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Anglesey named Wales’ happiest for 2025 as Skipton tops UK; Flintshire partnership helps young people into work; Wales invites communities to submit living traditions for UNESCO-backed inventory; man jailed for South London Tube stabbings

Anglesey crowned Wales happiest place to live in 2025, Skipton tops the UK

Anglesey takes Wales top spot in Rightmove's happy at home survey of 19,500 people, credited with coastal paths, beaches, and the painfully photogenic Llanddwyn Island. UK wide, Skipton in North Yorkshire leads for green space, friendliness, essential services, and that endangered species known as affordability, while Richmond upon Thames and Camden sit in second and third, proof that money cannot buy happiness, but it can lease it for north of £3,000 a month. In Wales, Anglesey is followed by Monmouth, Llandrindod Wells, Llandudno, and Cardiff. The trend is no shock, rural, coastal, and near national park living correlate with happier residents, and satisfaction rises with age and budget. Rightmove accidentally rediscovers what fresh air and a mortgage that does not cause night terrors can do for the soul.

Flintshire partnership helps young people into work, and yes, cooperation actually happened

Social mobility charity WeMindTheGap has teamed with local employers to give ages 18 to 24 real work experience through its six month WeGrow programme. Funded via Flintshire County Council's allocation of the UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund, £213,453 so far with further support planned for 2025 to 2026, the scheme offers up to four placements per participant, weekly employability sessions with Coleg Cambria, personal development workshops, CV support, and mock interviews. At Theatr Clwyd, 18 year old Chrystal Lambert helped relocate offices while rebuilding confidence after a break from education, and 22 year old Rufus McKenna contributed ideas to strengthen the theatre's links with local schools. Organisers say the programme also tackles isolation by building friendships and soft skills, and council leaders call the support invaluable. Public funding, local firms, and a charity all pulling in the same direction, and young people moving closer to work. File this under things that should be normal but somehow feel revolutionary.

Wales invites communities to submit living traditions for UNESCO backed cultural inventory

Launched at the National Eisteddfod in Wrexham, a new drive asks communities across Wales to nominate the crafts, customs, and celebrations that define local life, from Mari Lwyd and Eisteddfodau to wool weaving, the Powys Man v Horse race, bog snorkelling, and traditions brought by immigrant communities. It is part of a UK wide effort following the UK's ratification of UNESCO's convention on safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. Ministers praised everything from Valleys choirs to the Porthcawl Elvis Festival as the colourful threadwork of Welsh identity, and yes, the inventory will also count the economic value of it all, because even folklore now meets a spreadsheet. Submissions, made with the involvement of the communities that practice them, are open via UNESCO until Friday 27 March 2026, with the first inventory targeted for launch next summer. Entries can be made under seven categories, Oral expressions, Performing Arts, Social Practices, Nature, Land and Spirituality, Crafts, Sports and Games, and Culinary Practices.

Man jailed for South London Tube stabbings

A man who stabbed two strangers multiple times at a South London Tube station has been jailed for 11 years. One victim was stabbed 13 times and the other suffered multiple wounds to the chest. The sentence follows a serious and unprovoked attack that left both victims with significant injuries.

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