·       Cardiff Council launches major drive to recruit foster carers amid growing demand

·       £2 million funding for nature in Cardiff

·       Secure cycle parking set to be rolled out across the city

·       Save the date: National Play Day Cardiff 2025

·       Building a Fairer Cardiff: Applications open for period dignity grant to support communities

Cardiff Council has unveiled a bold new strategy to tackle the urgent need for more foster carers in the city, offering financial support and home improvement grants for foster carers, kinship carers, and special guardians in order to help provide more safe, stable, and loving homes for children and young people.

The Council is encouraging residents to consider becoming mainstream foster carers, with a particular need for those who can support sibling groups and older children. Mainstream foster carers provide care for children and young people who are not related to them, unlike kinship or Connected Persons Foster Carers who are approved to care for a specific child, typically a family member or close friend.

The new Adaptations and Extensions Policy aligns with Cardiff's commitment to the Welsh Government's Eliminate Agenda, which seeks to remove private profit from the care of looked-after children and reinvest public funds into sustainable, community-based services.

Read more here

Projects to support nature in Cardiff are to receive a £2 million funding boost through a ‘Local Places for Nature' scheme.

The two-year Welsh Government funding will enable the Council to continue its work, through Cardiff's Local Nature Partnership, to support nature recovery and engage with the community on the delivery of strategic improvements to green infrastructure and practical conservation efforts across the city.

Read more here

Secure cycle parking set to be rolled out across the city 
  

The first phase of delivering new secure cycle parking in Cardiff city centre will start on August 1^st with the first six secure cycling units installed by Cardiff Castle for public and visitors to use.

Funded by the Active Travel Fund, One Planet Cardiff and the Local Places for Nature Programme, a total of 30 units will be delivered in the first month of the scheme. This will be followed by a 5-year programme to install more units across the city centre and in local shopping areas.

All the initial units will have living roofs, which will provide significant environmental benefits by enhancing biodiversity in city centre locations.

Read more here

Families across Cardiff are invited to join in this year’s National Play Day 2025 celebration in August.

This year’s free event will be held at Eastern Leisure Centre playing fields on Wednesday August 6, 1 – 4pm and the theme is Spaces for Play. 

National Play Day is celebrated each year across the UK on the first Wednesday in August. This year’s theme highlights the vital importance of accessible, inclusive spaces where children and young people have opportunities to play freely, spending time, and connecting with friends – and feel valued as part of their community.

Read more here

Third sector organisations across Cardiff are invited to apply for grant funding to support better access to free, dignified and sustainable period products in the city.

Applications for the 2025–26 Period Dignity Grant, a Welsh Government-funded initiative aimed at ensuring that period products are made available to those who need them, are now open and funding up to £2,000 per organisation is available to support the purchase and distribution of eco-friendly period products, educational materials, and essential hygiene items.

In the UK, one in 10 girls can't afford to buy period products, while one in 7 have struggled to afford them, according to a representative survey of girls and young women aged 14–21. The Period Dignity Grant aims to tackle this inequality head-on by ensuring that no-one in Cardiff is left without the products they need.

Read more here