'For Freedom and Justice': The Responses of Chapels in The Swansea Area to the First World War

This article explores the responses of Nonconformist chapels in the Swansea area to the First World War, using the rate of recruitment from congregations and the memorialization of the war. Locating the episode in the political-religious rivalry between the Nonconformist denominations and the Established Church, it is clear that one of the motivations for supporting the war effort was the need to be seen to be doing their fair share for King and country at a time when Church disestablishment for Wales was on the statute book. In the discourse in Swansea’s newspapers as well as in the chapels themselves, the chapels’ Rolls of Honour were visible badges of loyalty

Evolving narratives of the First World War in Welsh-language television programmes

This article examines Welsh television programmes about the First World War, particularly those broadcast since 2004 in the Welsh language. There have been many hours of programmes commissioned to benefit from the increased popular interest in the story of the war, particularly at the times of the ninetieth anniversary and the centenary. Although the presentation of the First World War to a Welsh audience is governed by the general ‘British’ framework of understandings, this study shows that there are particular ways of interpreting the war that are unique to Wales. Over the period studied there was also a shift in emphasis, as eyewitness testimony to the events of 1914-18 was no longer available to the producers

A multicentre, randomised controlled trial to compare the clinical and cost-effectiveness of Lee Silverman Voice Treatment versus standard NHS Speech and Language Therapy versus control in Parkinson’s disease: a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Abstract: Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) affects approximately 145,519 people in the UK. Speech impairments are common with a reported prevalence of 68%, which increase physical and mental demands during conversation, reliance on family and/or carers, and the likelihood of social withdrawal reducing quality of life. In the UK, two approaches to Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) intervention are commonly available: National Health Service (NHS) SLT or Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT LOUD®). NHS SLT is tailored to the individuals’ needs per local practice typically consisting of six to eight weekly sessions; LSVT LOUD® comprises 16 sessions of individual treatment with home-based practice over 4 weeks. The evidence-base for their effectiveness is inconclusive. Methods/design: PD COMM is a phase III, multicentre, three-arm, unblinded, randomised controlled trial. Five hundred and forty-six people with idiopathic PD, reporting speech or voice problems will be enrolled. We will exclude those with a diagnosis of dementia, laryngeal pathology or those who have received SLT for speech problems in the previous 2 years. Following informed consent and completion of baseline assessments, participants will be randomised in a 1:1:1 ratio to no-intervention control, NHS SLT or LSVT LOUD® via a central computer-generated programme, using a minimisation procedure with a random element, to ensure allocation concealment. Participants randomised to the intervention groups will start treatment within 4 (NHS SLT) or 7 (LSVT LOUD®) weeks of randomisation. Primary outcome: Voice Handicap Index (VHI) total score at 3 months. Secondary outcomes include: VHI subscales, Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire-39; Questionnaire on Acquired Speech Disorders; EuroQol-5D-5 L; ICECAP-O; resource utilisation; adverse events and carer quality of life. Mixed-methods process and health economic evaluations will take place alongside the trial. Assessments will be completed before randomisation and at 3, 6 and 12 months after randomisation. The trial started in December 2015 and will run for 77 months. Recruitment will take place in approximately 42 sites around the UK. Discussion: The trial will test the hypothesis that SLT is effective for the treatment of speech or voice problems in people with PD compared to no SLT. It will further test whether NHS SLT or LSVT LOUD® provide greater benefit and determine the cost-effectiveness of both interventions. Trial registration: International Standard Randomised Controlled Trials Number (ISRCTN) Registry, ID: 12421382. Registered on 18 April 2016

