Sinking of fishing vessel Louisa while at anchor off the Isle of Mingulay with the loss of 3 lives.

More than £10 million has been earmarked for a major restoration of Aberystwyth University’s iconic Old College, the birthplace of university education in Wales.

The Grade I listed Old College is synonymous with Welsh nation-building following its purchase by the University of Wales for just £10,000 in 1867 using money donated by the local community.

After first opening its doors to students in 1872, for almost a century the Gothic seafront building saw thousands of students come and go, before focus shifted in the 1960s when the university moved to a newly built campus.

Now, funds generated by National Lottery players will see this much-loved building reclaim its place at the heart of Aberystwyth and the local community. Aberystwyth University has initially been granted development funding of £849,500 by the Heritage Lottery Fund, allowing it to progress with its plans and ultimately unlock the full £10,581,800.*

UK Government in Wales Minister Guto Bebb visited Aberystwyth to mark the announcement.

Guto Bebb said:

This National Lottery funding secures the future of the Old College, meaning it can continue to play a vital role in the future – not only of the university but the town itself. As an alumnus myself, I am pleased to see such a worthwhile and exciting project as this being supported to help secure a sustainable future for a building of which I have very fond memories.

John Glen MP, Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism said::

Aberystwyth Old College is a treasured local building that is recognised as one of the UK’s most significant pieces of Gothic revival architecture.

This fantastic scheme is so much more than a restoration project. Thanks to the £10.5 million contribution from National Lottery Players, it will create a thriving visitor and learning destination that will provide new cultural and community resources for Aberystwyth and West Wales and boost the wider Welsh economy.

Baroness Kay Andrews, UK trustee and chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Wales, said:

These exciting plans to breathe new life into one of Wales’s best loved historic buildings provide a significant and timely boost for the culture and economy of Aberystwyth and well beyond.

Like many Aberystwyth graduates, I have fond memories of Old College. Now, for the first time, this unique building – the signature of Aberystwyth – will be open for the whole community to enjoy and profit from, including visitors to West Wales. This is great news for Aberystwyth and for Wales as a whole.

Aiming to complete Old College’s transformation in time for the university’s 150th anniversary in 2022, work is now underway to develop plans for the building as a performance and gallery space for artists, exhibitions and musicians, a centre for entrepreneurs and new businesses, as well as café and community rooms. It will also house a university museum, allowing some of the 20,000 items normally in storage to be shown the light of day and a new science centre will showcase cutting edge interactive displays alongside a planetarium and 4D facility, highlighting the university’s links with the European Space Agency.

Professor Elizabeth Treasure, Vice-Chancellor of Aberystwyth University, added:

Old College has played a starring role in the provision of higher education in Wales and the wider world. Built with the legendary pennies of the people, it seems fitting now that funding from National Lottery players is playing a vital role in regenerating the building and the economy of this beautiful part of Wales.

Our hope now is that Old College will become a showcase for the excellent research, teaching and treasures of Aberystwyth University, while providing vibrant new facilities for visitors and the local community who are key partners in this venture.

As well as creating new jobs, apprenticeships, work placements, training and volunteer opportunities, the revitalised Old College will also encourage graduates from the university to stay within the town and establish new businesses.

The total cost of the redevelopment is estimated to be around £22m, with the university planning other sources of financing for the project including a major fundraising appeal.

Notes to Editors

Heritage Grant applications are assessed by the Heritage Lottery Fund in two rounds. A first-round pass is given when HLF has endorsed outline proposals and earmarked funding. A first-round pass may also include an immediate award to fund the development of the project. Detailed proposals are then considered by HLF at second-round and as long as plans have progressed satisfactorily and according to the original proposal, an award for the project is confirmed.

About Old College

Old College is one of Wales’s most remarkable buildings. Home of Wales’s first University, this rare Grade I listed building is of national significance, synonymous with Welsh nation-building and on a prominent site on Aberystwyth’s promenade.

Aberystwyth University’s ambition is to open up and reveal the hidden and inaccessible heritage of Old College and transform the building into a welcoming and vibrant cultural and creative centre for the community and a major catalyst for economic and social regeneration. For local people, Old College will be a source of skills and job creation, inspiration, learning and entertainment. For visitors, it will be a new Welsh heritage destination with international appeal.

Welcome to everyone. Last week Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England unveiled the new £10 note in the UK, featuring Jane Austen, a British writer who died 200 years ago, but whose words are relevant today: “ My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a good deal of conversation.”. Ladies and gentlemen, representatives of the local business community, Cass faculty members and Cass MBA students this is what we have today – good company of clever, well-informed people, who, I am sure, have a great deal of conversation amongst them.

