On the first edition of the Vale this Week in February, as teachers in the Vale of Glamorgan and across start the first of four days in a series of walkouts by the NEU in a pay dispute, we’ll hear from one of the teachers on the picket line about the conditions in schools and what they hope to achieve from this and future strike action.

It's always said that are too few opportunities for young people, in February an event is being held to showcase the further education, higher education, employment, apprenticeships, careers advice and well-being support available to 16 - 25 years old in the Vale. We’ll hear from Angelina Patrick from the Vale Council about what the event is aiming to achieve.

And if you fancy being more green fingered, a Barry foodbank is setting up a community garden, thanks to funding from Keep Wales Tidy and its looking for local people to get stuck in this Saturday. 

All this, plus we’ll take our regular look at local events, sport and news in the County, including looking ahead to this weekend's Six Nations kick-off.

On this weeks edition of the Vale This Week, we discuss one of the most talked about news stories in the County over the last week.

The Vale of Glamorgan Council has announced that Council tax could rise by 4.9% from the start of the new financial year, as it unviels its budget proposals. We put some of your questions to Vale Council Leader Lis Burnett about the new budget, changes to services and what it means for the local authority.

In April last year, Barry Market closed for the last time - following a decline in stalls and the challenging economic period. Now, a new operator is set to bring life back into Barry Town centre - with two markets each month, starting in February. We’ll hear from the team at Green Top Events about what we can expect from the first market in two weeks time.

We'll take our regular look at local events, sport and news in the County.

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On the first edition of the Vale this week in 2023, Matthew and Nathan heard about plans to celebrate ten years of Dinas Powys Community Cinema and its upcoming cinema screenings. Ahead of the new series of A Special School on BBC One Wales which airs on Monday, we'll spoke to Ysgol Y Deri Special School head teacher Chris Britton about the work of the school and what to expect from series two.

Plus the usual round-up of the weeks local news, sport and events.

On the final Vale this week of 2022, Matthew Harris and Nathan Spackman are joined by the pupils at Cadoxton primary school, who’ve written a brilliant festive track that celebrates everything that’s festive at their school in their local community. The song was written by the school's music teacher James Harris, who’s a regular on the local music scene. We speak to the pupils in the school choir and James about the track!

We also look back on this programme in 2022, including a roller coaster of Welsh and Vale sport, plus our regular round-up of local news, events and sport in the County, plus play our local artist of the week Balsamo Collins Riley with his track Twice in a Blue Moon.

On this weeks edition of the Vale This Week, Charlie Buckland speaks to Amy Greenfield from Awesome Wales, a Zero Waste shop in Barry. We’ll hear more about the Community Interest Companies Mission, how we can make better decisions to be more eco-friendly and how we can reduce our consumption this Christmas, looking to pre-loved or zero waste items.

Panto Season is in full swing, but why travel to Cardiff when you enjoy one on your doorstep? Billboard Ensembles production of Snow white is running at Memo Arts Centre in Barry from the 14th to 18th December. Ryan and Jodanna will speak to Alana, who plays the Mirror in the show, about the production and what you can expect

Plus we’ll round-up all of the week's local sport, events and local news in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Want to feature on the programme? Email [email protected]

On this weeks edition of the Vale This Week, we look into the recent increase in the number of people enjoying wild swimming across the Vale coastline. It follows the activity being given a boost after a number of beaches featured highly in the latest bathing water quality standards. We’ll hear from James Tennent, a local wild swimming fan, who submitted the application for Penarth and hear about from Grant Zehetmayr, one of the founders of the Dawnstalkers group, who can be seen taking a dip early in the morning in the Town.

At the start of this month, the Renting Home (Wales) Act came into operation, which will have an impact on anyone who rents a home in Wales. We’ll find out what the act means to those renting in the Vale with Peter Whiting from Citizens Advice in The Vale.

Plus we’ll round-up all of the week's local sport, events and local news in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Want to feature on the programme? Email [email protected]

On this week's edition, we hear about a Ty Hafan campaign called when your world stops, which has raised over £340,000, for the Sully based hospice. The campaign was inspired by Rose, who died at the hospice in February of 2022. Her parents, Andrew and Catherine Jeans and her 9 year old brother oliver, faced the campaign and we’ll hear from Jenna Lewis Ty Hafan’s Director of Income Generation about the success of the intensive fundraising campaign.

Christmas is well and truly here. We’ve seen loads of Christmas events taking place across the Vale of Glamorgan already, with more to come this weekend. We’ll give you a round-up of what’s going on, plus hear from Sarah Jones and Emma Thorne, two of the organisers of the Barry Christmas Market and Festival of Light, which starts on Friday.

There is also a round-up of the weeks local news, sport and events.