A multicentre, randomised controlled trial to compare the clinical and cost-effectiveness of Lee Silverman Voice Treatment versus standard NHS Speech and Language Therapy versus control in Parkinson’s disease: a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Abstract: Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) affects approximately 145,519 people in the UK. Speech impairments are common with a reported prevalence of 68%, which increase physical and mental demands during conversation, reliance on family and/or carers, and the likelihood of social withdrawal reducing quality of life. In the UK, two approaches to Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) intervention are commonly available: National Health Service (NHS) SLT or Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT LOUD®). NHS SLT is tailored to the individuals’ needs per local practice typically consisting of six to eight weekly sessions; LSVT LOUD® comprises 16 sessions of individual treatment with home-based practice over 4 weeks. The evidence-base for their effectiveness is inconclusive. Methods/design: PD COMM is a phase III, multicentre, three-arm, unblinded, randomised controlled trial. Five hundred and forty-six people with idiopathic PD, reporting speech or voice problems will be enrolled. We will exclude those with a diagnosis of dementia, laryngeal pathology or those who have received SLT for speech problems in the previous 2 years. Following informed consent and completion of baseline assessments, participants will be randomised in a 1:1:1 ratio to no-intervention control, NHS SLT or LSVT LOUD® via a central computer-generated programme, using a minimisation procedure with a random element, to ensure allocation concealment. Participants randomised to the intervention groups will start treatment within 4 (NHS SLT) or 7 (LSVT LOUD®) weeks of randomisation. Primary outcome: Voice Handicap Index (VHI) total score at 3 months. Secondary outcomes include: VHI subscales, Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire-39; Questionnaire on Acquired Speech Disorders; EuroQol-5D-5 L; ICECAP-O; resource utilisation; adverse events and carer quality of life. Mixed-methods process and health economic evaluations will take place alongside the trial. Assessments will be completed before randomisation and at 3, 6 and 12 months after randomisation. The trial started in December 2015 and will run for 77 months. Recruitment will take place in approximately 42 sites around the UK. Discussion: The trial will test the hypothesis that SLT is effective for the treatment of speech or voice problems in people with PD compared to no SLT. It will further test whether NHS SLT or LSVT LOUD® provide greater benefit and determine the cost-effectiveness of both interventions. Trial registration: International Standard Randomised Controlled Trials Number (ISRCTN) Registry, ID: 12421382. Registered on 18 April 2016

Angels, Doves and Minerva: Reading the memorials to the Great War in Welsh Presbyterian chapels

Focussing particularly on the Calvinistic Methodist denomination in Wales, this article examines the variety of messages that can be gleaned from a study of First World War memorials. It begins with the thorny issue of how, and to what extent, the denomination accepted the rhetoric of the war and supported the war effort. Then it considers examples of commemoration that were developed as the war was being fought, before looking at different examples of memorials that were commissioned at the war’s end. Examples are considered of memorials which commemorate everyone who served, and those which remember those who were killed in the war. Looking at the patterns of inclusion and patterns of remembrance, the article explores what conclusions we can come to when we consider the memorials as a collection

Creithiau: Dylanwad y Rhyfel Mawr ar Gymdeithas a Diwylliant yng Nghymru

Er gwaethaf pwysigrwydd canolog y Rhyfel Mawr i hanes modern Cymru, nid oes llawer o weithiau academaidd wedi olrhain dylanwad maleisus a phellgyrhaeddol y rhyfel ar ddiwylliant a chymdeithas yng Nghymru. Yn sicr mae bylchau mawr a diffyg dealltwriaeth yn y cynnyrch Cymraeg ei iaith.Bydd cyfrol Creithiau, a gyhoeddir gan Wasg Prifysgol Cymru yn 2015, yn dechrau ar y gwaith o unioni’r fantol. Bydd cyfraniadau gan nifer o ysgolheigion disglair yn ein cynorthwyo i ddeall yn well sut newidiodd y byd Cymreig am byth yn sgîl digwyddiadau 1914-18. Byddwn yn olrhain datblygiadau yng nghymdeithas a diwylliant Cymru yn ystod y blynyddoedd o ymladd, ac wedi i’r gynnau dewi, pan edrychai unigolion yn ôl a cheisio gwneud synnwyr o’u profiadau

Having a Go at the Kaiser: A Welsh family at War

This book is based on more than a hundred letters sent home by three brothers from Mynyddbach during the First World War, almost all of which relate to the period 1916–18 when Richard, Gabriel and Ivor Eustis were serving in different theatres. The run of letters written to different members of the family allow us to build a picture of what the brothers thought about a range of different issues as the war was being waged, and of how their beliefs and ideas evolved as situations changed. In common with other soldiers’ letters to their families, information on the battles fought is scarce – they are rather concerned with keeping the family bonds strong during the men’s absence. The dynamics of the family are revealed in letters full of sibling rivalry and affection