The Devon branch of the countryside charity is once again on the lookout for award-worthy churchyards across the county. Since Devon CPRE launched its Best Churchyard Competition six years ago, the charity has come across inspiring stories of communities pulling together to make the most of the green spaces around their churches and chapels.
Last year’s winner, All Saints in Kenton, near Exeter, and the runner-up, St Michael the Archangel in Chagford, were both fantastic examples of how local people can transform their churchyard when they draw on their individual strengths in...
This weekend, Exeter will host their first ever Friendship Festival , offering a VIP celebration to welcome arrivals from Hong Kong. Around 140,000 people from Hong Kong have arrived into the UK following the introduction of British Nationals Overseas (BNO) visa scheme offered by the UK Government in January 2021. The event, centred around the Lunar New Year festivities, will celebrate the coming together of cultures and draw in on traditions, food, and fun activities that many would usually enjoy when back home in Hong Kong.
Exeter’s event is expected to attract over 200 people...
Devon Tesco shoppers have been their most generous ever in support of foodbanks and local charities, helping to make it a record-breaking year.
The total amount of food donated by Tesco shoppers to the Trussell Trust and FareShare during 2022 was equivalent of 12.5 million meals – 271,589 of which came from Devon.
The donations to the Trussell Trust help food banks to provide emergency food parcels to people in crisis, while donations to FareShare support frontline community charities. Tesco has also topped up all customer donations during the collection by 20% in cash,...
Dedicated to the man in his mid-fifties that hopped on the GWR train 24.7.22 in the afternoon that embarked around Truro and hopped off at Exeter. Wearing a black, long sleeved t-shirt, jeans, and brown shoes. Sitting in coach H seat 62 on the aisle.
Groups urged to nominate shining examples for national campaign
Communities across the country are being invited to put their local projects in the spotlight – and win a £5,000 lighting installation to improve their facilities.
Leading lighting manufacturer, Ansell Lighting, has launched the Shine a Light campaign to recognise and reward the work of projects and initiatives which have provided vital support and services to local people during the recent challenging times.
It is now calling on local communities in all regions to nominate projects whose facilities would...
Year five and six pupils from Kenn C of E Primary School collected over several bags of litter during a beach clean which will now be transformed into a recycled plastic bench for their playground.
Independent commercial waste management firm DCW partnered with Keep Britain Tidy’s Ocean Recovery Project, supported by South West Water, to organise the beach clean in Exmouth. The clean was set-up to give local school children a valuable lesson in recycling and the dangers plastic litter can have on the coastal landscape and its wildlife.
Local people of all ages have taken part in a community cookery event organised by the Devon-wide health and well-being charity Westbank Community Health and Care
Residents from Exeter care home Cumberland Grange joined local families in the kitchen at Westbank’s community hub in Exminster, where they prepared a healthy two-course meal together.
The idea behind the Ready, Steady, Cook-style event was to bring together people of different ages and backgrounds to share a fun experience and learn (or refresh) their skills in the kitchen. The three generations of cooks prepared...
As UK Volunteers Week begins (1 - 7 June) , a local health and wellbeing charity is launching a campaign to swell the ranks of its existing army of award-winning helpers. Westbank Community Health and Care, based at Exminster near Exeter, relies on over 600 volunteers to help deliver a range of support services to individuals and communities across Devon.
Last year, Westbank’s Neighbourhood Friends volunteers received royal recognition for their service during the pandemic with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. This year, the charity hopes to take on even more volunteers...
Generous shoppers in Devon are being encouraged to support a fundraising campaign for three leading health charities.
Last year Tesco's ‘Helping you to live healthier’ campaign raised more than £1million after customers rounded up their shop to the nearest £1 at self-service tills.
The money raised is helping Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK to continue their vital work to improve and save lives.
As the charities fight back from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Devon shoppers are again being urged to round up their shopping to...
People in Topsham are celebrating after the completion of a scheme to connect around 120 homes and businesses in the town to Gigabit capable fibre broadband.
Local resident Andy Rook led a community effort for fibre connections to the Greatwood Terrace area of Topsham, which previously suffered from poor connectivity.
Andy admits his local community wouldn’t have been able to get better broadband without the support of the Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) programme.
He said: “Around Christmas 2019 I was reading all sorts of erroneous comments on our local...