In July 2015 and 2016, a group of Cass Executive MBAs enjoyed a very successful International Consulting Week in Santiago, working in situ with Chilean and Latin American organisations. The experience was so good for all concerned that Cass MBA management have returned again to Chile and I am pleased to say that this is also the third time we have the honour to host Cass Business School students and faculty and their Chilean hosts here at the Residence. And an even stronger delegation on a weeklong visit to work, and exchange ideas, with Chilean businesses.

Academic opportunities such as the Cass International MBA Programme play an important part in the Chile-UK bilateral academic engagement. The start-up mentality that both Chile and the UK share is something that we are keen to cultivate and support. It is an opportunity for both our countries to share best practice, to create links, and to open the door for business developments in new areas. For example innovation, business ethics, sustainability, financial services, innovative industries and public/private partnerships which could provide our countries with the capacities and tools to compete in an ever changing world.

International experience for business people is crucial to build strong foundations for those who one day might become directors and managers of multinational companies. That is why courses like the Cass MBA, are so vital to the prosperity of our economies, to the international business community and to the peaceful relations between nations. International experiences create more ethical, more informed and more open-minded business leaders and bring together people from different professions and places around the world.

We look forward to the continuing relationship with Cass and the British Embassy, but most importantly to the further generation of business links between UK and Chile.

Thank you and enjoy the evening.

The UK’s creative industries have today cemented their position as a powerhouse for growth, with employment in the sector growing at four times the rate of the UK workforce as whole.

The nation’s creative industries now employ almost two million people, up five per cent on the previous year, compared to the wider UK workforce which grew by 1.2 per cent, according to latest official statistics from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

In addition to the overall employment boom for the sector, the creative industries are also leading the way in addressing concerns about the lack of diversity in the workplace. The number of people from Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds in the creative industries has increased by 15 per cent since 2015, an improvement more than 2 and half times that of the wider UK workforce. In the film and TV sectors alone, BAME representation has jumped by 40 per cent, and in the design and fashion sector numbers up by almost 50 per cent.

Creative Industries Minister Matt Hancock said:

These positive jobs figures show Britain’s creative industries are performing better than ever. Those working in the creative industries are cultural ambassadors for Britain, and play a hugely important role in helping form and shape the way we are viewed both at home and abroad. This strong, sustained growth of the creative industries is fantastic to see, and we are working with industry to make sure this continues.

And whilst there’s still more to do before diversity in the creative industries mirrors that of our society as a whole, I’m encouraged to see that this area is improving at more than twice the rate of the wider workplace.

Whilst London remains a hub for the creative industries, the latest figures also demonstrate impressive growth in different geographical regions around the UK, including:

Growth of Yorkshire & Humber’s film and TV industries has outstripped that of every other part of the UK, increasing by 40 per cent in the last year.

In the North West, advertising and marketing continues to grow rapidly, experiencing over 20 per cent increase. Centres such as Manchester and MediaCity in Salford are proving globally competitive in this sub-sector.

The Midlands continued to expand as a centre for design and designer fashion, experiencing a 66 per cent increase in employment in the West Midlands and a 54 per cent increase in the East Midlands. The region is home to a number of global fashion brands and world leading fashion and design higher education courses.

The Government has committed to building on the strengths of the UK’s creative industry sector and announced in its Industrial Strategy green paper in January that it is committed to an early sector deal for the industry.

This work is being lead by Sir Peter Bazalgette who is conducting an independent review into how the UK’s creative sector, including our world-class music and video games industries, can help drive prosperity across the country by developing new technologies, capitalising on intellectual property rights and encouraging creativity from people of all ages and backgrounds.

There has also been strong employment growth nationally in other DCMS sectors. The number of jobs in the sport sector have increased by 4.2 per cent year-on-year and up 19.2 per cent since 2011. The digital sector has enjoyed significant job creation – up 2.4 per cent year-on-year and 12.6 per cent since 2011 while the number of jobs in the cultural sector have increased by 1.8 per cent year on year and 20 per cent since 2011.

And in further proof that Britain is well and truly open for business, export statistics for DCMS sectors published today show continued growth and a growing appetite for UK goods and services.

The latest figures show that in 2015 DCMS sectors exported £38.2 billion worth of services to the rest of the world – up 1.4 per cent from the year before and a 42.4 per cent rise on 2010. Exports of services from DCMS sectors in 2015 accounted for 16.9 per cent of total UK service exports.

DCMS sectors exported £27.3 billion worth of goods to the rest of the world in 2015 – up 9 per cent on the year before – growth that was greater than the rest of the UK as a whole. Exports of goods from DCMS sectors in 2015 accounted for 9.6 per cent of total UK goods exports.

