implemented on April 28.

The School Catering Service have recently been recognised as the best performing catering service at The Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) awards earlier this year.

This recognition, from The Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) is based upon comparisons with other school meals services from across the UK.

It takes into account aspects such as paid and free meal uptakes, staff training, service performance and management of the service.

Councillor Diane King, Lead Member for Education, Children and Families said:

“The decision to increase the cost of school meals was not taken lightly. However, even after this increase, these new prices will still be relatively low compared to other local authorities.

“As evidenced in their recent success at the APSE awards, the Council’s School Catering service are committed to providing value for money in terms of the quality of food given to pupils across our schools”.

To view the school meals menu, or for more information visit the Denbighshire school meals website.