🏴Stuart Bain
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Kit PetersBRIDGEND: Canoe polo champion wins £149,000 after boss made her drive overnight from Germany for a meeting he didn’t attend
A former canoe polo champion from Bridgend has been awarded almost £150,000 after a manager ordered her to drive overnight from Germany for a meeting he then failed to attend.
Beth Littlewood, 29, was working as a personal trainer at Nuffield Health’s Bridgend gym while competing for Great Britain when the dispute came to a head.
In September 2023, she was representing GB at the Canoe Polo European Championships in Germany when she was told to attend a meeting back in Bridgend at short notice.
Conscious that she was on a final written warning, Littlewood drove through the night — a round trip of hundreds of miles — to make sure she arrived on time.
When she reported to reception, she was told the manager who had called the meeting was not there. He was attending a training session elsewhere.
An employment tribunal in Cardiff later found in her favour on a series of complaints, awarding her £149,017 in compensation.
Employment Judge Samantha Moore was scathing about the missed meeting. She said that to refuse leave requested months earlier, knowing what competing meant to Littlewood, and then require her to attend a meeting and not turn up, was “contemptuous and wholly unreasonable.”
The tribunal heard Littlewood had worked as a personal trainer with Virgin Active from 2015 before transferring to Nuffield Health in Bridgend the following year.
Her grievances stretched back to 2022, and included a complaint she raised after a manager carried out a Ministry of Defence fitness test on someone with an elevated blood pressure reading.
She said that after she voiced concerns, three hours of pay a week were withheld from her, and she later lodged an internal bullying grievance that the company did not uphold.
In 2023 she was given a final written warning over an allegation that she had claimed inflated pay — an allegation the tribunal found to be false.
The judge said the disciplinary allegations should “never have been escalated to the degree they were,” and that it had been “wholly unreasonable” to accuse Littlewood of dishonesty over the pay rates for her classes.
The tribunal concluded that the company’s conduct had “fundamentally breached the implied term of mutual trust and confidence” between employer and employee.
The “last straw” of the no-show meeting led Littlewood to resign, and she represented herself throughout the tribunal process.
She has said the outcome matters beyond her own case, pointing to what the tribunal found was a miscalculation of her holiday pay — not worked out on a true average of her earnings or in line with government guidelines.
She hopes the published judgment can now help other personal trainers who believe their holiday pay has been wrongly calculated.
Littlewood’s sporting career has been remarkable in its own right. She was diagnosed with stage-three ovarian cancer at the age of 15, undergoing two years of treatment before returning to the sport and going on to win European gold for Great Britain in 2019.
A former member of Bridgend Sharks and a coach at Bridgend Canoe Club, she now runs her own personal training business and continues to compete and coach internationally.
Nuffield Health said it was “committed to providing a fair and supportive working environment for all colleagues, underpinned by clear policies and procedures.”
The company said it was disappointed with the decision and that, as the case was subject to appeal, it would not be appropriate to comment further.
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SWANSEA: TV pottery stars Kaz and Angharad to cut the ribbon at new volunteer-run studio opening this Saturday
Two stars of this year’s Great Pottery Throw Down are heading to Swansea this Saturday to officially open a new community pottery studio — one built entirely by volunteers, funded by the National Lottery, and designed to make the hobby accessible to anyone who wants to give it a go.
Kaz and Angharad, both contestants on the 2026 series, will cut the ribbon at the Swansea Pottery Collective’s grand opening at noon on Saturday 23 May. The event runs until 3pm and is open to all.
The interior of the Swansea Pottery Collective, which opens this Saturday in the centre of Swansea. (Image: Swansea Pottery Collective)Kaz, 62, is from Swansea and studied ceramics at the Carmarthen School of Art after a long career as a psychiatric nurse. She became a firm favourite on the 2026 series, with judges and viewers alike praising her infectious passion and joy for the craft.
Angharad, 34, is from Bridgend and works as a communication support worker. She made it all the way to the final of the 2026 series — the ninth in the show’s history — producing deeply personal, body-positive sculptures that won widespread admiration throughout the competition. The series was won by Fynn, 37, from Cornwall.
The 2026 series aired on Channel 4 from January this year and, as with previous runs, appears to have sparked a fresh wave of interest in pottery across the country. Studios across the UK report a surge in enquiries and bookings every time a new series airs, with many newcomers picking up clay for the first time after watching the show.
It is exactly that gap — between inspiration and opportunity — that the Swansea Pottery Collective was set up to fill.
The Collective was founded by four people — Nic, Helen, Claire and Scott — who met while attending an adult evening pottery course at Gower College Swansea. When the course ended, they weren’t ready to stop — but quickly ran into a familiar problem. Without access to a kiln, tools, studio space or ongoing guidance, continuing felt out of reach.
They soon realised they weren’t alone. Many beginner and amateur potters find themselves inspired by a course — or a television show — only to discover there’s nowhere accessible to keep practising. That gap between learning and continuing is where the idea for the Swansea Pottery Collective was born.
What started as four people quickly grew — four became ten, skills were shared, energy spread, and momentum built. With support from National Lottery funding and help from Urban Foundry, the city’s creative regeneration agency, the Collective was able to open its own dedicated studio.
The studio is at Urban HQ, Alexandra Road, Swansea, SA1 5AJ. It is now open to up to 100 subscribers, offering weekly sessions with all clay, tools, glazes and kiln firings included. Sessions are capped at around ten people, which the founders say keeps the environment welcoming and ensures everyone feels seen and supported.
Membership costs £50 a month, covering four hours of studio access per week with everything provided — no experience required, just curiosity. Short courses and one-off workshops are also available for those who want to dip in before committing.
The studio runs entirely on a volunteer basis as a not-for-profit organisation, keeping costs as low as possible and the doors open to as many people as possible.
“While clay is our medium, it’s also the glue that brings us together — sparking conversations, building friendships, and creating a sense of belonging,” the Collective say. “Through shared creativity, we support one another, nurture wellbeing, and find moments of calm and connection that extend far beyond the studio.”
Anyone who wants to find out more or apply for a membership ahead of Saturday can visit potterycollective.co.uk.
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