Government is working hard to make sure this upward trend continues, and will pursue a deep and special partnership with the EU, including a bold and ambitious Free Trade Agreement that is of greater scope and ambition than any such existing agreement. We want the UK to have the greatest possible tariff- and barrier-free trade with our European neighbours and also to be able to negotiate our own trade agreements. As we leave the EU, we will have the opportunity to forge an independent trading framework and pursue our own priorities and ambitions.

Government will also introduce a Trade Bill to ensure we have the tools to act as a credible player on the world stage, and enhance the UK’s leading role as a global trading nation negotiating and enforcing a rules-based trading system, and driving positive change through trade.

The official statistics are available online

Media Enquiries: Please call 020 7211 6145

A Charity Commission investigation has led to improvements in safeguarding at a Jehovah’s Witnesses charity, according to a report published today (26 July 2017). The report also makes findings of misconduct and mismanagement against the charity’s trustees.

The Commission concludes that trustees of the Manchester New Moston Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses did not deal adequately with allegations of child abuse made against one of the trustees in 2012 and 2013. The individual was subsequently convicted of 2 counts of indecent assault.

The report details the findings of the regulator’s statutory inquiry into the charity, which opened in May 2014 to investigate the charity’s handling of safeguarding matters, including the potential risks to the charity and its beneficiaries relating to this individual.

The report also acknowledges that, since the inquiry was opened, the charity has improved its child safeguarding policy and its procedures for handling misconduct allegations.

The regulator’s detailed report highlights that the trustees did not identify one allegation as potential child abuse, dismissing it as ‘a matter between 2 teenagers’. The report also finds the trustees did not:

• fully enforce the restrictions they decided to place on the individual’s activities at the charity
• adequately consider and deal with potential conflicts of loyalty within the trustee body
• keep an adequate written record of the decision-making process used to manage the potential risks posed by the individual to the beneficiaries of the charity

The regulator’s report examines the events surrounding an internal disciplinary procedure, held to determine whether the abuser should be allowed to continue as a member of the congregation. The Commission finds that the victims of abuse were ‘effectively required’ to attend a hearing at which they had to repeat their allegations in the presence of the abuser, and the abuser was permitted to question the alleged victims. The trustees had argued that they were not responsible for the procedure and that the victims took part in the hearing voluntarily. The Commission accepts that the trustees did not themselves conduct the disciplinary procedure, but concludes that they carry ultimate responsibility and must be held accountable for the impact it had on the victims.

The report also criticises the charity for failing to cooperate openly and transparently with the Commission, stating that the trustees ‘did not provide accurate and complete answers’ about issues under investigation.

Harvey Grenville, Head of Investigations and Enforcement at the Charity Commission, said:

As our report makes clear, the victims of abuse were badly let down by the charity. The trustees should have made the victims’ welfare their first priority. Instead, their actions and omissions, both in response to allegations of abuse, and in their attitude towards our investigation, fell short of what the public would expect of those running a charity in a modern society. Our report rightly holds the trustees of the Manchester New Moston congregation to account. I hope that it therefore provides some comfort and reassurance to those affected by the circumstances we have investigated.

Our investigation has helped ensure that the charity has improved its procedures around the handling of child safeguarding concerns and its internal disciplinary process. Most importantly, the charity’s policy and procedures now make clear that victims of child sexual abuse are not required to make their allegations in the presence of the alleged abuser. They also state that protective restrictions must be put in place to protect the charity’s members from people found guilty of child sexual abuse by the criminal courts. We welcome these changes.

I would like to thank all those who came forward to provide us with information and intelligence throughout the investigation.

The Commission’s inquiry into another Jehovah’s Witnesses charity, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Britain, is ongoing. This inquiry is examining the child safeguarding policy and procedures further, as they are common to all Jehovah’s Witnesses congregations in England and Wales.

The Commission encourages people who have been affected by safeguarding in congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses in England and Wales to make contact with the investigations team at IAEInvestigationsCRM@charitycommission.gsi.gov.uk.

Ends

PR 55/17

Notes to editors

1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work, see our annual report.
2. Search for charities on our online register.
3. The Commission’s inquiry into Manchester New Moston Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses opened on 27 May 2014 and concluded with the publication of the report on 26 July 2017.
4. The Commission has faced continued challenge in the Tribunal against its decision to open the investigation into the charity. In April, the regulator welcomed an Upper Tribunal judgment dismissing an appeal against its decision to investigate the charity.
5. Section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 gives the Commission the power to institute inquiries. The opening of an inquiry gives the Commission access to a range of investigative, protective and remedial legal powers.
6. The Commission is not a safeguarding authority and its inquiries do not investigate allegations of abuse or actual incidents of abuse, whether historic or recent. Its concern is with the proper regulation of charities. Anyone with concerns about specific incidents of alleged abuses, whether historic or recent, for any charity, should report their concerns to the police and the relevant safeguarding authorities.