Blogs

Once more our senses are being bombarded with manufactured images and messages of totally irrelevant and mostly unneeded seasonal tat.

It is nigh impossible to escape the Christmas kitsch which pushes us to value ourselves by what we buy, never mind the costs of consumerism to other people, other places or the planet. As long as the tills keep ringing, we can forget the bells.

So what is really at the heart of the Christmas story? In one word - ‘hospitality’.

We have an unmarried pregnant woman, marginalised in her own culture in an army-occupied land which is harsh...

One place arguably essential to student life, wherever you’re at university, is a good pub. I’m not a heavy drinker, I’m probably the lightest drinker possible to still be classes as a “drinker” so I don’t mean students need a good pub to get drunk, just to have a relaxed environment for socialising with friends.

The Victoria Inn, aka The Vic, can be found on Victoria Street; that’s not too hard to remember. With reasonably priced food and drinks, a friendly atmosphere and a location close to most student housing, it’s the ideal pub for students. The Ram on campus is okay but if...

You arrive at the University of Exeter and there’s one trip everyone wants to make as soon as possible – a day out in Exmouth. However, trust me when I say that there’s a better beach to visit.

Yes, okay, one of the main reasons I chose Exeter was so I would be in closer proximity to the sea. I’d lived eighteen long years of my life in landlocked Birmingham and had been teased by family holidays and my time spent in Bangor, Northern Ireland, to live closer to the waves. They’re just so peaceful and pretty and… You get the idea.

Whether your find the sea as magical as I do,...

Standing on a chair taking pictures is not ideal, but when the local newspaper photographers turn out in force to an official event its best you give them the front row.

A media frenzy in Devon, well yes, sort of. Press photographers were eagerly snapping Exeter’s sporting heroine Jo Pavey as she opened our new £1.2m day hospice in Honiton.

Flashbulbs were going off like crazy, watched by patients, supporters and staff who loved being part of the action. Being the Hospiscare press officer is more than balancing on a chair taking photographs, I also had to balance a pad and...